B Street Visioning Process

Responses to Comments on Draft EIR Available for Review

B and 3rd Streets Visioning Process Responses to Comments on Draft EIR

Availability of Documents

Copies of the Responses to Comments document and Draft EIR are available for review, loan or purchase at the Community Development Department, 23 Russell Boulevard, Davis, California, 95616, (530) 757-5610.

Staff reports will be available as they are prepared, on the City website, or for the price of copying at Kinko’s at 313 F Street, Davis and Navin's Copy Shop at 231 Third Street, Davis. Staff reports for the public hearing are generally available five (5) days prior to the hearing date.

Notice of Public Hearing

Notice of Public Meeting/Hearings
for the
B & 3rd Streets Visioning Process
and
Notice of Availability of the Responses to Comments on the Project
Draft Environmental Impact Report (SCH #2006012026)

A public meeting before the Historic Resources Management Commission will be held Monday, May 21, 2007 at 7:00 pm in the East Multi-Purpose Room of the Senior Center located at 646 A Street, in the City of Davis, CA 95616. At this meeting it is anticipated that the Commission will make their final recommendation to Council regarding the project.

A public hearing before the Planning Commission will be held Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 7:00 pm in the Community Chambers located at 23 Russell Boulevard in the City of Davis, CA 95616. At this hearing it is anticipated that the Commission will make their final recommendation to Council regarding the project.

A public hearing before the City Council will be held Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 7:30 pm in the Community Chambers located at 23 Russell Boulevard in the City of Davis, CA 95616. At this hearing it is anticipated that the Council will take a final action on the project.

There will be opportunities for public comment at all of these meetings.

Location: The project area is comprised of 22 properties totaling approximately 4.0 acres within the Core Area Specific Plan boundaries of the City of Davis in Yolo County, California. These properties front on the west side of B Street, between 2nd Street and 4th Street, and on the north and south sides of 3rd Street, between University Avenue and B Street. The project area includes the following Assessor Parcel Numbers (APNs): 70-065-01 through -03, -6, -9, -10 through -14; and 70-073-6 through -17.

Applicant:City of Davis

File Numbers:PA #36-06: General Plan Amendment #1-06, Specific Plan Amendment #2-06, Rezone #1-06, Final Planned Development #8-06, Environmental Assessment (EIR) #5-06.

Project Description:
The project is known as the B and 3rd Streets Visioning Process. The project involves modification of permitted uses and site development parameters within the project area to allow a larger scale of development encompassing increased densities, increased or decreased floor area ratio, reduced building setbacks, increased building heights (two-, three-, and possibly limited four-story), higher density residential, and mixed-use development.

The project includes the following discretionary actions: 1) General Plan map amendment; 2) text and map amendment of the Core Area Specific Plan; 3) amendment of the Davis Downtown and Traditional Residential Neighborhood Guidelines; 4) text amendment of Planned Development (PD) 2-86A; 5) rezoning of parcels within PD 2-86A; and 6) various other ordinances and resolutions as may be needed for implementation.

The proposed amendments will allow an increase in development potential. Redevelopment projected to occur under the proposed amendments could result in approximately 79 net additional dwelling units (attached units) with 150 net new bedrooms (assuming two bedrooms per unit on average) and 25,770 square feet of new non-residential development (17,800 square feet of office space and 7,970 net new square feet of commercial development). New residential townhouse and condominium projects are assumed along B Street. New mixed use projects are assumed along 3rd Street, at the corners of B Street and 3rd Street, and at the corners of B and 2nd Streets.

Up to 31 existing structures (including 17 principal and 14 accessory buildings) may be demolished including one structure that may be eligible for historic listing (311 B Street) and one listed historic resource assumed to be relocated (232 3rd Street) as a part of the project. Potential demolition of one other eligible structure (301 B Street) and one other listed historic resource (337 B Street) is also evaluated. An in-lieu parking fee program is proposed that could result in the payment of in-lieu fees for up to 76 spaces that would otherwise be triggered under the City’s parking requirements, based on the assumed development.

Final Environmental Impact Report:

The City has prepared a "Responses to Comments" document that addresses comments received on the Draft Focused EIR during the formal comment period, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Responses to Comments document and the Draft EIR together comprise the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the project (SCH #2006012026). The City must consider the information contained in the FEIR when deliberating the project. Following certification of the FEIR, the City may take final action on the project.

The Notice of Preparation/Initial Study and Draft EIR for the project identified the potential for significant effects as a result of the project in the following impact areas: aesthetics, land use, cultural resources, circulation and parking, and noise. The Draft EIR concluded that, despite application of mitigation measures, the project will result in unavoidable significant cumulative impacts on air quality, parking, historic resources, intensity of area land use, visual character and noise exposure. Potential significant impacts on air quality due to construction activities, archaeological resources from site excavation, removal of area trees, increased traffic volumes on the alley, interior noise levels and construction noise, and seismic risk will be mitigated to a less than a significant level through the application of mitigation measures, including many that have been incorporated into the City’s standard conditions for development approvals.

Availability of Documents:
Copies of the Responses to Comments document and Draft EIR are available for review, loan or purchase at the Community Development Department, 23 Russell Boulevard, Davis, California, 95616, (530) 757-5610. Copies of the Responses to Comments and Draft EIR can also be reviewed at the City website at www.cityofdavis.org via the “B Street Visioning Process” link under “Current Issues,” or reviewed at the Yolo County Library located at 351 East 14th Street.

Staff reports will be available as they are prepared, on the City website, or for the price of copying at Kinko’s at 313 F Street, Davis and Navin's Copy Shop at 231 Third Street, Davis. Staff reports for the public hearing are generally available five (5) days prior to the hearing date.

Public Comments:
All interested parties are invited to attend the public meeting and public hearings or send written comments to the planner assigned to the project, Sarah Worley, at the Community Development Department no later than the hearing dates.

There will be no transcription of public testimony at these meetings/hearings. Those who wish to have their verbatim comments incorporated into the record must submit their comments in writing. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you are a disabled person and you need a disability-related modification or accommodation to participate in these hearings, please contact the City Community Development Department at (530) 757-5610. Please make your request as early as possible and at least one-full business day before the start of the meeting.

If you challenge the action taken on this matter in court, the challenge may be limited to raising only those issues raised at the public hearings described in this notice, or in written correspondence at delivered to the Community Development Director or City Clerk at or prior to the public hearings.

For more specific questions about the project please contact Sarah Worley at (530) 757-5610, or sworley@cityofdavis.org

Katherine Hess
Community Development Director

Background

B & 3rd Street Vision to Create Distinctive Urban Village - At the end of April 2005 the City Council voted to conceptually support creation of a "Special Character District," and distinctive urban village along B and 3rd Streets (Vision 4) that would allow a mix of higher density two and three+ story attached housing forms and mixed use projects conducive to owner occupied, live/work units and creativity based occupations. City staff was asked to prepare the necessary planning amendments and environmental analysis to implement this vision. These include amendments to the Core Area Specific Plan, Downtown Davis and Traditional Residential Neighborhoods Design Guidelines, and Planned Development zone 2-86A.

Links to background documents prepared during the Visioning Process are provided at the bottom of this page.