Resolution No. 5610
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RESOLUTION NO. 5610
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF VERNON CERTIFYING THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT REPORT FOR THE VERNON GENERAL PLAN AND
COMPREHENSIVE ZONING CODE AND MAKING FINDINGS,
STATEMENTS OF FACT AND OVERRIDING CONSIDERATIONS
WHEREAS, the City of Vernon, California, pursuant to
the provisions of California Planning Law (California Government
Code Section 65000, et sea.) has prepared a comprehensive
general plan and a comprehensive zoning ordinance; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the requirements of the California
Environmental Quality Act (California Public Resources Code Sec-
tion 21000, et seq., hereinafter "CEQA") and State CEQA
Guidelines, the City determined that an environmental impact
report was required for the consideration of these projects; and
WHEREAS, a Draft Environmental Impact Report ("EIR"),
including the Master Environmental Assessment ("MEA"), both
dated February 14, 1989, were prepared and circulated for public
review and comments; and
WHEREAS, public comments were received and written
responses to those comments are incorporated in the Final EIR
and MEA; and
WHEREAS, a public hearing was noticed and held on April
4, 1989, by the City Council, at which additional public com-
ments were elicited; and
WHEREAS, the Final EIR and MEA consists of the draft
EIR and MEA, comments and recommendations received on the draft
EIR and responses and revisions based on those comments and
recommendations; and
WHEREAS, the Final EIR and MEA find that the adoption
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and implementation of the proposed General Plan and Comprehen-
sive Zoning Code ("project") will result in significant negative
cumulative air quality effects in conjunction with regional
growth and business activity which impacts are unmitigable, and
the proposed project has the least significant negative environ-
mental effects of the feasible alternatives; and
WHEREAS, the CEQA Guidelines ("Guidelines") section
15169 (d) provides that a MEA may be used for various purposes
including,
(1) to identify the environmental characteristics and
constraints of an area; to influence the design and
location of individual projects;
(2) to provide information agencies can use in initial
studies;
(3) to provide a central source of current information
for use in preparing individual EIRs and Negative
Declarations;
(4) to be referenced and summarized to EIRs and Nega-
tive Declarations;
(5) to assist in identifying long range, areawide, and
cumulative impacts of individual projects proposed in
the area covered by the assessment;
(6) to assist in formulating a general plan or any ele-
ment of such a plan by identifying environmental
characteristics and constraints that need to be
addressed in the general plan; and
(7) to serve as a reference document to assist in
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"
reviewing other environmental documents dealing with
activities in the area covered by the assessment.
WHEREAS, the CEQA Guidelines additionally state that:
"No public agency shall approve or
carry out a project for which an Environmental
Impact Report has been completed and which
identified one or more significant effects
of the project unless the public agency makes
one or more written findings for each of those
significant effects, accompanied by a brief
explanation of the rationale for each finding."
(Section 15091); and
"Where the decision of the public agency
allows the occurrence of significant effects
which are identified in the Final EIR but
are not at least substantially mitigated,
the agency shall state in writing the
specific reasons to support its action
based on the Final EIR and/or other
information in the record."
(Section 15093);
and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the city of Vernon has not
created a separate planning commission and performs all of the
functions of a planning commission as authorized by Government
Code Sections 65100 and 65861.
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF VERNON AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1: The City Council of the City of Vernon
hereby finds and determines that the recitals contained
hereinabove are true and correct.
SECTION 2: The Final EIR and MEA have been presented
to the City Council, and the Council has reviewed and considered
the information therein prior to any action on the adoption of
the Vernon General Plan or the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance.
SECTION 3: The Final EIR and MEA have identified the
following significant effects that may result in a cumulative
deterioration of air quality as follows:
Siqnificant Effect - Implementation of the revised
General Plan and Zoning Ordinance, in conj unction with other
projects and growth in the region, will have a significant im-
pact on air quality by contributing to the existing exceedance
of air quality standards.
SECTION 4: The changes or alterations required in, or
incorporated into the project as listed below will avoid or sub-
stantially lessen the significant environmental effect as iden-
tified in the Final EIR:
Specific Mitigation Measures Required and Facts in
Support of Findinqs - The project contains the following goals
and policies, the implementation of which will lessen emission
of air pollutants:
(a) Infrastructure Elements
III
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Goal I: Provide a balanced transportation sys-
tem for the safe and efficient movement of
people, goods, and emergency services throughout
the city.
Policy 1. I : continue to upgrade the existing
street system to meet the minimum standards set
in the Circulation Plan.
Policy 1.2: Consolidate the freight rail system
in areas designated for General Industrial and
Heavy Industrial land uses.
Policy 1.3: Limit the location of
transportation-related uses and large warehouses
(over 50,000 gross square feet) to areas with
streets designed to accommodate the larger
volumes of truck traffic they generate.
Policy 1.4: Explore the potential of designat-
ing one-way couplets in areas of town with nar-
row streets which have limited potential for
widening.
Policy 1.5: continue to pursue grade separation
for railroad crossings of designated streets,
particularly in light of the proposed rail sys-
tem changes associated with Port Access improve-
ments.
Policy 1.6: Encourage continued improvement of
services provided by the Southern California
Rapid Transit District to the city and adjacent
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cities to provide better access for employees
from home to job and job to home.
Policy 1.7: Encourage the use of ridesharing
and public transit to reduce the traffic conges-
tion and need for off-street parking in the
city.
Policy 1.8: Encourage the redesign and upgrad-
ing of the freeway interchanges at Atlantic and
Bandini Blvds. to eliminate hazards.
Policy 1.9: Explore the potential of adding a
freeway interchange at Slauson Avenue and the
Long Beach Freeway to improve access for ci ty
industries.
(b) Safety Element
Policy I. I: continue to encourage and support
the enforcement of State and Federal environmen-
tal and pollution control laws.
Pol icy 2. I : continue to support and encourage
State efforts to I) identify existing or pre-
viously existing hazardous waste generators or
disposal sites, 2) support appropriate disposal
of wastes, and 3) supervise programs to monitor
contaminated sites.
(c) Natural Resources Element
Goal 1: Preserve open space land as necessary
for the health and welfare of residents and
workers in the City of Vernon.
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Policy 1.2: Cooperate with regional efforts to
upgrade the appearance and open space value of
the Los Angeles River Channel.
(d) Zoning Ordinance
The revised Zoning Ordinance establishes a Con-
di tional Use Permi t process for certain uses,
including hazardous materials processing
facilities and trash-to-energy facilities to en-
sure that these uses do not generate impacts
(e.g., noise, vibration, odor, smoke, etc.)
which interfere with surrounding uses.
Finding - Such changes or alterations are within
the responsibility and jurisdiction of another
public agency and not the agency making the
findings. Such changes have been adopted by
such other agency or can be and should be
adopted by such other agency.
S-pecial Mitigation Measures Required and Facts
in Support of Findinqs - Enforcement of the
South Coast Air Quality Management District
("SCAQMD") and State Air Resources Board ("ARB")
rules and the revised Air Quality Management
Plan will lessen impacts related to construction
and operation of specific projects in Verhon and
reduce cumulative air emissions in the region.
SECTION 5: The following benefits of the proposed
General Plan and Zoning Ordinance have been evaluated by the
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City Council and, following due consideration, have been found
to outweigh the environmental risks of the project:
(a) The project will establish policies and stand-
ards designed to reinforce the industrial pur-
pose and character of the city;
(b) The project will improve the environment of the
ci ty for property owners, businesses, workers
and residents; and
(c) The project is designed to curtail recent ad-
verse trends in the City, including loss of
sales tax revenue and an increase in truck traf-
fic on all streets.
SECTION 6: Specific economic, social, or other con-
siderations make infeasible any additional mitigation measures
or project alternatives identified in the final EIR.
(a) Such considerations relate primarily to the ex-
isting industrial nature of the City of Vernon,
its low residential population, and the location
of the City in relationships to industrial areas
in adjoining jurisdictions; and
(b) Changes or alterations in such traffic and in-
dustrial patterns are within the responsibility
and jurisdiction of other public agencies and
not the City of Vernon. Changes are being
adopted by other agencies, including the
Southern California Association of Governments
and the SCAQMD.
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SECTION 7: The Final EIR and MEA are hereby certified
as accurate and complete and in compliance with the CEQA.
SECTION 8: The MEA shall be used as a planning and en-
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vironmental assessment document for the purposes set forth in
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CEQA Guidelines Section 15169(d).
SECTION 9: The City Clerk of the City of Vernon shall
certify to the passage of this resolution and thereupon and
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thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 18th day of April, 1989.
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BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, City Clerk
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
) ss
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES )
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I, BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, city Clerk of the City of Ver-
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non, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution, being
Resolution No. 5610, was duly adopted by the City Council of the
City of Vernon, and was approved by the Mayor of said City at a
regular meeting of the City Council held on Tuesday, April 18.
1989.
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BRUCE V.
~H~
MALKENHORST, City Clerk
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(SEAL)
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