RPVCCA_CC_SR_2013_12_03_04_Draft_Mitigated_Negative_Declaration_Marymount__Athletic_FieldCITY OF
PUBLIC HEARING
Date: December 3, 2013
Subject: Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the Marymount
Athletic Field Expansion Project
Subject Property: 30800 Palos Verdes Drive East
1. Declare the Hearing Open: Mayor Brooks
2. Report of Notice Given: City Clerk Morreale
3. Staff Report & Recommendation: Senior Planner Schonborn
4. Public Testimony:
Appellant: N/A
Applicant: Marymount California University
5. Council Questions:
6. Rebuttal:
7. Declare Hearing Closed: Mayor Brooks
8. Council Deliberation:
9. Council Action:
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CITY OF
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
REVIEWED:
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CIT~Y COUNCIL MEMBERS
JOEL ROJAS, COMMUNITY DE L.: R ENT DIRECTOR
DECEMBER 3, 2013
DRAFT MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION (MND)
FOR THE MARYMOUNT ATHLETIC FIELD EXPANSION
PROJECT (Location: 30800 Palos Verdes Drive East)
CAROLYN LEHR, CITY MANAGER
Project Manager: Eduardo Schonborn, AICP, Senior Plannt:llf'...ll..-rx
RECOMMENDATION
Continue the public meeting for the sole purpose of obtaining comments on the Draft
Mitigated Negative Declaration to the January 21, 2014 City Council meeting.
DISCUSSION
In 2010, the City Council approved the Marymount College Campus Master Plan, which
included a new Athletic Field location. On October 29, 2012, Marymount College
submitted Conditional Use Permit Revision 'F', a request to modify the configuration of the
Council-approved athletic field and to amend certain conditions of approval. Specifically,
Marymount College seeks the following revisions to its current Conditional Use Permit
approved by the City Council in 2010:
• Eliminating the four approved (but not yet constructed) tennis courts on the
western side of the campus in order to have a larger multi-purpose athletic field;
• Expanding the size of the athletic field in order to allow for multiple recreational
uses and to allow for National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
sanctioned soccer matches;
• Changes to the finished grades and grading quantities so that a total of
approximately 19,225 cubic yards of material would be exported;
• Use of synthetic turf on the athletic field instead of natural grass; and,
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MEMORANDUM: Revised Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration, Marymount
Athletic Field Expansion Project
December 3, 2013
Page 2
• Allowing up to three events with amplified sound on the athletic field rather than
one event with amplified sound.
On April 16, 2013, the City Council approved a Professional Services Agreement with
Rincon Consultants, Inc., to prepare the Environmental Documents for the City to assess
the environmental impacts of the University's request to reconfigure the 2010 Council-
approved Athletic Field. The environmental assessment was completed by the City's
CEQA consultant, which concluded that the proposed project may result in some significant
environmental impacts unless certain mitigation measures are implemented. Accordingly,
a Mitigated Negative · Declaration (MND) was prepared since no new significant
environmental effects were identified as a result of the proposed project. Thus, a Draft
MND was released for public comment on October 31, 2013.
On October 31, 2013, a Notice of Intent (NOi) to Adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration
was issued informing the public that a Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration
(IS/MND) was prepared and released for public comment regarding Marymount's CUP-
Revision request to modify the athletic field and other specific conditions of the CUP that
were approved by the City Council in 2010. The text of the Draft Initial Study-Mitigated
Declaration referred to visual simulations prepared for the project that were identified as
figures 8 through 11 b. In producing the electronic and paper versions of the Draft IS/MND,
the City's environmental consultant for this project inadvertently left out the figures
themselves. In addition, two of the original mitigation measures were inadvertently left out
of the document.
In light of these omissions, the Draft IS/MND document has been updated by inserting the
missing View Simulations (Figures 8 through 11 b) and Mitigation Measures TR-8 and TR-9
(in the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program at the end of the Appendices); and
posted on the City's website. In order to give the public ample opportunity to review the
corrected MND during the holiday season, the original 43-day public comment period for
the Draft IS/MND that began on October 31, 2013 and was set to end on December 13,
2013 has been extended for an additional 42 days to January 24, 2014. Furthermore, the
opportunity for the public to provide verbal comments on the Draft IS/MND at a public
meeting before the City Council is proposed to be moved from Tuesday December 3,
2013, to Tuesday January 21, 2014.
To alert the public of the date change and the revised Draft MND document, Staff mailed
new Notices to all property owners within 500-feet, and sent a Listserve message to those
individuals who signed up on the City's Listserve system for this project.
As such, Staff recommends that the City Council continue the public meeting, for the sole
purpose of obtaining comments on the Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration, to the January
21, 2014 City Council meeting.
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