Advancements in the EIR Process to Occur at Next City Council Meeting

At next Monday's City Council meeting (12/4), the Council will be asked to approve a contract with Environmental Science Associates (ESA) to conduct the environmental impact review (EIR) for the proposed Baylands Specific Plan and project alternatives. At the November 6th meeting ESA and their land-use planning sub-consultant Dyett and Bhatia made a presentation regarding a new and different approach to developing community-based project alternatives.

The City of Brisbane has decided to embark on a robust project alternative process to provide an opportunity for the community to formulate project alternatives. In January and February of 2007 we will be having a series of three community presentations on subjects that will assist all of us in formulating project alternatives. As you may recall, last summer we hosted "An Evening with James Wines", a renowned architect and author of the book 'Green Architecture'. Our upcoming workshops will be in the same vane. Subject areas will be Parks and Recreation facilities and programs- the value they add to a community; economic vitality and sustainability- how to make a project successful and durable over time; alternative energy resources- harnessing energy which may have less damaging impacts on our environment.

Beginning in February/March the City's consultant Dyett and Bhatia will be hosting a series of small meetings with community members and Community workshops to work on truly community based alternatives. From this work the City Council will adopt project alternatives to study in the EIR. It is anticipated that the EIR will take approximately a year and that public hearings on the draft EIR would commence sometime in early 2008. Of further note, the EIR would be at the expense of the applicant not the City of Brisbane.

An adopted EIR is a first step in the process to make use of and remediate this property. Further steps include adoption of one or more specific plans and the application for planned developments which will require subsequent environmental review. As the process moves forward we move from more general discussion of possible uses of this land to more specific proposals. As you can see, this is a multi-year process.

The City of Brisbane will continue to update our website, concerning the Baylands, which hosts all material to date over the past 4 years including proposed plans, staff reports, contracts, minutes, etc. The staff report with the scope of services and timeline will be available online at the City's website tomorrow in the City Council Agendas section (dated December 4, 2006). We will be using channels such as our website and this blog to update the community. We encourage participation of everyone and are available to answer any questions. Feel free to contact Clayton Holstine, City Manager (cholstine@ci.brisbane.ca.us) or John Swiecki, Principal Planner (jswiecki@ci.brisbane.ca.us) with your questions or concerns.