AGENDA ITEM CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE MAY 2, 2017 BUSINESS ITEMS DATE : April 24, 2017 TO : City Manager FROM : Community Development Director SUBJECT : BENICIA INDUSTRIAL PARK TRANSPORTATION AND EMPLOYMENT CENTER (TEC) PLAN AND ASSOCIATED INITIAL STUDY/MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION AND MITIGATION MONITORING AND REPORTING PROGRAM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Benicia Industrial Park Transportation and Employment Center (TEC) Plan is intended to create a more complete business and transportation environment by identifying future improvements in the area bounded by Lake Herman Road, East Channel Road, and the Union Pacific Right of Way. RECOMMENDATION: Certify the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and associated Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program and adopt the proposed resolution accepting the Benicia Industrial Park Transportation and Employment Center (TEC) Plan. BUDGET INFORMATION: A $250,000 One Bay Area Grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission fully funded the consultant services required to develop the Plan. Solano Transportation Authority and the City also provided in kind contributions. The City match amount of $32,390 is being provided via in-kind staff time. GENERAL PLAN: Relevant General Plan Goals and Policies include: Overarching Goal of the General Plan: Sustainability
Goal 2.7: Attract and retain industrial facilities that provide fiscal and economic benefits to and meet the present and future needs of Benicia. Goal 2.20: Provide a balanced street system to serve automobiles, pedestrians, bicycles, and transit Goal 2.28: Improve and maintain public facilities and services Goal 2.15: Provide a comprehensive system of pedestrian and bicycle routes which link the various components of the community: employment centers, residential areas, commercial areas, schools, parks, and open space Goal 2.17: Provide an efficient, reliable, and convenient transit system Goal 3.13: Improve urban design qualities of the waterfront and public access to the shoreline o Policy 3.13.2: Improve pedestrian amenities along waterfront streets and walkways Program 3.13.B: Develop a plan for public and pedestrian access to and along the waterfront and shoreline STRATEGIC PLAN: Relevant Strategic Plan Issues and Strategies: Strategic Issue #2: Protecting and Enhancing the Environment Strategy #4: Protect air quality o Action 4.4: Pursue mass transit opportunities Strategic Issue #3: Strengthening Economic and Fiscal Conditions Strategy #1: Implement Economic Development Strategy o Action 1.1(c): Formulate BIP Marketing program Strategy #2: Strengthen Benicia Industrial Park competitiveness o Action 2.2(a): Continue to approve and implement road resurfacing projects Strategy #3: Retain and attract business Strategy #5: Increase economic viability of industrial park and other commercial areas, while preserving existing economic strengths and historic resources o Action 5.5(a): Plan for sustainable Benicia Business Park including pursuing grants for transit oriented development area and Intermodal Station planning Strategic Issue #4: Preserving and Enhancing Infrastructure Strategy #1: Provide safe, functional and complete streets Strategy #2: Increase use of mass transit CEQA: Staff determined that this project is subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). An Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration was prepared in conjunction with the plan and circulated March 20, 2017, with the
public comment period ending April 19, 2017. The Response to Comments has been appended to the attached Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration. A Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program has been developed to ensure adequate implementation of the identified mitigation measures. BACKGROUND: Plan Bay Area was adopted by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Government (ABAG) in July, 2013. Covering the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area including Solano County, Plan Bay Area is intended to guide the integration of transportation and land use to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light duty trucks in accordance with State mandates (i.e. Senate Bill 375). The City was awarded a $250,000 One Bay Area Grant in late 2013 to develop a plan for the Benicia Industrial Park, which was designated an Employment Center Priority Development Area pursuant to Plan Bay Area. The City entered an agreement with Solano Transportation Authority (STA) to implement the grant, which City Council approved via Resolution #14-03 at its January 7, 2014 meeting. At the City s request, STA managed the onerous grant requirements, including reporting requirements and the consultant selection process. A safe, efficient, and well-maintained transportation system that meets the current and future needs of businesses and employees is a key component of a vibrant Benicia Industrial Park (BIP). The TEC Plan provides a vision for an integrated transportation system that more effectively serves all modes. As the only Employment Center Priority Development Area in Solano County, the Benicia Industrial Park is uniquely situated to compete for grant funding to support transportation infrastructure investments. The TEC Plan will increase the likelihood that the City will be able to secure competitive transportation grant funding for BIP projects. The TEC Plan is intended to advance employment growth by attracting new business and providing for the renovation of established areas, creating a more complete business and transportation environment that reflects the following objectives: Implement Complete Streets in the Industrial Park through improvements that benefit trucks, cars, bicyclists, pedestrians and transit riders; Retain existing and attract new business; Promote sustainability by reducing fuel consumption and air pollutant emissions; and Increase the potential for grant funding for roadway and streetscape improvements.
There is consistent truck and rail traffic throughout the Industrial Park at all hours of the day, which has the potential to cause safety and health concerns when paired with increased bike and pedestrian traffic. The goals and policies of the TEC Plan aim to address this potential conflict through thoughtful streetscape design that focuses multimodal improvements on select, well-marked routes that provide safe transit routes for bicycles and pedestrians, as well as autos and trucks. This will allow Industrial Park workers traveling by all modes to enjoy safe routes to work without impeding the movement of goods and materials that is essential to the success of the Industrial Park. Plan Process City staff worked with Solano Transportation Authority staff and a Dyett & Bhatia consulting team to develop the plan. The major steps taken to develop the TEC Plan included: Interviews conducted with key stakeholders at the project outset. Preparation of a Land Use and Growth Potential Background Report in March 2015. Preparation of an Existing Transportation Conditions and Needs Assessment Report in August 2015. Preparation of a Scenarios Report detailing three potential land use scenarios that was released in August 2016 and considered at a community workshop in September 2016. A Public Review Draft Transportation and Employment Center Plan that was made publicly available March 20, 2017. A Public Review Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration that was circulated for public comment beginning March 20, 2017, and ending April 19, 2017. A Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program that will help ensure implementation of the mitigation measures identified in the Mitigated Negative Declaration (circulated with the Draft Initial Study). A public hearing was held at the April 13, 2017 Planning Commission meeting. A public discussion was held at the April 19, 2017 Economic Development Board meeting. Key project documents are available for review on the City s website, on the Industrial Park Transportation and Employment Center page. Key TEC Plan recommendations include: Baseline roadway improvements to improve roadways and truck movement including roadway design, repaving, and drainage improvements.
Transit and Transportation Demand Management to improve commute options for Industrial Park employees and to reduce congestion within the Park. Bicycle Facility Improvements focused on peripheral roads, including a range of recommendations from Class I through Class IV. Pedestrian Facility Improvements, predominantly associated with Class I and Class IV bicycle facilities. Streetscape Design guidance to integrate additional users and amenities. Land Use goals and policies for supportive uses, new development, redevelopment, and electric vehicle charging stations. Signage and Wayfinding, including siting of highway guide signs, gateway signs, and directional signs. Implementation and Phasing Plan, including potential funding sources. Land Use Issues: Neither General Plan Land Use designations nor zoning districts will be changed by the TEC Plan. The TEC Plan does not include any changes to allowable supportive uses within the Industrial Park. Allowable density and intensity will remain consistent with current development regulations. Vacant and underutilized parcels offer the opportunity for growth in the BIP. Excluding the Northern Gateway property, there are 85 acres of vacant or underutilized land on 38 parcels within the Industrial Park. Densification of these parcels within existing zoning designations could potentially yield approximately 1.1 million square feet of new development. The TEC Plan would aid not only the existing businesses, but any future businesses that locate in the TEC Plan area by supporting the existing General Plan and Zoning designations and making the area more likely to receive grant funding for roadway improvements. Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration: The Public Review Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) was made public on March 20, 2017. Public comments were accepted through 5:00pm on April 19, 2017. The Response to the Comments has been appended to the attached Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration.
The TEC Plan will guide transportation infrastructure investments in the Benicia Industrial Park, but will not directly result in any land use development. The Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) assumes that activities within existing roadways and previously improved areas will be covered. However, subsequent discretionary actions outside of these areas may be subject to separate a CEQA review. When specific improvements are engineered, they will be analyzed at a project level in future CEQA documents as needed. Future BIP development projects will also require separate CEQA review. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, one of three tribes contacted for AB 52 consultation, provided specific feedback regarding mitigation steps identified should cultural resources be discovered in the future. Yocha Dehe requests have been incorporated into the IS/MND as mitigation measures. Planning Commission Recommendations: At its April 13, 2017 meeting, the Planning Commission unanimously passed a resolution recommending that City Council certify the IS/MND and adopt the TEC Plan with the recommended changes detailed in Attachment 5. Planning Commission Recommended Revisions to the Public Review Draft Transportation and Employment Center Plan. Economic Development Board (EDB) Recommendations: At its April 19, 2017 meeting the EDB reviewed and discussed the TEC plan and unanimously voted to recommend adoption of the plan with two specific suggestions; that placement of bike paths be limited in the Industrial Park and that business owners of existing buildings not be required, as a result of the adoption of this plan, to pay for frontage improvements to implement the policy of complete streets. Conversely, it is the suggestion of the EDB that complete streets should be applied to new development. Future Actions: Implementation of the Benicia Industrial Park TEC Plan will require action by several departments within the City, including the Community Development, Public Works, and Economic Development. It is important to note that implementation of many of the strategies recommended in this Plan will not immediately result in a comprehensive network of Complete Streets in the Industrial Park. The intent of this Plan is to guide the City in implementing the roadway and signage improvements as grant and other funding opportunities present themselves. It is not the intent of the Plan to require individual property owners to improve their frontages in a piece-meal basis when improving their properties.
When a subdivision or lot split occurs, or the development of the Northern Gateway property moves forward, Chapter 16 of the Benicia Municipal Code (Subdivisions) would apply, and the policies contained in the TEC Plan would guide that work., specifically complete streets and other policies with apply. Over time, implementation of the TEC Plan will result in increased connectivity and more attractive streetscapes. However, initiation of these improvements is anticipated to take several years, possibly decades to secure adequate funding. Alternatively, there are already some improvements that have occurred or are planned in the near future, such as the completion of the bus hub project and the Park Road reconstruction project, represent good examples of the City implementing some of the TEC plan recommendations. In addition, if and when the Northern Gateway property develops, this will likely spur streetscape improvements described for East 2 nd Street. Attachments: 1. Draft Resolution 2. Public Review Draft Benicia Industrial Park Transportation and Employment Center Plan 3. Public Review Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration, Draft Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program, and Response to Comments 4. Comment Letters Received 5. Planning Commission Recommended Revisions to the Public Review Draft Transportation and Employment Center Plan 6. Planning Commission Resolution 17-3 7. Planning Commission April 13 Draft Minutes 8. Economic Development Board April 19 Draft Minutes