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HomeMy WebLinkAbout13-054 - Resolutions RESOLUTION NO. 13-054 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA DECLARING CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY INTERESTS NECESSARY FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES AND AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION OF PORTIONS OF THE REAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 7221 ACORN PLACE IN THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA AND IDENTIFIED AS SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY ASSESSOR'S PARCEL NO.: 0227-693-52, FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES, NAMELY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERSTATE 15 AND BASE LINE ROAD/BASELINE AVENUE INTERCHANGE PROJECT IN THE CITIES OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA AND FONTANA THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA DOES HEREBY FIND, DETERMINE, ORDER AND RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. The City of Rancho Cucamonga is a municipal corporation, in the County of San Bernardino, State of California. Section 2. The City of Rancho Cucamonga is authorized to exercise its respective powers of eminent domain to acquire the property interests described in Section 3 of this Resolution, under a joint powers agreement entered into by and between the City of Rancho Cucamonga and the City of Fontana on February 26, 2013, pursuant to Articles 1 through 4 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5, Division 7, Title 1 of the Government Code of the State of California and Sections 12, and California Code of Civil Procedure Sections 1240.140(a) and (b). Because Interstate 15, where it intersects with Base Line Road in the City of Rancho Cucamonga and with Baseline Avenue in the City of Fontana is a State Highway, the California Transportation Commission ("CTC") is the body authorized to consider the adoption of the Resolutions of Necessity. On March 29, 2013, the California Department of Transportation ("Caltrans") authorized the City Council for the City of Rancho Cucamonga to conduct a hearing on the Resolution of Necessity and to adopt the Resolution of Necessity by a 4/5ths vote of the City of Rancho Cucamonga City Council. The property interests described in Section 3 of this Resolution that the City of Rancho Cucamonga seeks to acquire are for a public use, namely to alleviate existing and future traffic congestion at on-ramps and off-ramps during peak morning and evening hours within the proposed Project limits, to accommodate current and future automobile and truck traffic, and to alleviate unsatisfactory conditions associated with the existing Interchange configuration at the Interstate 15 Interchange at Base Line Road in the City of Rancho Cucamonga and at Baseline Avenue in the City of Fontana ("proposed Project"), and for all purposes necessary and convenient thereto in connection with the proposed Project pursuant to the authority conferred upon the City of Rancho Cucamonga to acquire property by eminent domain by California Constitution Article 1, Section 19; California Government Code Sections 6500, 37350, 37350.5, 37351, 40401, and 40404, California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1230.010, et seq. (Eminent Domain Law), including, but not limited to Sections 1240.010, 1240.020, 1240.050, 1240.110, 1240.120, 1240.130, 1240.140 (a) and (b), 1240.250, 1240.350, 1240.410, 1240.420, 1240.510, 1240.530, 1240.610, 1240.640, 1240.650; Streets and Highways Code Sections 102, 114 and 130, and other provisions of the law. Section 3. The City of Rancho Cucamonga seeks to acquire abutter's rights which include air, light and view and abutter's access rights from the real property commonly known as 7221 Acorn Place, in the City of Rancho Cucamonga and identified as San Bernardino County Assessor's Parcel Number 0227-693-52 in connection with the proposed Project ("Subject Property Interests.") The legal descriptions of the Subject Property Interests are attached as Exhibit "A" and depicted on Exhibit "B" to this Resolution of Necessity. Exhibits "A" and "B" are incorporated herein by this reference. The real property has a gross land area of 8,474 square feet and is irregular in shape. It is improved with a single family residence, which will not be physically impacted by the proposed acquisition because no land or improvements will be acquired as part of the proposed Project. Section 4. The proposed acquisitions of the Subject Property Interests are for a public purpose, namely to improve operational standards, enhance safety characteristics, and to provide increased traffic capacity at the Base Line Road and Interstate 15 Interchange in the Cities of Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana, which include: • Widening Base Line Road from four to six lanes and adding right and left turn lanes at East Avenue in the City of Rancho Cucamonga; • Widening East Avenue from two to four lanes and adding right and left turn lanes at Base Line Road; • Realigning and widening the Southbound and Northbound diamond ramps from one to two lanes; • Adding a Southbound Loop on-ramp, and • Adding Interstate 15 acceleration and deceleration lanes. The primary operational deficiency associated with the existing interchange is caused by the interchange's geometric constraints and inadequate capacity. The intersection of Base Line Road and East Avenue bisecting the diamond interchange between the Southbound and Northbound Interstate 15 ramp intersections results in a large queue of vehicles on Base Line Road. Due to short separations between the three intersections and delays caused by many signal phases, especially for left turn movements to the Interstate 15 ramps for Westbound traffic in the morning peak hours and Eastbound traffic in the evening peak hours, there is heavy queuing on Base Line Road. The queuing on Base Line Road during these peak hours, results in heavy queuing on the exit ramps, which includes heavy queuing for the Northbound exit ramp in the evening peak hours and for the Southbound exit ramp in the morning peak hours. The queuing at the exit ramps during the peak hours also leads to traffic backing up on the Interstate 15 mainline. Alternatives Considered for the proposed Project The City of Rancho Cucamonga analyzed the relative effectiveness of three proposed project alternatives and a no-build alternative, to accommodate forecasted year 2030 traffic at the Interchange. Alternative 1, the no-build alternative showed that if there were no improvements made to the Interchange, the levels of service for traffic circulation in 2030 would be LOS "F," which is the worst possible level of service, and there would be a substantial increase in traffic accidents. Alternative 3, the cloverleaf, proposed the construction of two cloverleafs, one cloverleaf would be located in the northeast quadrant of the Interchange and the other cloverleaf would be located in the southeast quadrant of the Interchange. Resolution No. 13-054 - Page 2 of 9 Alternative 3 was not considered a viable alternative because not only did it have significant design and operational issues, it would have required the acquisition of right-of-way in the northeast quadrant of the Interchange. The acquisition of the right-of-way in the northeast quadrant would have resulted in significant impacts to current and future planned residential and commercial development. Alternative 2, partial cloverleaf, and Alternative 4, preferred alternative, were both considered as proposed projects. They had similar design features except for the following modifications to Alternative 4: • Base Line Road would be widened slightly more on the southerly side; • The Northbound Loop entrance ramp would be replaced by Eastbound dual left turn lanes to the Northbound Interstate 15 freeway; The Diamond entrance ramp would be widened to receive dual left turns from Eastbound Base Line Road left lanes; • The Northbound exit ramp that utilizes existing East Avenue undercrossing bridge would need to be widened to accommodate the two lane exit; and Two new bridges and one widened bridge would be required to be constructed. Alternative 4 was developed and selected as the preferred alternative for the Proposed Project because it met the purpose and need for the Interchange improvements and it eliminated the need for the acquisition of commercial buildings and the acquisition and relocation of fourteen (14) businesses in the southeast quadrant of the Interchange. General Plan and Specific Plan Compliance Base Line Road is currently a four-lane roadway within the proposed Project limits. Because of recent and future planned housing, retail and commercial developments in the cities, improvements to Base Line Road and the Interstate 15 Interchange are necessary to accommodate population growth and the resulting increase in traffic demands. The Cities of Rancho Cucamonga's and Fontana's Circulation Elements of their respective General Plans specify that Base Line Road is intended to be a six to eight lane major highway or arterial within the proposed Project limits, and is intended to provide efficient high volume traffic flow within their Cities and the region. The proposed Project conforms to the City of Rancho Cucamonga's Circulation Elements of its General Plan, General Plan Amendment and Etiwanda Specific Plan, which require that Base Line Road be a six-lane Major Divided Highway within the proposed Project limits. Base Line Road in the City of Rancho Cucamonga is currently improved with four lanes within the proposed Project limits. The City of Rancho Cucamonga's General Plan specifies that six lanes within the proposed Project limits are sufficient to meet local and regional circulations needs for future growth. The proposed Project also conforms to the City of Fontana's Circulation Elements of its General Plan and West End Specific Plan, which identifies Baseline Avenue as a major east-west highway, which can accommodate six to eight lanes of travel and allowing for raised medians. Baseline Avenue in the City of Fontana is currently improved with six lanes from Citrus Avenue to Interstate 15. Resolution No. 13-054 - Page 3 of 9 The City of Fontana's General Plan specifies that within the proposed Project limits, it is recommended that arterial segments that are located between freeway ramps and the next parallel facility, on either side of the freeway, such as Baseline Avenue at Interstate 15, be planned with an additional lane in each direction beyond its designated functional classification. These lanes will function as "auxiliary lanes" for more freeway access capacity and more efficient traffic flow between the ramps and the adjacent intersections and can serve as dedicated right turn lanes at the next intersection. Section 5. As a proposed discretionary action by a local agency, the proposed Project is subject to the California Environmental Quality Act Public Resources Code Section 21000, et seq., and the CEQA Guidelines, 14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15000 et seq. ("CEQA.") Further, because the proposed Project will be partially funded by the Federal Government, it is subject to the National Environmental Policy Act NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4332 (2)(c) ("NEPA.") Accordingly, the proposed Project was subject to both federal and state environmental review. Caltrans was the designated lead agency under the current Federal Highway Administration ("FHWA") and Caltrans' stewardship program. Therefore, in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 327, Caltrans was tasked with being the lead agency for CEQA and NEPA compliance and for providing full over-sight on the planning, design and right-of-way acquisition for the proposed Project. As the lead agency for the proposed Project, Caltrans commissioned the preparation of an Initial Study along with a Mitigated Negative Declaration ("IS/MND") as required under CEQA, and an Environmental Assessment along with Finding of No Significant Impacts ("EA/FONSI") as required under NEPA. Caltrans studied and analyzed the potential environmental effects of the proposed Project to identify potentially significant impacts to the environment and to identify the most feasible alternative that would accomplish the basic project objectives while lessening or eliminating any potentially significant project impacts to the environment. Pursuant to the requirements under CEQA and NEPA, checklists were utilized in order to identify physical, biological, social and economic factors that might be affected by the proposed Project. In many cases, background studies performed in connection with the proposed Project indicated no impacts under CEQA and NEPA. The following factors were identified as having less than significant impact and were studied further for the purposes of the proposed Project: Visual/Aesthetics Review, Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Materials, Air Quality, NPDES/Water Quality, and Noise. Visual/Aesthetics Review For visual and aesthetics' review, compliance with CEQA requires, at a minimum, that a Scenic Resource Evaluation be conducted. Under NEPA, a Visual Impact Assessment (VIA) is required to assess visual impacts of the proposed Project. A VIA, dated February 2011, was prepared as part of the proposed Project to satisfy the requirements of both CEQA and NEPA. The VIA assessed the potential visual impacts and analyzed any potential changes of views of or from Interstate 15 and Base Line Road by the proposed Project. After performing extensive study and review, the VIA discussed the impacts of the proposed alternatives and made recommendations that certain measures be implemented in order to avoid, minimize or mitigate adverse visual impacts. The measures recommended in the VIA have been considered as part of the design and construction of the proposed Project. Resolution No. 13-054 - Page 4 of 9 Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Materials An Initial Site Assessment (ISA) dated March 2007 along with a Supplemental Initial Site Assessment dated March 2011 (SISA) were prepared in order to assess the potential for hazardous waste and materials as part of the proposed Project. After having performed assessments, further study and multiple testing to determine the nature and extent of the potential for hazardous waste and materials within the proposed Project limits, certain handling recommendations were made in order to address Aerially Deposited Lead (ADL) and asbestos containing materials (AGMs). In addition, a Limited Site Investigation was conducted to test for herbicides, pesticides, and metals associated with the applications of herbicides and pesticides during the operation of a former nursery within the proposed Project limits, there were no recommendations for further investigations of this former agricultural site. Air Quality and NPDES/Water Quality An Air Quality Analysis, dated February 2011, was prepared to review potential air quality issues associated with the proposed Project, and a storm water data report was prepared and approved by Caltrans on June 1, 2011 to consider water quality impacts of the proposed Project. Based on the findings of the analysis and report, no mitigation measures were needed for Air Quality and NPDES/water quality impacts as part of the proposed Project. Noise A Noise Abatement Decision Report (NADR) was prepared and approved on both March 4, 2011 and March 8, 2011. Based on the NADR, when compared with Alternative 1-no build alternative, the noise levels of Alternatives 2 and 4 were expected to only increase by no more than 3dBA. Therefore, this increase in noise would not be perceptible to the human ear in an outdoor environment. Therefore, sound barriers were not recommended for Alternative 4 under CEQA and NEPA standards. However, Caltrans requested, and the City of Rancho Cucamonga committed to the construction of a sound barrier (SB No. 4) at a height of approximately 14 feet adjacent to the off-ramp in the Northwest quadrant of the Interchange within the proposed Project limits. The purpose of which was to address potential noise impacts to the residences in the adjacent subdivision associated with the new location of the off-ramp in the northwest quadrant of the Interchange. Additional NEPA Requirements In addition to the above matters, NEPA also required consideration of Title VI, Independent Utility/Logical Termini and Environmental Justice. Mitigation Requirements under CEQA and NEPA The proposed Project would have no significantly adverse effect on natural communities or wetlands or other waters within the proposed Project limits, because the following mitigation measures were required to reduce the potential effects to insignificance: • Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification permit from the Regional Water Quality Control Board; • Section 1602 Streambed Alteration Agreement from the California Department of Fish and Game; Resolution No. 13-054 - Page 5 of 9 • United States Army Corps of Engineers Section 404 Nationwide Permit No. 14; and • Air Quality Conformity Analysis Determination. The Air Quality Conformity Analysis Determination letter was issued by FHWA (Federal Highway Commission) on June 15, 2011. With regard to the remaining mitigation measures, there was the option of either purchasing mitigation credits from an off-site mitigation bank or participation in an in-lieu fee program; however, final determination would be made by the applicable resource agency. Approval of the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Findinq of No Significant Impacts The Mitigated Negative Declaration and the Finding of No Significant Impacts along with the mitigation requirements previously identified, were approved on September 30, 2011. The Notices of Availability were distributed to federal, state, regional and local agencies, and certain elected officials and property owners and were published in the appropriate publications on September 30, 2011. There have been no challenges to the IS/MND and EA/FONSI. Section 6. The City Council of the City of Rancho Cucamonga hereby finds and determines that: A. The public interest and necessity require the Project; B. The Project is planned and located in the manner that will be most compatible with the greatest public good and least private injury; C. The property described on Exhibit "A" and depicted on Exhibit "B" attached hereto is necessary for the proposed Project; D. The offer required by Section 7267.2 of the Government Code was made to the owners of record. Section 7. The City has complied with the notice requirements of Code of Civil Procedure Section 1245.235. Section 8. The findings and declarations contained in this Resolution are based upon the record before the City Council on May 1, 2013, which includes the Staff Report dated May 1, 2013 and all documents referenced therein, including the environmental documents referenced above, and any testimony, records, and documents produced at the hearing, all of which are incorporated herein by this reference. Section 9. The City Council of the City of Rancho Cucamonga hereby authorizes and directs the City Attorney's office and staff to take all steps necessary to commence and prosecute legal proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to acquire by eminent domain the property described on Exhibits "A" and "B" attached hereto. Section 10. This Resolution shall take effect upon adoption. please see the following page for formal adoption,certification and signatures Resolution No. 13-054 - Page 6 of 9 PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 1' day of May 2013. AYES: Alexander, Michael, Spagnolo, Steinorth, Williams NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAINED: None L. ennis Michael, Mayo ATTEST: OicegC. Reynolds, City ClUrk I, JANICE C. REYNOLDS, CITY CLERK of the City of Rancho Cucamonga, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly passed, approved and adopted by the City Council of the City of Rancho Cucamonga, California, at a Regular Meeting of said City Council held on the 1't day of May 2013. Executed this 2nd day of May 2013, at Rancho Cucamonga, California. J ce C. Reynolds, City Cl rk Resolution No. 13-054 - Page 7 of 9 EXHIBIT "A" PARCEL 22681-1 THIS CONVEYANCE IS MADE FOR THE PURPOSE OF A FREEWAY AND THE GRANTOR HEREBY RELEASES AND RELINQUISHES TO THE GRANTEE ANY AND ALL ABUTTER'S RIGHTS, INCLUDING ACCESS RIGHTS APPURTENANT TO GRANTOR'S REMAINING PROPERTY, OVER AND ACROSS THE EASTERLY LINE OF LOT 52 OF TRACT NO. 16776, IN THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA, COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, ON FILE IN BOOK 320, PAGES 95 THROUGH 100 OF TRACT MAPS, IN THE OFFICE OF THE ' COUNTY RECORDER OF SAID COUNTY, MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF SAID LOT; THENCE NORTH 00003'38" WEST 66.30 FEET ALONG SAID EASTERLY LINE TO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF SAID LOT. ALL AS SHOWN ON EXHIBIT"B",ATTACHED HERETO AND BY THIS REFERENCE MADE A PART HEREOF. THE BEARINGS AND DISTANCES USED IN THE ABOVE DESCRIPTION ARE BASED ON THE CALIFORNIA COORDINATE SYSTEM(NAD83),ZONE 5, 1992.88 EPOCH. 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