SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1223 07394 0158 340 - 350 FREMONT STREET Final Environmental Innpact Report Planning Department Case No. 2004.0552E DOCUMENTS Draft EIR Publication Date: DEPT. March 25, 2006 Draft EIR Public Hearing Date: April 27, 2006 SEP 2 2 2006 Draft EIR Public Comment Period: SAN FRANCISCO March 25 to April 28, 2006 PUBLIC LIBRARY Final EIR Certification Date: June 15, 2006 REF 711 .4097 T41384f Government Information Center San Francisco Public Library 100 Larkin Street. 5th Floor San Francisco, CA 94102 REFERENCE BOOK Not to be taken from the Library June 15, 2006 FileNo. 2004.0552E, 340-350 Fremont Street Assessor'sBlock3748, Lots 6, 7, 8, 9 SANFRANCISCO CITYPLANNING COMMISSION MOTIONNO. 17266 ADOPTING FINDINGS RELATED TO THE CERTIFICATION OF A FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR A PROPOSED RESIDENTIAL PROJECT, LOCATED AT 340-350 FREMONT STREET IN THE RINCON HILL PLAN AREA, ASSESSOR'S BLOCK 3748, LOTS 6, 7, 8, 9. THE 340-350 FREMONT STREET FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT IS TIERED FROM THE FINAL PROGRAM ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE RINCON HILL PLAN (CASE NO. 2000.1081E; STATE CLEARINGHOUSE NO. 1984061912, CERTIFIED PURSUANT TO CITY PLANNING COMMISSIONMOTION NO. 17007). MOVED, Thatthe SanFranciscoPlanning Commission(hereinafter"Commission") hereby CERTIFIES the FinalEnvironmental ImpactReportidentifiedas case fileNo. 2004.0552E, 340-350Fremont Street(hereinafter"Project")baseduponthe followingfindings: 1) TheCityandCounty ofSanFrancisco, actingthroughthePlanningDepartment(hereinafter"Department") preparedaprogramEERfortheRinconHill Planthatanalyzedpotential impacts associatedwiththe creation ofanew zoningdistrictthatwould encourage thedevelopmentofhigh-rise residentialuses andotherneighborhood improvements inanareaofSanFrancisco generallyboundedby Folsom Street, SteuartStreet, TheEmbarcadero, Bryant Street, Beale Street, theBayBridgeApproach, andtheTransbayTerminal Ramps. a. The 340-350 Fremont Streetprojectiswithinthe scope ofthe projectanalyzedintheRinconHill Final ProgramEIR. ThatprogramEERadequately describes the impacts oftheproposed 340-350 FremontStreetprojectwiththe exception ofproject-specific impacts tohistoric resources. b. ConsequentlytheDepartment determinedthata focusedEIRwas required forthe 340-350 Fremont Streetprojectto analyze theproject's impactsto historic resources, whichwastieredofftheRinconHill Final ProgramEIR. 2) TheDepartmentfulfilled allprocedural requirements ofthe CaliforniaEnvironmental QualityAct(Cal. Pub. Res. Code Section21000 etsefl., hereinafter"CEQA"), the State CEQA Guidelines (Cal. Admin. Code Title 14, Section 15000 et. se^., (hereinafter"CEQA Guidelines") andChapter31 ofthe SanFranciscoAdministrative Code (hereinafter"Chapter31"). a. OnMarch25, 2006, theDepartmentpublishedtheDraftEnvirormiental ImpactReport(hereinafter "DEIR") andprovidedpublicnoticein anewspaperofgeneral circulationofthe availability oftheDEIRforpublic review andcommentandofthe date andtime ofthePlanning Commissionpublic hearing onthe DEIR; this notice was mailedtotheDepartment's listofpersons requesting suchnotice. b. NoticesofavailabilityoftheDEIRandofthe dateandtimeofthepublic hearingwereposted on andneartheprojectsitebyDepartmentstaffonMarch30, 2006. CITY PLANNING COMMISSION FileNo. 2004.0552E, 340-350Fremont Street Assessor'sBlock3748, Lots 6, 7, 8, 9 MotionNo. 17266 PageTwo c. On March 25, 2006, copies ofthe DEIRwere mailed orotherwisedelivered to a listofpersons requesting it, to those noted on the distribution listintheDEIR, to adjacentproperty owners, andto government agencies. 3) The Commissionheld aduly advertisedpublic hearingonsaidDraftEnvirormiental ImpactReportonApril 27, 2006 at which opportunity forpublic commentwas given, andnopublic commentwas receivedonthe DEIR. The period foracceptance ofwrittencomments ended onApril 28, 2006. 4) The Departmentprepared responses to comments onenvironmental issues receivedinwritingduringthe 30-daypublic review period forthe DEIR, preparedrevisions to thetextofthe DEIRinresponse to comments received orbased on additional information thatbecame available duringthepublic reviewperiod, andcorrected errors in the DEIR. This material waspresented ina"DraftComments andResponses" document, publishedonMay 16, 2006 was distributedto the Commission andto allpartieswho commentedontheDEIR, andwas availableto othersuponrequestatDepartmentoffices. 5) A Final Envirormiental ImpactReporthasbeenpreparedbytheDepartment, consistingoftheDraft Environmental ImpactReport, any consultations and comments receivedduringthereview process, any additional informationthatbecame available, and the Summary ofComments andResponses all as requiredbylaw. 6) ProjectEnvironmental ImpactReport files havebeenmade available forreviewbythe Commissionandthe public. These files are available forpublic review attheDepartmentoffices at 1660Mission Street, and arepartofthe recordbefore the Commission. 7) OnJune 15, 2006, the Commissionreviewed andconsideredtheFinalEnvironmental ImpactReportand hereby does find thatthe contents ofsaid reportand theprocedures throughwhichthe Final EnvironmentalImpact Report was prepared, publicized and reviewedcomplywiththeprovisions ofCEQA, the CEQA Guidelines and Chapter31ofthe San FranciscoAdministrative Code. 8) ThePlanning Commissionherebydoes findthattheFinalEnvirormiental ImpactReportconcerningFileNo. 2004.0552E, 340-350 FremontStreetreflects the independentjudgmentand analysis ofthe CityandCountyofSan Francisco, is adequate, accurate and objective, andthatthe Comments andResponsesdocumentcontains no significant revisions to the DEIR, and hereby does CERTIFYTHE COMPLETIONofsaidFinal Environmental ImpactReportin compliance withCEQA andthe CEQAGuidelines. 9) The Commission, incertifyingthecompletion ofsaidFinalEnvironmental ImpactReport, hereby does find that the projectdescribed in theEnvironmental ImpactReport, andtheprojectpreferredby theprojectsponsorwill have a project-specific significanteffectonthe environmentbyresultingin the demolition ofbuildings whichfor purposes ofCEQA areconsidered historic resources. Theprojectwould also resultinacumulative significantimpact to historic resources, because itwould remove two unionhalls thatarepartofagroupofrelatedhistorical maritime unionbuildings on RinconHill. CITYPLANNING COMMISSION FileNo. 2004.0552E, 340-350 Fremont Street Assessor'sBlock 3748, Lots 6, 7, 8, 9 MotionNo. 17266 PageThree IherebycertifythattheforegoingMotionwas ADOPTEDbythePlanning Commissionatitsregularmeeting ofJune 15, 2006. LindaAvery Commission Secretary AYES: Commissioners Alexander, Antonini,Bell,Hughes, S. Lee, W. Lee, Olague NOES: None ABSENT: None ADOPTED: June 15, 2006 Digitized by the Internet Archive 2014 in https://archive.org/details/340350fremontstr1520sanf 340 - 350 FREMONT STREET Final Environmental Innpact Report Planning Department Case No. 2004.0552E Draft EIR Publication Date: March 25, 2006 Draft EIR Public Hearing Date: April 27, 2006 Draft EIR Public Comment Period: March 25 to April 28, 2006 Final EIR Certification Date: June 15, 2006 Changes from the Draft EIR text are indicated by a dot (•) in the left margin (adjacent to the page number forfigures). Thisdocumentprintedonrecycledpaper. 204385 TABLE OF CONTENTS 340-350 Fremont Street Project • Final Environmental Impact Report Page INTRODUCTION iv SUMMARY I. 1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 6 II. A. EIR Requirement and Project Sponsor's Objectives 6 B. Site Location and Project Characteristics 7 C. Approval Requirements and General Plan Policies 8 in. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING AND IMPACTS 20 A. Historical Resources 20 B. Other Issues Discussed in the Rincon Hill Plan FEIR 37 1. Land Use, Plans, and Policies 37 2. Visual Quality 44 3. Transportation 52 4. Shadow 54 5. Wind 60 6. Hazards 60 7. Archaeology 62 8. Growth Inducement 63 9. Geology 64 10. Other Issues 65 IV. MITIGATION MEASURES 67 V. SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS THAT CANNOT BE AVOIDED 76 THE PROPOSED PROJECT IMPLEMENTED IF IS VI. ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED PROJECT 77 A. No Project 77 B. Preservation Alternative 78 C. Partial Preservation Alternative 79 VII. DRAFT EIR DISTRIBUTION LIST 82 • VIII. COMMENTS AND RESPONSES C&R-1 • IX. EIRAUTHORS AND CONSULTANTS CaseNo. 2004.0552E ii 340-350FremontStreet TABLEOFCONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES 1. Project Location 9 2. Ground Floor Plan 10 3. Floor Plan—Level 2 11 — 4. Typical Tower Floor Plan Levels 9-37 12 5. East (Fremont Street) Elevation 13 6. North Elevation 14 7. West Elevation 15 8. South Elevation 16 9. Tower Separation 18 10. Photos of 350 Fremont Street 25 1 1. Photos of 340 Fremont Street 26 12. Visual Simulation: View Looking South on Fremont Street 45 13. Visual Simulation: View Looking North on Fremont Street 46 14. Visual Simulation: View Looking North on Harrison Street 47 15. Visual Simulation: View Looking East on the Bay Bridge Ramp 48 16. Visual Simulation: View Looking West on the Bay Bridge 49 17. Photo Simulation: View from Randall Museum 50 — 18. Shadow Patterns on December 21 10 a.m., Noon, 3 p.m. PST 55 19. Shadow Patterns on March 21—10 a.m., Noon, 3 p.m. PST 56 20. Shadow Patterns on June 21—10 a.m.. Noon, 3 p.m. PST 57 21. Shadow Patterns on September 21—10 a.m.. Noon, 3 p.m. PST 58 C— 22. Alternative Sketch Plan 80 CaseNo. 2004.0552E iii 340-350FremontStreet