By: Libi Uremovic | Original Article at patch.com
State Law requires California cities and counties to prepare and file General Plans. General Plans usually take 2-3 year to prepare the General Plan and Environmental Impact Report Findings. The City of Beaumont’s General Plan was last updated in March, 2007, when the City’s population was 20,000 people. Beaumont’s Planning Commission has not even acknowledged the General Plan that they only have one year to prepare.
Aside from the looming deadline; the major obstacle to Beaumont’s General Plan are the forged and politically motivated statements that were written into Beaumont’s 2007 General Plan.
California Government Code 65300: “Each planning agency shall prepare and the legislative body of each county and city shall adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city..”
California Government Code 65300.5: “In construing the provisions of this article, the Legislature intends that the general plan and elements and parts thereof comprise an integrated, internally consistent and comatible statement of policies for the adopting agency.”
California Government Code 65302: “The general plan shall consist of a statement of development policies and shall include a diagram or diagrams and text setting forth objectives, principals, standards, and plan proposals. The plan shall include the following elements:
(a) A LAND USE ELEMENT that designates the proposed general distribution and general location ad extent of the uses of the land for housing, business, industry, open space, including agriculture, natural resources, recreation, and enjoyment of scenic beauty, education, public buildings and grunds, solid and liquid waste disposal facilities, and other categories of public and private uses of land.
(b) A CIRCULATION ELEMENT consisting of the general location and extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, and any military airports and ports, and other local public utilities and facilities, all correlated with the land use element of the plan.
(c) A HOUSING ELEMENT as directed in California Govt. Code 65580
(d) A CONSERVATION ELEMENT for the conservation, development, and utilization of natural resources including water and its hydraulic force, forests, soils, rivers and other waters, harbors, fisheries, wildlife, minerals, and other natural resources.
(e) AN OPEN-SPACE ELEMENT as directed by California Govt. Code 65560
(f) A NOISE ELEMENT that shall identify and appraise noise problems in the community.
(g) A SAFETY ELEMENT for the protection of the community from any unreasonable risks (3) Risk of Fire
California Government Code 65400:
After the legislative body has adopted all or part of the general plan, the planning agency shall do both of the following:
Investigate and make recommendations to the legislative body regarding reasonable and practical means for implementing the general plan
Provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to the legislative body, the Office of Planning and Research, and the Department of Housing and Community Development that includes all of the following:
The status of the plan and progress in its implementation.
The progress in meeting its share of regional housing needs determined pursuant to Section 65584.
Page 105: “Additional groundwater recharge is proved by the City of Beaumont’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, which as recently expanded to accommodate up to 2.0 million gallons per day of flows. The City estimates that up to 2,240 acre feet per year of recycled wastewater re made available to the community through this Plant’s operation.”
Page 106: “Major water distributors and consumers have no major problem or threatening water quality problems at the present time.”
Page 106: “There is a potential for contamination in the Cherry Valley areas since there is a relatively dense population and no sewer service.”
FIRE PROTECTION
Page 115: “Station No. 66 ….one full service fire engine. An additional fire engine are housed at this station…”
Page 115: “Station No. 20 .. is also staffed year-round by the California Department of Forestry.”
Page 116: “Three additional stations are located in nearby areas.”
POLICE PROTECTION
Page 116: “The Police Dept. is administered by a Chief of Police, and one Lieutenant, four Sergeants, and thirteen Police Officers.”
HOSPITAL/HEALTHCARE
Page 117: “The services are currently provided by the San Gorgonio Memorial Healthcare District at an existing hospital facility located in Banning.”
WASTEWATER
“The City estimates that up to 2,240 acre-feet of recycled wastewater are made available to the community through this plant’s operation on an annual basis.”
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (EIR)
Page 135: IMPACTS IDENTIFIED IN THE EIR AS LESS-THAN SIGNIFICANT REQUIRING NO MITIGATION
“Based on substantial evidence and analysis contained in the final EIR, the Council hereby finds that the following issues have no potential to cause significant impact and therefore require no Project-specific mitigation.”
2. POPULATION AND HOUSING
Page 138: “The analysis concludes and this Council finds, that the potential for the General Plan Update to directly or indirectly induce substantial population growth is less-than-significant. No mitigation is required.”
PUBLIC SERVICES AND UTILITIES
b. Wastewater Treatment
Page 155: “..ongoing, incremental expansion of the City’s existing wastewater treatment facilities, supported by established financing mechanisms, will reduce potential impacts to a less-than-significant level. No mitigation is required.”
c. Landfill Capacity
Page 156: “.. based on compliance with adopted Source Reduction and Recycled Element (SRRE) target waste reduction and recycled goals, and proper management of disposal of waste streams within the County, the implementation of the General Plan Update to exceed permitted landfill capacities is considered less than significant.”
13 TRANSPORTATION AND CIRCULATION
Roadway Levels of Services
Potential Significant Impact: Degradation of Roadway Levels of Services
Page 157: “… the potential for the General Plan Update to substantially degrade roadway levels of services is considered less than significant.”
b. Parking
Potential Significant Impact: Inadequate parking
Page 158: “..potential for adoption and implementation of the General Plan Update to result in inadequate or improper parking facilities is considered less than significant.”
14 WATER RESOURCES
Expanded Water Supply
Potential Significant Impact: Require new or expanded water supplies
Page 159: “…potential impacts regarding requirements for new or additional water supplies are therefore determined to be less than significant.”
4. TRANSPORTATION AND CIRCULATION
Roadway Safety Hazards
Potential Significant Impact: Increased safety hazards due to improper roadway design or inadequate emergency access.
Page 163: “… the addition of a new policy to the General Plan Circulation Element, in the form of Mitigation Measure 4.14.1, will ensure that the coordination needed to maintain safe roadway transitions occurs, reducing potential impacts to a less-than-significant level.”
Mitigation Measure 4.14.1 Policy Statement: “The City of Beaumont will work cooperatively with the County of Riverside and the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) to reconcile differences in roadway systems by amending the RCIP system when the opportunity arises.”
5. WATER
Groundwater Supplies
Potential Significant Impact: “Substantially deplete groundwater supplies or interfere substantially with groundwater recharge such that there would be a net deficit in aquifer vole or a lowering of the groundwater table level.”
Page 164: “… Mitigation Measure 4.15.1, and applicable Implementation Programs, shall be included in the General Plan Update, and will ensure potentially significant impacts to groundwater resources are reduced to a less than significant level.”
C. IMPACTS ANALYZED IN THE EIR AND DETERMINED TO BE SIGNIFICANT AND UNAVOIDABLE
AIR QUALITY
Short-Term, Construction-Related Impacts
Page 165: “Cumulated construction-related emissions will remain significant and unavoidable. This impact is overridden by the Project benefits..”
b. Long-Term, Mobile, and Stationary Source Impacts
“These impacts are overridden by the Project benefits…”