HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-10-01; Orion Center Project Update; |Gomez, Paz| Barberio, Gary|To the members of the:
CITY COUNCIL
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Oct. 1, 2020
Council Memorandum
To: . Honorable Mayor Hall and Members of the City Council
From: Paz Gomez, Deputy City Manager, Public Works
Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager, C~nity Services
Via: Geoff Patnoe, Assistant City Manager C:::1 -
Re: Orion Center Project Update
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Carlsbad .
Memo ID #2020203
This memorandum provides an update on the status ofthe Orion Center Project, Capital
Improvement Program (CIP) Project No. 3572 (project), which will construct a maintenance and
operations facility that will house Public Works Branch and Parks Department field staff.
Background
Since the last project update submitted on May 9, 2019, Public Works staff has been working
diligently with Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects, Inc. (RNT) and Griffin Structures, Inc. (GSI)
to address regulatory and other comments raised by Community Development staff regarding
the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application, which was originally submitted in December ·
2018. The comments were related to stormwater treatment and control, landscaping, fire
safety and traffic impacts and mitigation.
Over the course of the year, city staff worked with the consultants to address potential impacts
and develop appropriate mitigation measures and project modifications to ensure the project
complied with appropriate land use regulations; in particular, traffic impacts.
In late 2019, staff was finalizing the draft environmental document to prepare for public review.
The mitigation measures that were identified to address traffic impacts included payment of a
fair-share contribution toward the cost of extending the left-turn lanes at the intersections of El
Camino Real/Faraday Avenue and El Camino Real/Palomar Airport Road.
However, on Jan. 21, 2020, staff informed the City Council that the city's Climate Action Plan
(CAP) contained an incorrect calculation of the vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and for that
reason, the CAP was "unqualified" as a mitigation tool to address and mitigate project-level
impacts resulting from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Because the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) determination for the Orion Center Project relied on the CAP to address
GHG impacts, the project could not move forward until either a site-specific GHG analysis was
prepared or the CAP deficiencies were addressed.
Public Works Branch
Faraday Center 1635 Faraday Ave I Carlsbad, CA 92008 I 760-602-2730
J Council Memo -Orion Center Project Update
Oct. 1, 2020
Page 2
On June 16, 2020, the City Council adopted new Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) standards
pursuant to state law and, on July 14, 2020, the City Council approved a revised CAP, which
resulted in a qualified CAP that could again be used to address project-level GHG impacts.
On Sept. 21, 2020, the consulting team submitted updated traffic impact reports and studies to
show compliance with the new standards, which are currently being reviewed by staff.
Next Steps
Staff anticipates that the project application, revised reports and updated environmental
document will be deemed complete and subsequently posted for public review in early
December. The revised timeline is as follows:
January 2021 Post CUP application and environmental document for public review
March/April 2021 Planning Commission approval of CUP
May/June 2021 Request City Council approval of bridging documents
October 2021 Request City Council approval of design-build contract
August 2022 Design-builder completes design and permitting for start of construction
December 2023 Estimated completion of construction
cc: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Celia Brewer, City Attorney
Laura Rocha, Deputy City Manager, Administrative Services
Tom Frank, Transportation Director
Kyle Lancaster, Parks & Recreation Director
Jeff Murphy, Community Development Director
Vicki Quiram, Utilities Director
John Maashoff, Public Works Manager
Tim Selke, Parks Services Manager
Babaq Taj, Engineering Manager
James Wood, Environmental Manager
David Padilla, Interim Engineering Manager