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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCD 2022-0022; CARLSBAD DESALINATION PLANT INTAKE AND DISCHARGE MODIFICATIONS; Admin Decision LetterNov.2,2022 Sachin Chawla Poseidon Resources (Channelside) LP 5780 Fleet St., Ste 140 Carlsbad, CA 92008 f3FILE COPY {"Cityof Carlsbad SUBJECT: CD 2022-0022 -CARLSBAD DESALINATION PLANT INTAKE AND DISCHARGE MODIFICATIONS (DEV2022-0139) The City Planner has completed a review of your application for a Consistency Determination (CD 2022- 0022, APNs 210-010-45 and 210-010-49), which modifies aspects of the Carlsbad Desalination Plant. The City originally approved the desalination plant in 2006 and amended that approval in 2009. Those applications associated with the amended approval are EIR 03-05(A)/PDP 00-02(B)/SP 144(J)/DA 05- 0l(A)/RP 05-12(A)/HMP 05-0l(A) -PRECISE DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND DESALINATION PLANT PROJECT. Since the 2009 approval, PDP 00-02(B) was further amended to PDP 00-02(F), SP 144 was repealed, and EIR 03-05 has had several addendums and a supplemental EIR. Review of this project was aided by a Seventh Addendum supplemented by a Sept. 20, 2022, technical memorandum prepared by Dudek. When the desalination plant began operation in 2015, it functioned in tandem with the Encina Power Station and connected to its infrastructure. The power plant was decommissioned in 2018 and its demolition is nearing completion. Since the power station's decommissioning, the desalination plant has been transitioning to stand-alone operations, which requires the phased construction of new facilities to permit independent operation. The purpose of the modifications as considered by CD 2022-0022 is to finalize the transition to permanent stand-alone operations by modifying the existing intake and associated outfall systems in and near the outer basin of Agua Hedionda Lagoon. Project features are generally within the boundaries of the former Encina Power Station, are north of the Carlsbad Aquafarm, and are within a small portion of the lagoon and near the shoreline. The project street address is 4590 Carlsbad Blvd. Project components are within either the Open Space (OS) and Public Utilities (P-U) zones; in some cases, components are split by the zones. On Oct. 5, 2022, the Planning Commission approved project components in the OS Zone (CUP 2022-0010). Acting as Floodplain Administrator, the Planning Commission also approved project modifications in the floodplain (SUP 2022-0006). Project features include: • Install a partially submerged intake system in the Agua Hedionda Lagoon (including new fine screening facility, adjacent deck structure, and a floating boom). A portion of the deck structure is in the P-U Zone, while the rest of the deck, the fine screen facility and boom are in the OS Zone. • Improve an existing access road (e.g., through regrading, retaining wall installation) as needed to maintain access to a dock and the new fine screening facility and deck structure • Install a prefabricated electrical building that matches an existing electrical building • Install a temporary, non-occupied marine research facility to be removed following construction Community Development Department Planning Division I 1635 Faraday Avenue Carlsbad, CA 92008-7314 I 442-339-2600 www.carlsbadca.gov CD.2022-0022-CARLSBAD DESALINATION PLANT INTAKE AND DISCHARGE MODIFICATIONS (DEV2022- 0139} Nov.2,2022 Pa e 2 • Demolish/abandon in-place a marine research shed, gantry crane, intake and discharge channels, and a forebay • Removal of an existing 72-inch feeder pipeline and installation of a new 72-inch intake pipeline (feeder) and vault • Install temporary access and parking along Carlsbad Blvd for and north of the Carlsbad Aquafarm • Replace in kind landscaping removed to accommodate project construction, except within the footprint of project features For those parts of the project within the P-U Zone, the Encina Power Station Precise Development Plan (PDP 00-0~(F}) provides the applicable land use regulations in accordance with Carlsbad Municipal Code Section 21.36.030. In Section VI. D., PDP 00-02(F) permits consistency determinations to be approved for "certain improvements, modifications, maintenance activities or other future approvals [that] may be considered minor in nature and found to be consistent with the PDP. In these circumstances, building permits may be issued without formal amendment to the PDP. The process to determine consistency with the PDP shall be according to Planning Division Policy No. 35, Discretionary Permit Consistency Determination, as amended from time to time." After careful consideration of the request and consistent with Planning Division Policy No. 35, the City Planner has determined that the request meets all of the findings below and APPROVES this request. 1) No project condition, feature, facility or amenity is changed or deleted that had been considered essential to the project's design, quality, safety or function in that the project modifications do not materially change the desalination plant's design, function, or appearance. Instead, the project facilitates the transition to a stand-a/one operation of the Claude "Bud" Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant in light of the decommissioning of the Encino Power Station. The project also enables continued use of parts of the former power plant's intake and discharge structures but would modify the screening system and other related infrastructure to minimize intake and mortality of all forms of marine life and thus allow conformity to state requirements (the "Ocean Plan Amendment") adopted in May 2015 by the State Water Resources Control Board for seawater desalination facilities. Overall, the project would upgrade the desalination plant's intake and discharge structures and allow for the continued safety and function of the facility while improving its overall performance and reliability. 2) The request represents an upgrade in overall design features and/or materials and improves upon the project's compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood in that the project represents an upgrade in the Carlsbad Desalination Plant's overall design in that it would allow the facility to operate independently and in compliance. with the state requirements. The project makes no changes to the desalination plant building that houses reverse osmosis and administrative/laboratory functions and is the most visible part of the plant. Project improvements, concentrated in and near a small portion of Agua Hedionda Lagoon and close to Carlsbad Boulevard, are adequately screened from public view due to topography, intervening structures, landscaping, and distance. Project features, for example, are more than 1,500 to 2,400 feet from the nearest residence, which is along Garfield Street on the lagoon's north shore. In addition, a large gantry crane, a component of the former power station, would be removed by the project, which is an aesthetic benefit. Finally, the temporary parking area to serve the CD 2022-0022 -CARLSBAD DESALINATION PLANT INTAKE AND DISCHARGE MODIFICATIONS (DEV2022- 0139) Nov. 2, 2022 Pa e 3 Carlsbad Aqua/arm is situated below the adjacent grade of Carlsbad Boulevard, which would help screen the view of parked cars from the street. 3) The proposed revision does not change the density or boundary of the subject property in that the modified facilities are in the same general area as the existing facilities and the facilities that would be demolished/abandoned in place. 4) The proposed revision does not involve the addition of a new land use not shown on the original permit in that project modifications are accessory to existing permitted uses and remove components of the decommissioned Encina Power Station formerly used by the desalination plant but that are no longer necessary. 5) The proposed revision does not rearrange the major land uses within the development in that project modifications are concentrated in areas primarily in and adjacent to the lagoon where existing similar functions already occur. 6) The proposed revision does not create changes of greater than ten percent provided that compliance would be maintained with the applicable development standards of the Carlsbad Municipal Code. The project does not increase the sizes of major components (e.g., intake and outfall structures). It also complies with applicable standards of the Encina Power Station Precise Development Plan, PDP 00-02(F). These standards include architecture and building materials, height, landscaping, Jot coverage, parking, and setbacks. All parking removed to facilitate project construction, for example, would be replaced. Further, as applicable, the modifications do not create changes of more than ten percent to these standards. 7) The proposed change will not result in any significant environmental impact, and/or require additional mitigation in that the city has reviewed the scope of the project and has determined that none of the requirements in CEQA Guidelines sections 15162 or 15163 calling for the preparation of a subsequent or supplemental EIR have been triggered. The Final EIR and Seventh Addendum, as supplemented by the Dudek September 2022 memorandum, have fully analyzed and mitigated, where feasif,le and in compliance with CEQA, all potentially significant environmental impacts, if any, that would result from the project modifications. Further, that the impacts to the environment because of the modifications are consistent with and would not create substantial new or increased impacts beyond those that were evaluated in the EIR and Addendum. 8) The proposed changes would not result in any health, safety or welfare impacts in that they are consistent with the project description analyzed in the Final EIR and Seventh Addendum, as supplemented by the Dudek September 2022 memorandum. As described above, the project modifications would not result in any new significant impacts and would remain subject to all applicable mitigation and agency permits. Further, project proponents have coordinated with the city regarding construction and operation of a new temporary fire station that wilt be located about 400-feet south of the project and will use the same site entrance on Carlsbad Boulevard as the project. Planning Commission Resolution 7464, which approved CUP 2022- 0022 and SUP 2022-0006, contains a condition requiring project construction and operation to CD 2022-0022 -CARLSBAD DESALINATION PLANT INTAKE AND DISCHARGE MODIFICATIONS (DEV2022- 0139) Nov. 2, 2022 Pa e 4 not interfere with the fire station's operations as well as access to and from the nearby Carlsbad Boulevard entrance. 9) There were not any major issues or controversies associated with the original project which would be exacerbated with the proposed change. The desalination plant's potential impacts to marine resources through the intake and discharge of seawater were an area of controversy associated with the original plant approval in 2006. The project does not alter the plant's fundamental operations and does not increase its use of seawater, flow rate, or the quantity and quality of discharge. Rather, improvements provide for the Desalination Plant's continued operation in compliance with the state's 2015 Ocean Plan Amendment for seawater desalination facilities; thus, impacts to marine life would remain less than significant. Other issues raised during the approval of the plant include its energy use and potential growth-inducing impacts. With respect to energy use, although the operation of the project modifications would increase the total electricity demand, the Seventh Addendum concluded that none of the proposed modifications involve new significant impacts related to energy. Further, as a condition of approval through the California Coastal Commission's permitting process, an Energy Minimization and GHG Reduction Plan was created for the desalination plant that describes multiple aspects of the plant that minimize energy use. Additionally, on Sept. 8, . 2022, the Coastal Commission approved the project modifications with conditions pursuant to coastal development permit 9-22-0535. With respect to growth inducement, the modifications would not directly alter the average daily potable water output of 50 MGD that was analyzed in the Final EIR and previously approved by the city. 10) The proposed changes would not be readily discernable to the decision makers as being substantially different from the project as originally approved in that they do not alter the approved desalination plant building layout and appearance, nor change the site area, boundaries, or location of the desalination plant and its main infrastructure. The project would be located adjacent to existing plant infrastructure (e.g., intake pump station, seawater intake and discharge facilities and pipes) and are not readily visible to the public due to topography, intervening structures, landscaping and distance. Furthermore, the deck that is part of the fine screening facility and is partially located in the P-U Zone would have a lower vertical profile than the existing gantry crane that would be demolished and removed by the project. Where possible, above grade structures and pipes, including the electrical building and retaining walls near it and the widened access road, would be painted to blend with the surrounding area. Further, parking removed to accommodate construction would be replaced. Likewise, landscaping removed to accommodate project construction, except within the footprint of project features, would be replaced in kind and would continue to provide screening and aesthetic benefits. CD 2022-0022 -CARLSBAD DESALINATION PLANT INTAKE AND DISCHARGE MODIFICATIONS (DEV2022- 0139) Nov.2,2022 Pa e 5 NOTICE Please take NOTICE that approval of your project includes the "imposition" of fees, dedications, reservations, or otlier exactions hereafter collectively referred to for convenience as "fees/exactions." You have 90 days from the date of final approval to protest imposition of these fees/exactions. If you protest them, you must follow the protest procedure set forth in Government Code Section 66020(a), and file the protest and any other required information with the City Manager for processing in accordance with Carlsbad Municipal Code Section 3.32.030. Failure to timely follow that procedure will bar any subsequent legal action to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul their imposition. You are hereby FURTHER NOTIFIED that your right to protest the specified fees/exactions DOES NOT APPLY to water and sewer connection fees and capacity charges, nor planning, zoning, grading or other similar application processing or service fees in connection with this project; NOR DOES IT APPLY to any fees/exactions of which you have previously been given a NOTICE similar to this, or as to which the statute of limitations has previously otherwise expired. This decision may be appealed by you or any other member of the public to the Planning Commission within ten days of the date of this letter. Appeals must be submitted in writing to the Planning Division at 1635 Faraday Avenue in Carlsbad, along with a payment of $847. The filing of such appeal within such time limit shall stay the effective date of the order of the City Planner until such time as a final decision on the appeal is reached. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel to contact Scott Donnell at (442) 339-2618. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact your project planner, Scott Donnell at 442-339-2618. CITY OF CARLSBAD ERIC LARDY, AICP City Planner EL:SD:JC c: Eric Leuze, Cabrillo Power I LLC, 4600 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad, CA 92008 David Rick, Project Engineer Laserfiche/File Copy Data Entry