News
RCNU forum focuses on environmental regulations, possible changes to development act
By Michelle Durand, San Mateo Daily Journal
Redwood City currently has no new major development controversies on the horizon but that isn’t stopping some in the community from gearing up for potential changes to the state’s stringent environmental review requirements.
Redwood City Neighbors United, a citizens group formed to fight the Saltworks development on the former Cargill site, is hosting a public forum Wednesday night on proposed tweaks to the California Environmental Quality Act. Speakers include environmental attorney Susan Brandt-Hawley and Bruce Reznik, executive director of the nonprofit Planning and Conservation League.
The forum is a way for the public and members of RCNU to get a handle on the 10 CEQA bills currently pending in the state Legislature, according to President Dan Ponti.
“It’s important that the community hear from experts who really know CEQA and fully understand how changes to the law could impact Redwood City,” Ponti said. “There are a lot of myths out there about what CEQA does and doesn’t do.”
The group holds forums a few times annually with topics pertaining to the Saltworks plan, such as January’s meeting with a former member of the Army Corps of Engineers over jurisdictional determination. However, this forum’s topic, CEQA, goes far beyond any one project.
CEQA is invoked in several forms for potential developments, from full-fledged environmental impact reports down to lower levels of review like mitigated negative declarations. City officials use the findings to approve or deny projects or require changes to limit the potential impacts.
Opponents of CEQA argue the laws result in costly litigation and drag projects out for years needlessly.
The proposed state bills threaten to weaken current CEQA requirements by changing the way traffic impacts are analyzed, limiting the analysis for infill projects and restricting the public’s ability to sue for alleged violations, according to Ponti.
The potential changes hit close to home for Ponti and the RCNU because the Saltworks proposal by developer DMB — the primary reason for the group’s inception — has been characterized as “urban infill.” The group opposes such a definition and worries that any CEQA changes regarding infill, among other possibilities, give DMB wider opportunity to successfully push through the mixed-use project.
“It will make it easier for them because certain things won’t need to be scrutinized,” Ponti said.
The plan is currently on hold after DMB withdrew its application. But even without it currently looming, RCNU says now is not the time to soften its stance.
“While there may not be a Saltworks proposal on the table right now it’s very important for the community to be aware of, and weigh in on, actions in Sacramento and elsewhere that could affect our ability to be fully informed about the negative impacts of Saltworks or other irresponsible development projects,” RCNU member Nancy Arbuckle said in a prepared statement.
The group or others interested in CEQA at least have a local ear. State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, chairs the Committee on Environmental Quality and while Ponti said he isn’t certain if the Peninsula leader is fully in their corner, the group did take him on a tour of the Saltworks site and is glad to have someone local in the influential position.
The CEQA forum is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 29 at the Redwood City Public Library community room, 1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City.
