Environmental Impact Report
On March 29, 2011, Contra Costa County published a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on our sanctuary proposal. It was the culmination of a year-long process and resulted in a 1,580-page report. The report concluded that no significant environment impacts will result from our sanctuary with the safeguards provided by the mitigations we will be following.
The 23-page Executive Summary of the Draft EIR is available here.
Below is a copy of the letter Sufism Reoriented sent to 2,300 neighbors along with a printed copy of the Executive Summary of the EIR.
April 8, 2011
Dear Neighbor,
You may know that Contra Costa County has been conducting a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on our proposed new sanctuary on Boulevard Way. California law requires that an EIR evaluate whether a building project causes "significant environmental effects which cannot be avoided if the proposed project is implemented." The County's Draft Report has just been published, and we are pleased that it concludes:
"No such impacts were identified in this EIR."
It goes on to say, "Mitigation is provided for all identified impacts, reducing all potential impacts to a less-than-significant level."
This means that the independent experts hired by the County to carefully evaluate our project found no significant negative impacts on the environment inherent in our building plan or construction processes that can't be prevented by carrying out the mitigation measures the County has provided. Mitigation measures are actions the County requires to alleviate an avoidable environmental impact and are a normal part of an EIR.
Needless to say, we are gratified with the outcome of the Report.
We feel it is helpful to everyone in our neighborhood to see the County's analysis of potential environmental impacts of various aspects of our project and how they will be mitigated. Therefore, we're enclosing the Draft EIR's Executive Summary exactly as it was written. We're sending this to you so that:
- You can quickly review the County's analysis and its overall conclusion that our project will have no significant adverse environmental impact on our neighborhood.
- If there are specific issues that concern you personally, you can focus on those sections of the Executive Summary, presented here in the County's own words.
- You can keep the County's Executive Summary for reference in case you hear competing claims about the sanctuary project and you want a handy source for the facts that emerged from the County's professional studies. If you'd like to read the full Draft EIR, the back cover tells you how to obtain it.
Our church has been in this neighborhood for over 35 years and more than 60% of our members live within a half-mile of the sanctuary site. Now and in the future, we want our neighborhood and our larger community to be safe and beautiful for all who live nearby.
Sincerely,
Bob Carpenter, Sanctuary Project Manager
Sufism Reoriented
(925) 788-0976
robert.w.carpenter@gmail.com
Full Text of Letter to the County from Sufism Reoriented Requesting an EIR
On February 3, 2010, Sufism Reoriented’s attorney, Marie Cooper, submitted a letter (see below for the full text) to the Department of Conservation and Development requesting that the County prepare an Environmental Impact Report on our proposed sanctuary instead of the more limited study then underway. Two weeks later, the County approved our request.
We made this request even though the professional environmental consultants we had engaged concluded that any impacts from our project would be relatively light.
An applicant would not normally request an EIR if it were unlikely to be required. But we concluded that it was in our best interest for the County to proceed with an EIR at this time, rather than the smaller environmental study typically deemed sufficient for a project like ours.
- A small cost now, against a potentially large cost later. Even when a project has little environmental impact, the standards are not very high for a member of the public or the County to require an EIR at any point in the process. If an EIR were required after the public hearings, the effect would be very costly to us, both in time and money. In essence, requesting an EIR when we did was like buying insurance. We paid a premium against an unlikely event so in case that event occured, we would not be devastated. Since there was relatively little added cost in time and expense associated with doing an EIR at that stage, we believed it was cost-effective and timely to do an EIR.
- Reassurance of our neighbors. An EIR will help reassure our neighbors that any potential environmental impacts of our new sanctuary will be fully addressed and meet California Environmental Quality Act standards.
- Increased flexibility for the County. An EIR will give County decision makers more flexibility to weigh and balance factual evidence to arrive at the best possible decision regarding our Land Use Permit Application.
Therefore, we decided to request that County proceed with an Environmental Impact Report.
February 3, 2010
Lashun Cross
Senior Planner
Contra Costa County
Dept. of Conservation and Development
651 Pine Street, 3rd Floor, North Wing
Martinez, CA 94553-0095
Re: Sufism Reoriented - Request That County Prepare EIR
Dear Ms. Cross:
I am writing on behalf of Sufism Reoriented, the applicant for the new sanctuary project. We request that the County prepare an EIR for the project even if staff would otherwise prepare a proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Planning Commission’s consideration.
As you know, an EIR must be prepared only when the record contains evidence that there may be unavoidable significant impacts. A Mitigated Negative Declaration is permitted when there is no such evidence. The studies conducted by our consultants have not revealed any unavoidable significant impacts. Experience at the existing sanctuary establishes that the new sanctuary will generate few vehicle trips. Also, the new sanctuary project proposes redevelopment of a developed site in a developed neighborhood. All these factors indicate that a Mitigated Negative Declaration would most likely be appropriate for the project.
However, the new sanctuary has generated controversy among a significant minority of our neighbors, and we want to make sure that all the issues they raise are fully vetted. An EIR would also give the County decision makers more flexibility to weigh and balance evidence and arguments, allowing them to arrive more easily at the best possible decision in this matter.
We understand that preparation of an EIR would involve more time and effort than would preparation of a Mitigated Negative Declaration, and Sufism Reoriented confirms its commitment to pay all reasonable processing costs, including those associated with an EIR. We also understand that the decision regarding what document to prepare lies solely in the County’s hands. We make this request to alert the County to our position, confirm our agreement to pay costs, and explain why an EIR would be appropriate.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Sincerely yours,
Marie A. Cooper, Bingham McCutchen LLP
Next Steps
The Department of Conservation and Development published the Draft EIR on March 29. The 45-day public comment period closed May 27. The County is now preparing a Final EIR, which will include responses to comments received during the comment period and the results of any additional studies that may be needed. The Draft and Final documents together will comprise the EIR for our project.
Certification of the EIR occurs at a meeting presided over by a County Zoning Administrator, who must certify that the EIR meets California Environmental Quality Act standards for an EIR. That meeting is expected to take place this summer.
Finally, the County Planning Commission will consider whether to approve our Land Use Application.