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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAppendix F - Vehicle Miles Traveled Assessment❖ APPENDICES ❖ 7106/Summit Avenue Warehouse Project Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration December 2021 APPENDIX F VMT Assessment 1 IBI Group is a group of firms providing professional services IBI GROUP 18401 Von Karman Avenue – Suite 300 Irvine CA 92612 USA tel 949 833 5588 fax 949 833 5511 ibigroup.com Memorandum To/Attention City of Fontana Date October 28, 2021 From IBI Group Project No 135509 cc Subject Sierra and Summit Warehouse VMT Analysis IBI Group has been retained to prepare a VMT Analysis for the proposed Sierra and Summit Warehouse Project in the City of Fontana, CA. This VMT analysis was prepared in accordance with the City of Fontana Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) Guidelines for Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and Level of Service Assessment (June 2020). This technical memorandum includes a description of the project, as well a four-step screening process: Transit Priority Area (TPA) screening, Low VMT Area Screening, Low Project Type Screening, and Daily Trip screening. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The property, owned by Zecharia Hovav, is encompassed by Sierra Avenue in the west, Summit Avenue to the south, W Casa Grande Drive in the north, and Mango Avenue in the east. The warehouse location is surrounded partially by residential land use to the northwest and southwest of the project site, by additional industrial use to the east of the site, and residential to the west. The main entrance to the warehouse is currently through a driveway on Sierra Avenue, across from Veneto Drive. The City proposes to amend the General Plan land use designation from General Commercial (C- G) to Light Industrial (L-I) and to amend the Zoning land use designation from General Commercial (C-2) to Light Industrial (M-1) in order to construct a new warehouse of approximately 92,380 square feet. This new warehouse would also include an office of approximately 10,000 square feet for a total square footage of 102,380. BACKGROUND The updated California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, which were adopted in December 2018, went into effect on July 1, 2020. These updated guidelines require all lead agencies to adopt VMT as the new measure for identifying transportation impacts for land use projects. VMT has been adopted as the new measure, in place of the previous metric of automobile delay-based level of service (LOS). Further information on the updated guidelines is available in the Technical Advisory on Evaluating Transportation Impacts in CEQA (December 2018), released by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR). The San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) also developed a Recommended Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) Guidelines for Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and Level of Service (LOS) Assessment (SBCTA Guidelines) in July 2019. Based on the SBCTA guidelines, the City of Fontana developed Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines for Vehicle Miles Traveled and Level of Service Assessment, which details the City’s VMT analysis methodology and approved impact thresholds. The VMT screening evaluation presented in this report has been developed following the City’s Guidelines, which were adopted in June of 2020. APPENDIX F IBI GROUP City of Fontana – October 28, 2021 2 PROJECT SCREENING For the purposes of SB 743 compliance, a VMT analysis should be conducted for land use projects, as deemed necessary by the Traffic Division and would apply to projects that have the potential to increase the average VMT per service population compared to the County’s boundary. The SBCTA SB 743 Guidelines provides details on appropriate “screening thresholds” that can be used to identify when a proposed land use project is anticipated to result in a less-than significant impact without conducting a more detailed analysis. Screening thresholds are broken into the following categories:  Transit Priority Area (TPA) Screening  Low VMT Area Screening  Low Project Type Screening  Daily Trip Screening A land use project need only meet one of the above screening thresholds to result in a less-than- significant impact. Transit Priority Area (TPA) Screening Consistent with the City of Fontana’s Guidelines, projects located within a Transit Priority Area (TPA), or a half mile area around an existing “major transit stop”1 or an existing stop along a “high quality transit corridor”2, may be presumed to have a less than significant impact absent substantial evidence to the contrary. This presumption may not be appropriate if the project: 1. Has a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of less than 0.75; 2. Includes more parking for use by residents, customers, or employees of the project than required by the City requirements; 3. Is inconsistent with the applicable Sustainable Communities Strategy (as determined by the lead agency, with input from the Metropolitan Planning Organization); or 4. Replaces affordable residential units with a smaller number of moderate or high-income residential units. Based on the Screening Tool results presented in Attachment A, the Project site is not located within ½ mile of an existing major transit stop, or along a high-quality transit corridor. The TPA screening criteria are not met. Low VMT Area Screening As noted in the City Guidelines, “Residential and office projects located within a low VMT- generating area may be presumed to have a less than significant impact absent substantial evidence to the contrary. In addition, other employment-related and mixed-use land use projects 1 Pub. Resources Code, § 21064.3 ‐ ‘Major transit stop’ means a site containing an existing rail transit station, a ferry  terminal served by either a bus or rail transit service, or the intersection of two or more major bus routes with a  frequency of service interval of 15 minutes or less during the morning and afternoon peak commute periods.  2 Pub. Resources Code, § 21155 (“For purposes of this section, a high-quality transit corridor means a corridor with fixed route bus service with service intervals no longer than 15 minutes during peak commute hours.”). IBI GROUP City of Fontana – October 28, 2021 3 may quality for the use of screening if the project can reasonably be expected to generate VMT per resident, per worker, or per service population that is similar to the existing land uses in the low VMT area”3. The Screening Tool uses the sub-regional San Bernardino County Transportation Analysis Model (SBTAM) to measure VMT performance within San Bernardino County for individual traffic analysis zones (TAZ’s) within each city. The Project’s physical location was inputted into the SBCTA Screening Tool to determine the VMT generated within the respective TAZ as compared to the jurisdictional average inclusive of a particular threshold (e.g., 15% below the San Bernardino VMT service population). As the project is strictly a commercial use space, the VMT metric “PA VMT Per Worker” was selected. The results are displayed in Attachment A, which indicate that the Project is not located within a low VMT area. The Low VMT Area screening criterion is not met. Low Project Type Screening The City Guidelines identify that local serving retail projects with less than 50,000 square feet may be presumed to have a less than significant impact absent substantial evidence to the contrary. Local serving retail include the following:  Supermarket  Restaurant/café/bar  Coffee/donut shop  Dry cleaners  Barbershop  Hair/nails salon  Walk-in medical clinic  Urgent care  Auto repair/tire shop  Gyms/health club  Dance/yoga/fitness/material arts studio In addition to local serving retail, the following uses can also be presumed to have a less than significant impact absent substantial evidence to the contrary as their uses are local serving in nature4:  Local-serving K-12 schools  Local parks  Day care centers 3 City Guidelines, Page 12. 4 City Guidelines, Page 13. IBI GROUP City of Fontana – October 28, 2021 4  Local-serving gas stations  Local-serving banks  Local-serving hotels (e.g. non-destination hotels)  Student housing projects on or adjacent to college campuses  Local-serving assembly uses (places of worship, community organizations)  Community institutions (Public libraries, fire stations, local government)  Local serving community colleges that are consistent with the assumptions noted in the RTP/SCS  Affordable or supportive housing  Assisted living facilities  Senior housing (as defined by HUD) The Low Project Type screening criteria are not utilized. Project Net Daily Trips Less Than 500 ADT Screening Projects that generate fewer than 500 average daily trips (ADT), as stated in actual vehicles, are deemed to not cause a substantial increase in the total citywide or regional VMT and are therefore presumed to have a less than significant impact on VMT. Substantial evidence in support is documented in the City Guidelines.5 Trip generation rates and a summary of daily vehicle trips for the Project are presented in Attachment B of this memorandum. The trip generation rates used for this analysis are based on the trip generation statistics published in the Institute of Transportation Engineer (ITE) Trip Generation Manual (10th Edition, 2017). The Project is forecast to generate a net total of 178 daily vehicle trips (actual vehicles), which would not exceed the City’s screening threshold of 500 ADT resulting in a less than significant impact (see Attachment B). The project would generate 17 trips in the AM peak hour and 19 trips in the PM peak hour. The Project net daily trips less than 500 ADT screening criterion is met. 5 City Guidelines; Page 13 IBI GROUP City of Fontana – October 28, 2021 5 Based on the VMT Screening Analysis, the project would meet the Project Net Daily Trips Less Than 500 ADT Screening criterion, and as such is presumed to have a less than significant impact on VMT. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to email me at mike.arizabal@ibigroup.com. Thank you, Mike Arizabal Senior Transportation Planner IBI Group 6 IBI Group is a group of firms providing professional services IBI GROUP 18401 Von Karman Avenue – Suite 300 Irvine CA 92612 USA tel 949 833 5588 fax 949 833 5511 ibigroup.com REFERENCES 1. Office of Planning and Research. Technical Advisory on Evaluating Transportation Impacts in CEQA. State of California : s.n., December 2018. 2. San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA). Recommended Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines for Vehicle Miles Traveled and Level of Service Assessment. February 2020. 3. City of Fontana Traffic Engineering Division. Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines for Vehicle Miles Traveled and Level of Service Assessment. City of Fontana : s.n., October 2020. 7 IBI Group is a group of firms providing professional services IBI GROUP 18401 Von Karman Avenue – Suite 300 Irvine CA 92612 USA tel 949 833 5588 fax 949 833 5511 ibigroup.com ATTACHMENT A 8 IBI Group is a group of firms providing professional services IBI GROUP 18401 Von Karman Avenue – Suite 300 Irvine CA 92612 USA tel 949 833 5588 fax 949 833 5511 ibigroup.com SBCTA VMT Screening Tool 9 IBI Group is a group of firms providing professional services IBI GROUP 18401 Von Karman Avenue – Suite 300 Irvine CA 92612 USA tel 949 833 5588 fax 949 833 5511 ibigroup.com Attachment B IBI GROUP - October 15, 2019 Unit ADT In Out Total In Out Total Trip Rate1      Warehousing TSF 1.74 0.13 0.04 0.17 0.05 0.14 0.19 Project Trip Generation Size Sierra and Summit Project 102.380 178 13 4 17 5 14 19  Vehicle mix as follows: Passenger Cars (80%), 2‐Axle Trucks (3.34%), 3‐Axle Trucks (4.14%), and 4+‐Axle Trucks (12.52%) P.M. Peak Hour 1Trip rates referenced ITE Trip Generation Manual, 10th Edition for Land Use Code 150 Attachment B ‐ Fontana Warehouse Trip Generation Summary A.M. Peak Hour