The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutO - VMT DATE: February 17, 2023 TO: Adam Schmid, Brookfield Properties FROM: Alex So, Urban Crossroads, Inc. JOB NO: 15256-01 VMT ALMOND AND VALLEY DISTRIBUTION CENTER VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED (VMT) SCREENING EVALUATION Urban Crossroads, Inc. is pleased to provide the following Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Screening Evaluation for the Almond and Valley Distribution Center (Project), which is located at 9813 Almond Avenue in the City of Fontana. PROJECT OVERVIEW It is our understanding that the Proposed Project will consist of the redevelopment of an 11.28-acre property with a single 275,560 square foot (SF) warehouse building (269,560 SF of warehousing space and 6,000 SF of office space with mezzanine space included). For the purposes of VMT screening, a mix of 80% high-cube fulfillment warehouse use and 20% high-cube cold storage warehouse use will be assumed. A preliminary site plan for the Proposed Project is shown in Attachment A. BACKGROUND The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires all lead agencies to adopt VMT as the measure for identifying transportation impacts for land use projects. To comply with CEQA, the City of Fontana adopted their Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) Guidelines for Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and Level of Service Assessment (October 2020) (City Guidelines) (1). This VMT screening evaluation has been developed based on the adopted City Guidelines. VMT SCREENING The City Guidelines describe certain conditions in which a proposed land development project is anticipated to result in a less than significant VMT impact, thereby eliminating the need to conduct a detailed VMT impact analysis. The screening steps described in the City Guidelines are listed below and a land use project needs only to satisfy one of the screening steps to result in a less than significant impact: Adam Schmid, Brookfield Properties February 17, 2023 Page 2 of 5 15256-01 VMT • Step 1: Transit Priority Area (TPA) Screening • Step 2: Low VMT Area Screening • Step 3: Local Serving Project Type Screening • Step 4: Project net daily trips less than 500 Average Daily Trips (ADT) STEP 1: TPA SCREENING Consistent with guidance identified in the City Guidelines, projects located within a Transit Priority Area (TPA) (i.e., within ½ mile of 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, however, may not be appropriate if a project: • Has a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of less than 0.75; • Includes more parking for use by residents, customers, or employees of the project than required by the jurisdiction (if the jurisdiction requires the project to supply parking); • Is inconsistent with the applicable Sustainable Communities Strategy (as determined by the lead agency, with input from the Metropolitan Planning Organization); or • Replaces affordable residential units with a smaller number of moderate- or high- income residential units. Based on the secondary criteria outlined in the City Guidelines, the Project does not meet the secondary criteria of having an FAR at or above 0.75, regardless of the Project being physically located in a TPA. TPA screening step is not met. STEP 2: LOW VMT AREA SCREENING City Guidelines state that projects located within a low VMT generating zone may be presumed to have a less than significant VMT impact absent substantial evidence to the contrary. City Guidelines identify VMT per service population as the appropriate VMT metric for land use projects and an impact threshold of “15% below the baseline County of San Bernardino per service population.”3 The San Bernardino County Transportation Analysis Model (SBTAM) has been utilized to determine the existing VMT per service population generated by the TAZ in which the Project is located (TAZ 53706101). TAZ 53706101 was found to contain moderate levels of industrial 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.”). 3 City Guidelines; Page 16 Adam Schmid, Brookfield Properties February 17, 2023 Page 3 of 5 15256-01 VMT employment consistent with the proposed Project. As obtained from the SBTAM model, TAZ 53706101 generates 45.8 VMT per service population, which is above the 15% below County of San Bernardino baseline VMT per service population or 28.4 VMT per service population4. Low VMT Area screening criteria is not met. STEP 3: LOCAL SERVING PROJECT TYPE SCREENING City Guidelines state that local serving retail with buildings less than 50,000 square feet or other local serving essential services (e.g., day care centers, public schools, medical/dental office buildings, etc.) are presumed to have a less than significant impact absent substantial evidence to the contrary. The proposed Project is not considered a local serving use based on the examples provided in the City Guidelines5. Low Project Type screening criteria is not met. STEP 4: PROJECT NET DAILY TRIPS LESS THAN 500 ADT SCREENING City Guidelines identify projects that generate fewer than 500 average daily trips (ADT) as having a less than significant VMT impact. EXISTING TRAFFIC The site is presently occupied by a trucking company that provides support distribution needs for their shipping partners. There are tractors and trailers stored on-site as well as passenger cars (for employees and drivers). In an effort to understand the existing traffic associated with the current use, traffic counts were collected at the driveway on January 31 through February 2, 2023 (Tuesday through Thursday). The existing site currently generates 411 trip-ends per day as shown in the summary of the count data collected in Table 1. TABLE 1: EXISTING TRIP GENERATION 4 33.42 Countywide baseline average VMT per service population * 0.85 = 28.4 VMT per service population. 5 City Guidelines; Page 13. Land Use In Out Total In Out Total Daily Actual Vehicles: Existing Use Passenger Cars: 5 1 6 4 7 11 150 2-axle Trucks: 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 3-axle Trucks: 2 4 6 3 2 5 75 4+-axle Trucks: 4 12 16 5 3 8 180 Total Trucks:6 16 22 8 6 14 261 Total Trips (Actual Vehicles)1 11 17 28 12 13 25 411 1 Total Trips = Passenger Cars + Truck Trips. AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour Adam Schmid, Brookfield Properties February 17, 2023 Page 4 of 5 15256-01 VMT PROPOSED PROJECT In order to develop the traffic characteristics of the Proposed Project, trip-generation statistics published in the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual (11th Edition, 2021) for High Cube Cold Storage Warehouse (ITE Land Use Code 157) and the High Cube Warehouse Trip Generation Study (WSP, January 2019) were used. Table 2 presents the trip generation rates used to estimate Project generated vehicle trips and Table 3 shows the resulting Project trip generation summary. The proposed Project is anticipated to generate 592 trip-ends per day. TABLE 2: TRIP GENERATION RATES TABLE 3: PROPOSED PROJECT TRIP GENERATION SUMMARY ITE LU AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour Land Use1 Units2 Code In Out Total In Out Total Actual Vehicles: High-Cube Cold Storage Warehouse3 TSF 157 0.085 0.025 0.110 0.034 0.086 0.120 2.120 Passenger Cars (AM-72.7%, PM-75.0%, Daily-64.6%)0.076 0.004 0.080 0.019 0.071 0.090 1.370 2-Axle Trucks (AM-9.5%, PM-8.7%, Daily-12.3%)0.003 0.007 0.010 0.005 0.005 0.010 0.260 3-Axle Trucks (AM-3.0%, PM-2.8%, Daily-3.9%)0.001 0.002 0.003 0.002 0.001 0.003 0.083 4+-Axle Trucks (AM-14.8%, PM-13.6%, Daily-19.2%)0.005 0.011 0.016 0.008 0.008 0.016 0.407 High-Cube Fulfillment Center Warehouse4 TSF -- 0.089 0.033 0.122 0.050 0.115 0.165 2.129 Passenger Cars (AM-84.4%, PM-87.3%, Daily-82.2%)0.079 0.024 0.103 0.040 0.104 0.144 1.750 2-4 Axle Trucks (AM-6.6%, PM-6.7%, Daily-7.6%)0.004 0.004 0.008 0.005 0.006 0.011 0.162 5+-Axle Trucks (AM-9.0%, PM-6.0%, Daily-10.2%)0.005 0.006 0.011 0.005 0.005 0.010 0.217 1 Trip Generation & Vehicle Mix Source: Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), Trip Generation Manual, Eleventh Edition (2021). 2 TSF = thousand square feet 3 Truck Mix: South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD) recommended truck mix, by axle type. Normalized % - With Cold Storage: 34.7% 2-Axle trucks, 11.0% 3-Axle trucks, 54.3% 4-Axle trucks. 4 Vehicle Mix Source: High Cube Warehouse Trip Generation Study, WSP, January 29, 2019. Inbound and outbound split source: ITE Trip Generation Manual, Eleventh Edition (2021) for ITE Land Use Code 154. Daily Land Use Quantity Units1 In Out Total In Out Total Daily Actual Vehicles: High-Cube Cold Storage (20%)55.112 TSF Passenger Cars: 4 0 4 1 4 5 76 2-axle Trucks: 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 3-axle Trucks: 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4+-axle Trucks: 0 1 1 0 0 0 24 Total Truck Trips (Actual Vehicles):0 1 1 0 0 0 46 Cold Storage Total Trips (Actual Vehicles)2 4 1 5 1 4 5 122 High-Cube Fulfillment (80%)220.448 TSF Passenger Cars: 17 5 22 9 23 32 386 2-4 axle Trucks: 1 1 2 1 1 2 36 5+-axle Trucks: 1 1 2 1 1 2 48 Total Truck Trips (Actual Vehicles):2 2 4 2 2 4 84 Fulfillment Total Trips (Actual Vehicles)2 19 7 26 11 25 36 470 Passenger Cars 21 5 26 10 27 37 462 Trucks 2 3 5 2 2 4 130 Total Trips (Actual Vehicles)2 23 8 31 12 29 41 592 1 TSF = thousand square feet 2 Total Trips = Passenger Cars + Truck Trips. AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour Adam Schmid, Brookfield Properties February 17, 2023 Page 5 of 5 15256-01 VMT TRIP GENERATION COMPARISON Table 4 shows the trip generation comparison between the existing and proposed use. TABLE 4: TRIP GENERATION COMPARISON The proposed Project is estimated to generate an additional 181 trip-ends day compared to the existing use, below the City’s screening threshold of 500 ADT. Project net daily trips less than 500 ADT screening step is met. As the Project was found to meet the net daily trips less than 500 ADT screening step, it is presumed to have a less than significant impact. In Out Total In Out Total Daily Actual Vehicles: Existing Use Passenger Cars:5 1 6 4 7 11 150 Trucks:6 16 22 8 6 14 261 Total Existing Trips (Actual Vehicles)11 17 28 12 13 25 411 Proposed Project Passenger Cars:21 5 26 10 27 37 462 Trucks:2 3 5 2 2 4 130 Total Project Trips (Actual Vehicles)23 8 31 12 29 41 592 Net New Trips Passenger Cars:16 4 20 6 20 26 312 Trucks:-4 -13 -17 -6 -4 -10 -131 Net Change in Trips (Actual Vehicles)12 -9 3 0 16 16 181 Note: Negative value represents a reduction in comparison to the Existing use. AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour 15256-01 VMT REFERENCES 1. City of Fontana. Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) Guidelines for Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and Level of Service Assessment . City of Fontana : s.n., October 2020. 2. Institute of Transportation Engineers. Trip Generation Manual. 11th Edition. 2021. 15256-01 VMT ATTACHMENT A PRELIMINARY SITE PLAN 15256-01 VMT