CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act)

A statute that requires state and local agencies to identify the significant environmental impacts of their actions and to avoid or mitigate those impacts, if feasible.  The intent is to make sure decision makers (the City Council, Planning Commission, and other governmental bodies) are fully informed of the potential environmental impacts of a project should it be approved and constructed.  If environmental impacts cannot be mitigated or avoided, the agency must adopt Statements of Overriding Consideration to justify approving a project despite the environmental  impacts. 

Draft EIR

A Draft Environmental Impact Report is arguable the most important CEQA document.  The Draft EIR contains the Project Description, Environmental Studies, and Project Alternatives.  The Environmental Studies typically include a traffic analysis, air quality studies, aesthetics studies, economic impact analysis, impact to school populations, and many other analyses.  The Draft EIR, once complete, is circulated for public comment for a period of 30 to 60 days.  In order to maintained standing to bring legal challenge to the certification of the Final EIR, it is mandatory to submit written comment on the Draft EIR during the public comment period.   

Final EIR

The Final Environmental Impact Report is the version of the EIR which is certified by the approving governmental agency.  The Final EIR contains the responses to the comments received on the Draft EIR during the public comment period.  The certification of the EIR can be appealed within 30 days of its certification.  A lawsuit challenging the validity of the EIR must be filed within this 30 day appeals period. 

TIA - Traffic Impact Analysis

A Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) is generally the most important and polarizing study conducted for any development in California.  The scope of the study is usually dictated by the City where the project is proposed.  The scope tells the Traffic Engineer which intersections to study within the City.  The intersections are studied assuming several different scenarios.  The first is the referred to as Existing Conditions.  Simply put, it's an analysis of the traffic that exists today.  The second scenario is referred to as Existing Plus Project.  Just as it sounds, this is a measurement of the existing traffic with the traffic created by the Proposed Project added.  The third is referred to as Existing Plus Project Plus Reasonably Foreseeable Projects.  This scenario adds the traffic from all of the currently proposed projects within the City, including the Proposed Project, to the existing traffic.  

Intersections are reviewed based upon their Level of Service (LOS).  The scale usually runs from A to F... just like high school.  When there is a significant impact (such as lowering the LOS two degrees or bringing an intersection to failing) mitigation measures or statements of overriding considerations must be adopted by the City in order to approve the Proposed Project.  

We could probably fill 100 pages with the nuances of traffic studies but this represents the general initial setting.  If you have any additional questions please leave a comment or contact us anytime.  

FAR - Floor Area Ratio

The FAR (pronounced F-A-R... don't say "far") is a measurement of project density.  It is the ratio of floor area (square footage of a building or project) to the land area used for the project.  For example, a 30,000 SF building on a 10,000 SF lot has a FAR of 3.0.  FAR is commonly used in zoning documents and prescribes the maximum density allowed in a given zone.  For example, an industrial zoned area within a city may have a maximum FAR of 0.5.  As such, a 100,000 SF piece of land could potentially allow for a maximum building area of 50,000 SF. 

Areas zoned to encourage high density development have higher FARs.  Areas zoned to encourage low density development have low FARs.  For example, an urban area seeking to encourage redevelopment of blighted properties into multi-story mixed-use developments with residential over ground floor retail will require a high FAR.  

Allowable Lot Coverage

This is a measurement which dictates what percentage of a lot may be built upon.  If the lot is 10,000 SF and the Allowable Lot Coverage is 80%, only 8,000 SF of the lot maybe covered with building area.  This does NOT mean that the rest of the lot must be green space.  The rest of the lot can be used for surface parking, landscaping, or other non-habitable structures.