REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
July 30, 2015
FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director
Development and Resource Management Department
BY: SOPHIA PAGOULATOS, Planning Manager
Development and Resource Management Department
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to the 2015 Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant
1. ***RESOLUTION -3rd amendment to the Annual Appropriation Resolution (AAR) No. 2015-104 appropriating $175,000 for the Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant (Requires 5 affirmative votes)
2. Authorize the Development and Resource Management Director to accept $175,000 in total grant funding for the Brownfields Area-Wide Planning grant for the Elm Avenue Corridor and execute all related documents applicable to the 2015 Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Approve a resolution adopting Annual Appropriation Resolution appropriating $175,000 for the Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant and authorize the Development and Resource Management Director to accept the grant funding and execute all related documents applicable to the 2015 Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As part of a comprehensive evaluation of development opportunities in established neighborhoods, the City continues to seek out opportunities to evaluate redevelopment sites in Southwest Fresno. The Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant will complement ongoing planning efforts in Southwest Fresno, specifically the Southwest Fresno Specific Plan and the Highway 41 + North Complete Streets Plan. The grant, which requires no local match, would pay for consultant services to assist in outreach and the preparation of land use, brownfield re-use, economic development, infrastructure and other technical studies. Through an ongoing partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Fresno County, The Building Neighborhood Capacity Program, and Saint Rest Missionary Baptist Church, the Elm Avenue Corridor was targeted because of its prominence as a potential neighborhood corridor and its relative abundance of brownfield sites that could be catalyst sites for future development.
BACKGROUND
The Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant is a program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It is offered every other year to governmental agencies that exhibit local planning partnerships as part of a larger redevelopment program.
This application includes a partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Fresno County, The Building Neighborhood Capacity Program, and Saint Rest Missionary Baptist Church. Goals for the plan include the following:
1. Assessment and identification of environmental hazards with specific strategies for cleanup;
2. Development of a participatory reuse plan for up to three brownfield, high potential catalytic sites along the corridor that contributes to its transformation to more community-serving uses; and
3. Building resident capacity to identify and assess brownfields and address land use issues in their community.
Key project activities include the development of a Request for Proposals to hire a consultant team, the convening of a Citizen’s Advisory Committee comprised of residents and business owners along the corridor, hosting of workshops to develop revitalization priorities and train residents on brownfields planning and reuse, and working with consultants and residents to research existing environmental, and infrastructure conditions of brownfields catalyst sites, complete with land use, urban form and market analysis.
The project area for the grant includes an area bounded by California Avenue on the north, North on the south, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the west and State Route 41 on the east (see Attachment 1). The potential catalyst sites are depicted on the map. Saint Rest Baptist Missionary Church is the property owner of the northernmost site and is a partner in the project.
The final deliverable of the grant would be an Area-Wide Brownfields Plan for the Elm Avenue Corridor which would build upon the Highway 41 + North Corridor Plan and the Southwest Fresno Specific Plan.
Grant must be concluded by June of 2017.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a “project” for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented because this item does not involve a competitive bid or the award of a service contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
No additional General Fund appropriations are required to accept this grant. No local match is required. City personnel costs are funded with existing FY 2015/16 budgeted DARM funds.
Attachments
1 Annual Appropriations Resolution
2 Map of Project Area
3 Contract with Environmental Protection Agency