Per Court Order, Sunnyvale City Council Decertifies Mary Avenue Extension Project

By Alia Wilson, Sunnyvale Sun Posted 06/29/2011

awilson@community-newspapers.com

As ordered by the Superior Court, the Sunnyvale City Council decertified the Mary Avenue Extension Project environmental impact report and project approval Tuesday night, three years after it was originally approved.

The action followed a lawsuit filed by the Sunnyvale West Neighborhood Association in 2008 that contested the approval and adequacy of the EIR. The project was for a proposed bridge at the north end of Mary Avenue at Almanor Avenue. The bridge to the Moffett Business Park was designed to allegedly mitigate part of the traffic effects of the Moffett Towers.

Supreme Court Denies VTA’s Request for Sunnyvale West v. City of Sunnyvale City Council Depublication

The SUNNYVALE WEST NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION v. CITY OF SUNNYVALE CITY COUNCIL Certified for Publication Decision is significant and historic. A big win not only for the Mary Avenue Extension Project (MAEP) residents living nearby, but for all communities in California affected by projects requiring an Environmental Impact Report (EIR)  in compliance with the California Quality Environmental Act (CEQA) law and policy.

The Published Decision is so significant, in fact, seeming to rattle the systems of massive agencies, such as The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) as they led, with an additional 15+ other public agencies and private industry groups, in filing a multitude of Briefs to the Supreme Court with Requests for Depublication this past February.

The VTA’s et al Request to Depublish the SUNNYVALE WEST NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION v. CITY OF SUNNYVALE CITY COUNCIL was denied by The Supreme Court yesterday, April 27, 2011. The case is now closed. 

Sunnyvale West CEQA Win Rippling Effect Throughout California Courtrooms

The Sunnyvale West v City of Sunnyvale Council Appellate CEQA win is causing an immediate impact and rippling effect throughout the state of California courtrooms. In Southern California, for example, attorneys for both sides are using the Sunnyvale decision as arguments for the Expo Line Phase 2 lawsuit.

Published Dec 22, 2010 “The Sunnyvale Decision” and Phase II of Expo: Game Changer or Footnote?  Damien Newton writes “After NFSR lawyer John Bowman introduced case-law that was decided five days ago, Sunnyvale West Neighborhood Association v. City of Sunnyvale City Council, things changed.  In Sunnyvale, a state superior court ruled that the city’s environmental review of a road extension violated state law because it based it’s review on traffic projections for 2020 instead of current conditions.  The mitigation plan for Expo are based on traffic projections for 2030.”  

City of Sunnyvale Found GUILTY of Violating CEQA Law Rules Appellate Court

Congratulations and Joyous Holiday Wishes to Plaintiffs Dr. Bill Mathews, Eleanor Hansen, Tammy Salans, Gopal Patangay, as head of the Sunnyvale West Neighborhood Association and Attorney Zan Henson who sued the City of Sunnyvale Council to decertify the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for a proposed bridge at the north end of Mary Avenue (at Almanor) called the Mary Avenue Extension Project EIR and WON!

For the ruling, click here.

The City of Sunnyvale Council must set aside its approval of the Mary Avenue Extension Project until a legally adequate EIR has been prepared and considered.

Certified for Publication and filed 12/16/10, the California Court of Appeals rules “The City of Sunnyvale’s use of hypothetical traffic conditions of Year 2020 violates CEQA Law. The failure to comply with the law subverts the purposes of CEQA if it omits material necessary to informed decisionmaking and informed public participation.”   

“Center Bull Pen” Staff Seating Arrangement is a Strategic Art

It appears that careful, strategic seating arrangement is about as important and skillful as choosing the right jurors to win a trial.

Sunnyvale Planner Trudi Ryan writes to the Director of Community Development, Hanson Hom, discussing various center bull pen seating arrangement options for staff during both the Palo Alto Medical Foundation PAMF EIR, a subsidiary of Sutter Health, Project Commission and Council Hearings.

PAMF Chimney Type Parking Garage Vents Dispel Hazardous Air Pollutants Adjacent to Residential Homes

How did the objectionable, massive, 94dBA Parking Garage Exhaust Vents for the Sunnyvale Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF),  fly under the radar without full public disclosure or analysis?

Architects Hawley Peterson Synder state the purpose of the imposing PAMF Garage Exhaust Vents, is to ventilate the carbon monoxide/air toxins/exhaust accumulating from vehicles circulating, parking and exiting PAMF’s two-level, 150,000 s.f. underground garage to total the capacity of 399 parking spaces.

Notably non-existent and missing from the PAMF Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) and the Final Environmental Impact Report(FEIR) were any identifiable Architectural Illustrations, discussions or analysis of the loud, powerful vent structures designed to be placed just a few feet away from residential homes.

14 Foot Tower PAMF Parking Garage Exhaust Vents Adjacent to Residents Home

(Click image to enlarge)

The placement of the vents was discovered shortly before the June 8th Sunnyvale Commission Hearing, when, despite months of meetings with the Sunnyvale Planning Staff, a keen resident, Tynna Jones, pointed to the two empty boxes on an illustration, identified simply with an “x,” at both the northwest and northeast of the PAMF site design and asked “what are these?”

Trudi Ryan, serving as both PAMF EIR Lead Agency and Sunnyvale Planner, responded, “oh, I don’t know, I’ll find out.”

Thus began a frustrating, perilous quest to find out what the function of the vents were for, what would be the intensity of the noise measured by dBA, what amount and how dangerous would the toxic emissions be (still not adequately answered), Air Quality impacts, the distance from each property lines, etc, only to be subject to vague and non-responsive answers from the Sunnyvale Planning Staff.

As a matter of fact, Sunnyvale Planner Steve Lynch replied to our inquires “Your comments will be forwarded to the Sunnyvale Commissioners.” “Comments?” we replied, “these are questions!”

Our questions were of little concern to the Sunnyvale Planning Staff and never fully answered.

This illustration of the vents, from Hawley Peterson Synder Architects, was presented and viewed for the first time on June 23, 2009 during the Council Hearing.

Both Sunnyvale Council Members John Howe and Melinda Hamilton remarked about the vents during the hearing, “I wouldn’t want to live near those . . .” yet approved and voted “yes” anyway.

Solely identified by decibel levels of the PAMF parking lot vents for each (east and west unit): FEIR Appendix J, pg 13 states 94 dBA at 5 feet. Both vents are 40-horsepower garage exhaust fans and very close to residential homes. According to Table 2, 94 dBA falls within the range of Night Club with live music.

Sunnyvale Requires Palo Alto Medical Foundation ART BUDGET to be $19 MILLION!

Planner Trudi Ryan informed Palo Alto Medical Foundation, a subsidiary of Sutter Health, PAMF Project Leader David Jury and Architect Henry Mahlstedt, that the City of Sunnyvale required Artwork preliminary estimate is $19M, subject to review (PAMF004905).

Wow, was that $19 Million????? The news is somewhat staggering! To compare and contrast, the Sunnyvale Planning Dept conditioned PAMF to contribute just a paltry $50,000 to traffic calming devices (to slow speeding traffic) in the Heritage District Neighborhood closest to the rebuild.

If I did my math right, $50,000 is  .0026% of  the Art Budget $19M. Oh, my! 

TRAINOR FAIRBROOK Errors on PAMF Sunnyvale Respondent Brief

TRAINOR FAIRBROOK gaping error, misses crux of source of the Shadow Complaint on the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Respondent Brief. Contrary to Trainor Fairbrook’s misstatement for Judge Elfing, the petitioners did submit written comments (mine ~ 6 pages) and speak on February 23, 2009 during the Sunnyvale Planning Commission Hearing.