Approval to Issue a Variance to County Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance for the New County Animal Shelter Project

Approval to Issue a Variance to County Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance for the New County Animal Shelter Project

The project consists of the construction of an approximately 21,250-square-foot animal shelter on a four-acre portion of vacant, undeveloped County-owned land within the boundaries of the City of Santee. A small portion of the Project site falls within a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-mapped floodplain. The County of San Diego’s Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance (FDPO) requires that the Project obtain an approval Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) from FEMA before construction can commence and a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) from FEMA before the facility can be occupied. This project approval is for the issuance of a Variance from the FDPO, allowing construction to begin prior to issuance of the CLOMR and prior to issuance of a LOMR before occupancy, as construction will comply with all safe building requirements for construction in a floodplain and general FEMA requirements. The Board of Supervisors adopted the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the proposed County Animal Shelter Project, on July 13, 2021 (Item 34). An Addendum to the MND that was completed in January 2024, on file with the Department of General Services, determined that—consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15162—an Addendum to the Final IS/MND was sufficient and appropriate, as the revised project would not result in significant new impacts or substantially increase the severity of impacts previously identified in the Final IS/MND. Additionally, applicable mitigation measures set forth in the Final IS/MND will still be applied to the County Animal Shelter Project. The proposed variance to the FDPO requirements for this project is consistent with the project described and analyzed in the MND and first addendum. There are no significant changes in the project or the circumstances under which the project will be undertaken that involve significant new environmental impacts which were not considered in the previously adopted MND. In addition, there would be no substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects. An Environmental Review Update Checklist, dated May 10, 2024, was prepared in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15162(b) as supporting analyses for the determination to rely on the previous MND without preparing additional environmental documentation. No new information of substantial importance has become available since the MND was adopted.

Santee

San Diego

Citywide

San Diego