ENV-2024-3428-CE / 3752 EAST YORK BOULEVARD

2024080069

City of Los Angeles

NOE - Notice of Exemption

8/2/2024

8/2/2024

Andrea Withers

City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning

Planning Assistant

Lead/Public Agency

200 N Spring Street Room 621
Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 978-1285

andrea.maganawithers@lacity.org

Maria Barragan

City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning

Applicant

Project Applicant

18327 Napa St.
Northridge, CA 91325

(818) 579-1260

mariabssdesign@gmail.com

5459018015

3752 East York Boulevard

Categorical Exemption

15301/Class 1 and 15303/Class 3

JUSTIFICATION FOR PROJECT EXEMPTION: 181 Additional page(s} attached Class 1. Existing Facilities. Operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment or topographical features involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use. Class 3. New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures. Construction and location of limited numbers of new, small facilities or structures. 181 None of the exceptions in CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 to the categorical exemption(s) apply to the Project. D The project is identified in one or more of the list of activities in the City of Los Angeles CEQA Guidelines as cited in the justification. The site is zoned R1-1-CDO-HCR and has a General Plan Land Use Designation of Low Residential. As shown in the case file, the project is consistent with the applicable Northeast Los Angeles Community Plan designation and policies and all applicable zoning designations and regulations. The subject site is wholly within the City of Los Angeles, on a site that is approximately 0.14 acres. Lots to the north, west, and east are developed with single-family dwellings, and to the south of the subject lot is located the Forest Lawn Cemetery. The site is previously disturbed and surrounded by development and therefore is not, and has no value as, a habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species. According to the Tree Disclosure Statement dated May 8, 2024, there are no Protected Trees/Shrubs on-site or within the adjacent public right-of-way. Therefore, there are no trees proposed to be removed from the subject site. Prior to any work on the right-of-way, the applicant will be required to obtain approved plans from the Department of Public Works. As there currently is no approved right-of way improvement plan and for purposes of conservative analysis and the requirements of CEQA, Planning has analyzed the worst-case potential for removal of all street trees. Note, no street tree or Protected Tree may be removed without prior approval of the Board of Public Works/Urban Forestry (BPW) under LAMC Sections 62.161 - 62.171. At the time of preparation of this CE, no approvals have been given for any tree removals on-site or in the right-of-way by BPW. The project will be subject to Regulatory Compliance Measures (RCMs), which require compliance with the City of Los Angeles Noise Ordinance, pollutant discharge, dewatering, stormwater mitigations; and Best Management Practices for stormwater runoff. These RCMs will ensure the project will not have significant impacts on noise and water. Furthermore, the project does not exceed the threshold criteria established by LADOT for preparing a ENV-2024-3135-CE transportation study. Therefore, the project will not have any significant impacts to traffic or transportation. Interim thresholds were developed by DCP staff based on CalEEMod model runs relying on reasonable assumptions, consulting with AQMD staff, and surveying published air quality studies for which criteria air pollutants did not exceed the established SCAQMD construction and operational thresholds. The project site will be adequately served by all public utilities and services given that the construction of an addition to an existing single-family dwelling will be on a site which has been previously developed and is consistent with the General Plan. There are six (6) Exceptions which the City is required to consider before finding a project exempt under Class 15303 and 15332: (a) Location; (b) Cumulative Impacts; (c) Significant Effect; (d) Scenic Highways; (e) Hazardous Waste Sites; and (f) Historical Resources. The subject site is located within the Hollywood Fault, specific Regulatory Compliance Measures (RCMs) in the City of Los Angeles regulate the grading and construction of projects in these particular types of "sensitive" locations and will reduce any potential impacts to less than significant. Regulatory Compliance Measures (RCMs) include compliance with the Building Code and the Noise Ordinance. These RCMs have been historically proven to work to the satisfaction of the City Engineer to reduce any impacts from the specific environment the project is located. Thus, the location of the project will not result in a significant impact based on its location. There is not a succession of known projects of the same type and in the same place as the subject project. As mentioned, the project proposes an addition to an existing single-family dwelling in an area zoned and designated for such development. All adjacent lots are developed and lots to the north, east and west are developed with low residential uses, and the subject site is of a similar size and slope to nearby properties. The project proposes a maximum floor area of 1,790.42 square feet (excluding the porch, patio, and trellis) on a site that is permitted to have a maximum floor area of 2,744.51 square feet. A two (2)-story dwelling is not unusual for the vicinity of the subject site and is similar in scope to other existing single-family dwellings in the area. Thus, there are no unusual circumstances which may lead to a significant effect on the environment. Additionally, the only State Scenic Highway within the City of Los Angeles is the Topanga Canyon State Scenic Highway, State Route 27, which travels through a portion of Topanga State Park. The project site is located approximately 30 miles to the east of the Topanga Canyon State Scenic Highway. Therefore, the subject site will not create any impacts within a designated as a state scenic highway. Furthermore, according to Envirostor, the State of California's database of Hazardous Waste Sites, neither the subject site, nor any site in the vicinity, is identified as a hazardous waste site. The project site has not been identified as a historic resource by local or state agencies, and the project site has not been determined to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, California Register of Historical Resources, the Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Register, and/or any local register; and was not found to be a potential historic resource based on the City's HistoricPlacesLA website or SurveyLA, the citywide survey of Los Angeles. Finally, the City does not choose to treat the site as a historic resource. Based on this, the project will not result in a substantial adverse change to the significance of a historic resource and this exception does not apply.