The purpose of this chapter is to establish the specific procedures which have been determined necessary to implement the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) of 1970 (as amended) insofar as it is applicable to the City, and, in so doing, to establish the responsibilities and procedures to determine the manner in which a "project," as defined in CEQA and this chapter, is subject to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act. In the event an environmental impact report or negative declaration is required, this chapter establishes the responsibilities and procedures for their preparation, dissemination, evaluation, and adoption so that public decision-makers and the public will be informed of the environmental effects of a project before it is carried out or approved in accordance with Section 15002 of the CEQA Guidelines.
These Guidelines are binding on all City agencies in the implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act (as amended). These Guidelines are specifically intended to achieve compliance with the intent and provisions of CEQA. In carrying out this policy, the City shall prepare required environmental documents at the earliest practicable time for a project to ensure that the environmental documents can be used as a tool to enable environmental constraints and opportunities to be considered during project planning.
Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the City from taking such other action in respect to projects as is deemed necessary by the City to obtain full compliance by the City with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (as amended). The CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 15000 et seq.) are herein incorporated by this reference as if set forth in full, and any subsequent amendments thereto. If there are any inconsistencies between the provisions contained in Title 10, Chapter 3 of this Municipal Code and the State's CEQA Guidelines, the State's CEQA Guidelines shall control.
(§ 1, Ord. 2684 c.s., eff. April 17, 1993, as amended by § 3, Ord. 3125 c.s., eff. January 16, 2015)
Except as may otherwise be provided for in this chapter, all public activities proposed to be undertaken or carried out within the City and all private activities which require an application to the City or the issuance or approval by the City of any lease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for use shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter as stipulated in Section 15002 of the CEQA Guidelines.
(§ 1, Ord. 2684 c.s., eff. April 17, 1993)
The adoption of this chapter shall not be construed to invalidate any past governmental action by the City which action did not comply with the provisions of this chapter or of the Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (as amended).
(§ 1, Ord. 2684 c.s., eff. April 17, 1993)
Any action or proceeding to attach, review, set aside, void, or annul any decision, or governmental action by the City on the grounds of noncompliance with the provisions of this chapter or with the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (as amended) shall be commenced as follows:
(a) 
Where the City has filed a notice of determination in compliance with Section 15075 or 15094 of the CEQA Guidelines, 30 days after the posting of the notice by the County Clerk.
(b) 
Where the City has prepared an exemption declaration in compliance with Section 15062 of the CEQA Guidelines, 35 days after the posting of the notice by the County Clerk.
(c) 
The statute of limitation provisions found in the Government Code and CEQA shall apply.
(§ 1, Ord. 2684 c.s., eff. April 17, 1993)
Whenever the following words or phrases are used in this chapter, they shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, unless it is apparent from the context that a different meaning is intended. In addition, "must" or "shall" is mandatory, "should" is advisory, and "may" is permissive. These definitions are intended to clarify and supplement, but not replace or negate, those definitions used in the California Environmental Quality Act. Other terms not specifically identified or defined in this section shall have the same meaning as prescribed to them in Article 20, Section 15350 through 15387 of the CEQA Guidelines.
"Applicant"
shall mean the entity (either private or public) which submits a project or a distinct part of a project for governmental approval.
"Approval"
shall mean the decision by the City, or any department, agency, commission, or administrator thereof, which decision commits the City to a definite course of action in regard to any project proposed to be carried out by any person.
"Categorical exemption"
shall mean an exemption from CEQA for a class of projects based on a finding by the Secretary for Resources that the class of projects does not have a significant effect on the environment.
"CEQA" or "California Environmental Quality Act" or simply "Environmental Quality Act"
shall mean Division 13 of the Public Resources Code of the State (Sections 21000 et seq.)
"Cumulative impacts"
shall mean two or more individual effects which, when considered together, are considerable or which compound or increase other environmental impacts.
"Decision-maker" or "decision-making body"
shall mean any agency, official, or employee of the City who is authorized to approve governmental action on a project, including, but not limited to, the City Council and the Planning Commission.
"Discretionary project"
shall mean a project which requires the exercise of judgment or deliberation when the City decides to approve or disapprove a particular activity, as distinguished from situations where the City must merely determine whether there has been conformity with applicable statutes, ordinances, or regulations.
"DEIR" or "Draft Environmental Impact Report"
shall mean an EIR prepared for circulation and public review which contains the information specified in Article 7 of this chapter, and includes Sections 15122 through 15131 of the CEQA Guidelines.
"Emergency"
shall mean sudden, unexpected occurrence, involving a clear and imminent danger, demanding immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss or damage to life, health, property, or essential public services. "Emergency" shall include but not be limited to such occurrences as fire, flood, earthquake, or other soil or geologic movements, as well as occurrences as riot, accident, or sabotage.
"Environment"
shall mean the physical conditions which exist within an area which will be affected by the proposed project, including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, noise, and objects or places of historic or aesthetic significance. The area involved shall be the area in which significant effects would occur either directly or indirectly as a result of the project. The "environment" includes both natural and man-made conditions.
"Environmental assessment"
shall mean the environmental review process affecting discretionary projects subject to the California Environmental Quality Act and to this chapter. This review process includes either a decision that the project is exempt, resulting in the preparation of an exemption declaration; or a decision that the project requires preparation of an initial study, resulting in the preparation of a negative declaration, or an environmental impact report.
"Environmental impact report" or "EIR"
shall mean detailed written statement prepared under CEQA describing and analyzing the significant environmental effects of a project and discussing ways to mitigate or avoid the effects. The term "EIR" may mean either a draft, a final draft, or a final EIR, depending on the context.
"Exemption declaration"
shall mean a written statement that a particular project has been found to be exempt from the requirement for preparation of environmental documents.
"Feasible"
shall mean capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, environmental, legal, social, and technological factors or as otherwise specified by CEQA.
"Final draft environmental impact report" or "FDEIR"
shall mean an EIR prior to certification containing the information presented in the draft EIR, comments (either verbatim or in summary) received during the review process, a list of persons commenting, and the response of the City to the comments received as stipulated in Section 15132 of the CEQA Guidelines.
"Final environmental impact report" or "FEIR"
shall consist of the certified final draft EIR plus the minutes of the meeting at which the document was certified and a resolution certifying the document.
"Guidelines" or "CEQA Guidelines"
shall mean the "Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970" (CEQA Guidelines) as adopted by the Secretary of the Resources Agency pursuant to the provisions of Section 21083 of the Public Resources Code as set forth in Chapter 3 of Division 6 of Title 14 of the California Administrative Code (Section 15000 et seq.) and as said Guidelines may be amended or revised in the future.
"Initial study"
shall mean a preliminary analysis to determine whether an environmental impact report or a negative declaration must be prepared. The initial study shall be comprised of the environmental checklist and findings, supported by adequate documentation and analysis.
"Lead department"
shall mean the City department, agency, board, commission, or administrator who has the principal responsibility for initiating, carrying out, or approving a City project which may have a significant effect on the environment. If more than one City department meets the lead department criteria, the lead department shall be the City department that normally acts first on such projects.
"Ministerial project"
shall mean a project which is undertaken or approved by a decision-maker upon a given state of facts and in a prescribed manner as mandated by fixed rules of law. The following City actions are hereby deemed to be ministerial in nature:
(1) 
Issuance of building, construction and demolition permits;
(2) 
Issuance of business license;
(3) 
Approval of final subdivision maps;
(4) 
Approval of individual utility services connections and disconnections;
(5) 
All code compliance and zoning reviews;
(6) 
Landscape plan checking;
(7) 
Corrections to approved tract and parcel maps;
(8) 
Sign permits (excluding sign programs).
"Mitigated negative declaration"
shall mean a written statement briefly describing the reasons that a proposed project, not exempt from CEQA, may result in potential significant impacts on the environment except that mitigation measures incorporated into the project design reduce those impacts to a level of insignificance, and the project therefore does not require the preparation of an EIR.
"Mitigation monitoring"
shall mean a program approved by the decision-making body at the time of project approval, where the project required preparation of an EIR or mitigated negative declaration. The program shall identify a method of monitoring mitigation measures which reduce significant environmental impacts, in order to insure that implementation of the mitigation measures occurs.
"Negative declaration"
shall mean a written statement briefly describing the reasons that a proposed project, not exempt from CEQA, will not have a significant effect on the environment and the project therefore does not require the preparation of an EIR.
"NEPA"
shall refer to the Federal National Environmental Policy Act.
"Notice of completion"
shall mean a brief notice to be filed with the State Clearinghouse as soon as a DEIR is completed and available for distribution and review. A notice of completion may also be used for circulation of a negative declaration when state agency review is required.
"Notice of determination"
shall mean a brief notice to be filed by the City with the County Clerk (and the Governor's Office of Planning and Research if the project requires discretionary approval from a state agency) after the City approves a project for which a negative declaration or an EIR was prepared.
"Notice of preparation"
shall mean a brief notice to be filed with the State Clearinghouse indicating that an EIR is to be prepared for a project for the purpose of soliciting comments from State agencies.
"Person"
shall mean any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business, trust, corporation, company, district, City, County, the State, and any of the agencies and political or other subdivisions of such entities.
"Project"
shall mean a planned undertaking requiring governmental action on the undertaking as a whole or on any district part of the undertaking which has a potential for resulting in a physical change in the environment, directly or ultimately, which undertaking falls into one or more of the following categories:
(1) 
Any activity directly undertaken by a public agency, including, but not limited to, public works construction and related activities, the clearing or grading of land, improvements to existing public structures, the enactment and amendment of zoning ordinances, and the adoption of local General Plans or elements thereof;
(2) 
An activity undertaken by a person which activity is supported in whole or in part thorough public agency contracts, grants, subsidies, loans, or other forms of assistance from one or more public agencies; and
(3) 
An activity involving the issuance to a person of a lease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for use by one or more public agencies.
(§ 1, Ord. 2684 c.s., eff. April 17, 1993, as amended by § 3, Ord. 3125 c.s., eff. January 16, 2015)
In instances where the environmental review documentation for an undertaking is prepared pursuant to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and implementing regulations thereto, all or any part of such documentation may be submitted in lieu of all or any part of the requirements of this chapter; provided, however, any such documentation, or part thereof, shall be consistent with the requirements for such documents contained within CEQA or Article 14 of the CEQA Guidelines.
(§ 1, Ord. 2684 c.s., eff. April 17, 1993, as amended by § 3, Ord. 3125 c.s., eff. January 16, 2015)
A clearinghouse function relative to all activities proposed to be undertaken within the City shall be performed to determine the need for an Environmental Assessment for each activity, as follows:
(a) 
Is the activity a "project"? If not, no environmental assessment is required.
(b) 
If the activity is found to be a project, is it a discretionary project in contrast to an emergency or ministerial project? If it is an emergency or ministerial project, no environmental assessment is required.
(c) 
If the activity is found to be a discretionary project, it is therefore subject to an environmental assessment.
(d) 
If the activity is subject to an environmental assessment, the applicant shall file an application for an environmental assessment pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(§ 1, Ord. 2684 c.s., eff. April 17, 1993)
The applicant shall file a verified application, in the form approved by the City, describing the project. The owner of record of the lot or parcel of property which is to be affected by the applicant shall sign an affidavit authorizing the application, in a form approved by the City. The appropriate fee shall accompany the application.
(§ 1, Ord. 2684 c.s., eff. April 17, 1993)
After the submittal of a complete application and such other information as necessary by the applicant, a determination shall be made on each of the following (a formal written determination/finding is not required to fulfill the requirements of this section):
(a) 
Is the project exempted from preparation of environmental documents pursuant to the provisions of this chapter? If the project is exempted, such finding shall be embodied in an exemption declaration pursuant to Article 3 of this chapter.
(b) 
If the project is not exempted, the City shall follow the procedures for an initial study contained in Section 15063 of the CEQA Guidelines.
(§ 1, Ord. 2684 c.s., eff. April 17, 1993, as amended by § 3, Ord. 3125 c.s., eff. January 16, 2015)
In addition to the general provisions of the Municipal Code, the following rules of construction shall apply to Title 10, Chapter 3:
(a) 
The particular shall control the general.
(b) 
Unless the context clearly indicates the contrary, the following conjunctions shall be interpreted as follows:
(1) 
"And" indicates that all the connected words or provisions shall apply.
(2) 
"Or" indicates that the connected words or provisions may apply singly but not in combination.
(3) 
"Either...or" indicates that the connected words or provisions shall apply singly but not in combination.
(4) 
"And/or" indicates that the connected words may apply either singly or in combination.
(c) 
All references to departments, commissions, bodies, or other public agencies are to those of the City of Redondo Beach, unless otherwise indicated.
(d) 
All references to public officials are to those of the City of Redondo Beach, and include designated deputies of such officials, unless otherwise indicated.
(e) 
All references to days are to calendar days unless otherwise indicated. If a deadline falls on a weekend or City holiday, it shall be extended to the next working day.
(f) 
Article and section headings contained in this chapter shall not be deemed to govern, limit, modify or in any way affect the scope, meaning or intent of any section hereof.
(g) 
The present tense includes the future, and the future the present.
(h) 
The singular number includes the plural, and the plural the singular, unless otherwise indicated.
(i) 
References in the masculine and feminine genders are interchangeable.
(j) 
The word "activities" and "facilities" include any part thereof.
(k) 
All references to sections contained in the CEQA Guidelines or the Public Resources Code shall incorporate any future amendments to those provisions.
(§ 3, Ord. 3125 c.s., eff. January 16, 2015)
Any non-elected City Body, Official, Agency, Board, Commission, Department Official, Director, or employee (collectively "City Body") who has the authority under the City's Charter, Municipal Code, Ordinance, Resolution, Master Plan, or State law to approve a discretionary action on a project, shall also have the authority to approve, certify, deny approval, or deny certification of any CEQA document related to that discretionary action. Where a project involves multiple discretionary actions which require approval from a non-elected City Body in addition to the approval by an elected official and/or body, City Manager or designee shall have absolute discretion to determine which shall act on the CEQA document. Any City Body shall also have the authority to enter into a Mitigation Agreement pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15070(b)(1), to prepare and release CEQA documents for public review, and to publish notices pursuant to CEQA.
This section shall not be interpreted to limit the powers of any non-elected City Body or elected official, including, but not limited to, the City Council and the Mayor.
For the purposes of this section, "CEQA documents" include, but are not limited to, any documents prepared pursuant to CEQA, or documents which are required to be acted upon concurrently with CEQA, such as: (a) an environmental impact report ("EIR"), (b) a negative declaration ("ND") or mitigated negative declaration ("MND"), (c) determinations that a project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to statutory or categorical exemptions, (d) initial studies, (e) a subsequent or supplemental EIR, ND, or MND, (f) an addendum to a previously prepared CEQA document, (g) master EIRs, (h) focused EIRs, (i) joint CEQA and NEPA documents, (j) water supply assessments prepared pursuant to Water Code Section 10910 et seq., (k) CEQA findings, (l) CEQA statements of overriding considerations, or (m) CEQA mitigation monitoring or reporting programs.
(§ 3, Ord. 3125 c.s., eff. January 16, 2015)