EXHIBIT 13-E
DRAFT
FINDINGS
OF APPROVAL
CONSIDER REQUEST FOR VARIANCE FROM WATER
METER REQUIREMENTS (DISTRICT RULE 23-A) – GLC FOOTHILL
1. FINDING: GLC Foothill Monterey, LLC, is
requesting a variance to allow a single water connection to provide service to
two retail buildings at 560 &
EVIDENCE: Application for Variance attached as Exhibit 13-A.
2. FINDING: The
project consists of two building consisting of 3,662 square-feet of retail use
at
EVIDENCE: Application for Variance attached as Exhibit 13-A.
3 FINDING: A variance from the District’s individual water meter requirement is requested due to hardship. The design of the building and the cost to individually meter the water users within the building with street-side meters would substantially increase project costs, creating a hardship which could jeopardize the project.
EVIDENCE: Application for Variance attached as Exhibit 13-A.
4. FINDING: District Rule 23-A-1-i (Exhibit 13-B) requires that each water user have a separate water meter. The two non-residential buildings and individual tenants require separate water meters.
EVIDENCE: The District Rules and Regulations (Rule 11) definition of "User":
A User means a customer or consumer of water delivered by a water distribution system. User does not include any owner or operator of a water distribution system. Each residence, commercial enterprise, or industrial enterprise shall be deemed a separate and distinct user, except that a user may extend incidental water use (e.g. a single bar sink) to another for convenience."
5. FINDING: The project qualifies for a variance as the applicant has demonstrated that special circumstances exist, practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship exist, and granting a variance for in-line water meters in place of street-side water meters would not defeat the purposes of the Rules and Regulations.
EVIDENCE: Application for Variance attached as Exhibit 13-A.
6. FINDING: District Rule 90 allows a variance from District rules when certain criteria can be demonstrated to exist.
EVIDENCE: District Rule 90, Variance, states that “the Board may, after holding a public hearing, in specific cases, grant a variance from any provision of the standards incorporated in these Rules and Regulations whenever it finds: (a) that special circumstances exist in a particular case, and (b) that practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship would result from the strict interpretation and enforcement of any such standards, and (c) that the granting of such a variance would not tend to defeat the purposes of these Rules and Regulation.
7. FINDING: The applicant has agreed to install and maintain in-line water meters that can track the water consumption of the individual water users, providing a method for individual accountability of water use and encouraging conservation.
EVIDENCE: Application for Variance attached as Exhibit 13-A.
8. FINDING: There have been seven similar circumstances where variances were granted for in-line meters: The Pacific Meadows senior housing project in Carmel Valley, and new educational and public works buildings at the Naval Postgraduate School, and a new dorm with faculty apartments at Santa Catalina School, a 30 low to moderate housing units in the City of Monterey, a 49 low-income senior housing units in Pacific Grove, a 18 affordable housing units project in Monterey, and a mixed-use (i.e. commercial and residential uses) project in Sand City.
EVIDENCE: Records of variance proceedings on file in District office.
9. FINDING: The City of
EVIDENCE: Correspondence from the City of Monterey attached as Exhibit 13-C.
10. FINDING: The following Conditions of Approval for the variance will ensure that granting this variance will not defeat the intent of the District’s Rule 23 metering requirement:
The applicant shall install two California
American Water meters: One for exterior
uses and one for interior uses.
1. The applicant shall install and maintain in-line water meters for each tenant/occupant.
2. The applicant shall provide District access to water consumption records.
3. Deed restrictions explaining the conditions shall be recorded on the title of the property.
EVIDENCE: Action by the Board of Directors at the public hearing on April 16, 2007.
11. FINDING: The District is a responsible agency under CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) and must consider the Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration prepared by the lead agency.
EVIDENCE: Section 15096 of the CEQA guidelines.
12. FINDING: The District is a responsible agency under CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) and must consider the Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration prepared by the lead agency and then reach its own conclusions on whether and how to approve the project involved. In making this determination, the District (as the responsible agency) must mitigate or avoid only the direct or indirect environmental effects that relate to any matters within its jurisdiction.
EVIDENCE: Section 15096 of the CEQA guidelines.
13. FINDING: The Board finds that the Mitigated
Negative Declaration prepared by the City of
EVIDENCE: Negative Declaration adopted by MPWMD Board
of Directors on April 16, 2007.
U:\staff\word\boardpacket\2007\2007boardpackets\20070416\PublicHrgs\13\item13_exh13e.doc