Yerba Buena Neighborhood Consortium, LLC v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal.

95 Cal.App.5th 779

313 Cal.Rptr.3d 701

YERBA BUENA NEIGHBORHOOD CONSORTIUM, LLC, Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.The REGENTS OF the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA et al., Defendants and Respondents.

Parnassus Neighborhood Coalition et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants,

v.The Regents of the University of California et al., Defendants and Respondents.

San Franciscans for Balanced and Livable Communities, Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.The Regents of the University of California et al., Defendants and Respondents.

A166091, A166094

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 3, California.

Filed September 20, 2023

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing October 20, 2023

Certified for Partial Publication.^*

Soluri Meserve, Patrick M. Soluri, Osha R. Meserve, Sacramento, and James C. Crowder for Plaintiffs and Appellants Yerba Buena Neighborhood Consortium, LLC and Parnassus Neighborhood Coalition et al.

Thomas N. Lippe, San Francisco, for Plaintiff and Appellant San Franciscans for Balanced and Livable Communities

The University of California Office of General Counsel, Anagha Dandekar Clifford ; Lubin Olson & Niewiadomski, Charles R. Olson, San Francisco, Philip J. Sciranka, Carolyn J. Lee, San Francisco; Monchamp Meldrum, Amanda J. Monchamp, San Francisco, and Hope Schmeltzer for Defendants and Respondents

TUCHER, P.J.

Petitioners in these consolidated appeals challenge the adequacy of an environmental impact report (EIR) prepared in connection with the Comprehensive Parnassus Heights Plan (Plan), a long-range planning document intended to guide future development of a campus of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF or university). The Plan stirred controversy because it anticipates considerably more intensive development on that campus than was projected in the university's existing long-range development plan, which was prepared only a few years prior.

Petitioners contend that, for a variety of reasons, the EIR fails to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq. ).¹ The trial court found the EIR compliant and entered judgment for the Regents of the University of California (Regents).

We will affirm. In the published portions of this opinion, we hold (1) the EIR considers a reasonable range of alternatives to the Plan and need not have considered in detail an alternative that placed some of the anticipated development off campus; (2) the EIR improperly declines to analyze the impact of the Plan on public transit, but the error is not prejudicial because the EIR adequately informs the public and decisionmakers regarding that impact; (3) we need not scrutinize the EIR's analysis of visual impacts because section 21099, subdivision (d)(1) directs that aesthetic effects of an "employment center project on an infill site within a transit priority area" be deemed not significant; (4) the EIR is not required to adopt a mitigation measure preserving certain historically significant buildings merely because it is possible to restore and repurpose the buildings; and (5) the EIR's mitigation measure for wind impacts establishes a sufficiently specific performance standard that the mitigation will achieve and adequately identifies the type of actions to be taken to achieve that standard. In the unpublished portions of the opinion, we address and reject petitioners’ remaining claims.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

UCSF is a world-renowned medical complex, research center, and professional school. Its Parnassus Heights campus (Parnassus campus), the university's first home, is a 107-acre site in the Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco, south of Golden Gate Park. The Parnassus campus currently accommodates two hospitals, a variety of medical clinics, four professional schools, a graduate program, and space for research, student housing, parking, and other support uses. Over half of its hilly site is dedicated as public open space.

In 2014, UCSF prepared a long-range development plan (2014 LRDP) for the university as a whole, which consists of campuses at Parnassus Heights, Mission Bay, Mount Zion, Mission Center, and Laurel Heights, as well as assorted smaller sites and buildings around San Francisco. (See Ed. Code, § 67504, subd. (a)(1) [requiring such plans].) Consistent with a preexisting policy, the 2014 LRDP was structured to "[a]ccommodate the majority of UCSF's growth" through 2035 at the Mission Bay campus. That policy arose from long-standing concerns that "the size of [the Parnassus campus] was beginning to overwhelm" its neighborhood. As long ago as 1976, these concerns had induced the Regents to adopt a resolution capping building space at the Parnassus campus at 3.55 million gross square feet (gsf). The 2014 LRDP reaffirmed this policy, while amending it to exclude all on-campus housing from the ceiling. Acknowledging that the buildings on campus already exceeded the resolution's cap, the 2014 LRDP adopted a plan for development that would have resulted in a net reduction.

The primary changes slated for the Parnassus campus under the 2014 LRDP were the construction of a new addition to one of its two hospitals, the demolition of a series of older buildings, and the conversion of other buildings to accommodate student and faculty housing. The smaller of the two existing hospitals, Moffitt Hospital, does not comply with seismic standards for inpatient hospitals that take effect in 2030. (See Sen. Bill No. 1953 (1993–1994 Reg. Sess.) § 1.) Rather than attempt to bring Moffitt into compliance, the 2014 LRDP proposed to build an addition to Long Hospital and repurpose Moffitt for outpatient and hospital support services. The net result would have been a small reduction in inpatient beds at the Parnassus campus, from 475 to 439.

The university thereafter had a change of heart. According to the EIR, UCSF concluded it had neglected the Parnassus campus while focusing on development at Mission Bay, leaving the Parnassus campus in need of "substantial renewal and investment."² In 2020, UCSF undertook the Comprehensive Parnassus Heights Plan with the objective "to re-envision and revitalize" the Parnassus campus, so that UCSF would "remain a leading health science institution both nationally and internationally." The Plan was intended "to meet projected space needs for critical programs in research, patient care, and education at the Parnassus Heights campus site while improving the functional and aesthetic design of the campus environment" and providing "much-needed on-campus housing." The Plan amends the 2014 LRDP with respect to development on the Parnassus campus.

In general, the Plan presents a thorough rethinking of the design of the Parnassus campus. At its heart, the Plan is a catalog of proposed new buildings, the identification of places on campus to put them and the infrastructure necessary to support them, and a general timeline for their construction, extending to year 2050. As an organizing principle, the Plan divides the campus into six geographic districts, each projected to contain buildings serving a particular function. The initial phase of redevelopment, slated for completion by 2030, calls for enhancement of the campus entrance, construction of two major new buildings, replacement of some student housing, and upgrades to campus infrastructure, including a tunnel and bridge connecting buildings on either side of Parnassus Avenue. The two major buildings are a large new hospital, called "New Hospital," and an eight-story Research and Academic Building. Construction of other buildings and infrastructure enhancements are proposed to occur after 2030. Eight significant existing structures, including current or potential historic resources, and a series of smaller housing units are identified as candidates for demolition.

In total, the Plan anticipates a 50 percent net increase in building space on the Parnassus campus over the next 30 years—from approximately four million to six million gsf. The centerpiece is the New Hospital, which would replace the 150 beds in Moffitt Hospital and add more than 200 additional beds, increasing the campus's hospital capacity to 675 beds. The New Hospital building, anticipated to be 16 stories tall, would provide nearly 1 million gsf of space. The university explained the Plan's proposal to raise the space ceiling adopted in 1976 by an anticipated 1.5 million gsf, or 42 percent, as "recognition of the tremendous need for program space at the campus site in order for UCSF to retain its leadership position in patient care, research, and education."

With regard to hospital space, for example, the EIR describes existing capacity as woefully insufficient. Not only are the campus's two hospitals consistently full, but they have been turning away thousands of patient transfer requests annually for lack of space. Between 2017 and 2019, UCSF turned away about 40 percent of "requested medically necessary transfers," and the university anticipates the number of requests will increase significantly in the future, particularly for the complex cases in which the Parnassus campus specializes. Such patients require longer hospital stays, further increasing the demand for beds.

Pursuant to CEQA, the Regents prepared and certified an EIR for the Plan. The EIR serves as a project EIR for the construction proposed to occur in the initial phase of the Plan, with the exception of the New Hospital. A project EIR, the most common type of EIR, examines the environmental impacts of all phases of a specific development project, including planning, construction, and operation. ( Cal. Code of Regs., tit. 14, § 15161 ;³ In re Bay-Delta etc. (2008) 43 Cal.4th 1143, 1169, 77 Cal.Rptr.3d 578, 184 P.3d 709 ( Bay-Delta ).) The EIR serves as a program EIR with respect to the Plan as a whole and its remaining individual components, including the New Hospital. A program EIR is generally prepared for a series of actions that can together be characterized as one large project,...