Columbia Citizens

Thanks for the question, Joanne. I dashed that off, and didn't take time to explain the land use jargon.

The City's decision determines that environmental impacts aren't significant enough to require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The analysis addresses these environmental elements:

• air quality,
• noise,
• parking,
• traffic,
• pedestrian circulation,
• height, bulk & scale,
• shadows on the park.

Of those elements, the decision finds some environmental impacts, but nothing that rises to the level considered significant. Some negative effects warrant "mitigation" — extra measures to reduce the environmental impacts. Those measures are identified as conditions of permit approval.

DPD decided not to require anything further to address the transition in height, bulk and scale (a tall building next to an area of lower buildings) or shadows on the park. The planner conditioned the project to keep the sidewalks open, except in certain circumstances. The analysis suggests there should be limits on construction hours to limit noise impacts, but it doesn't follow through and actually impose the condition.