1 - Introduction 2 - Overview of Comments Received 3 - Letters of Comment 4 - Responses to Comments 5 - Evaluation of Changes to General Plan Update, Draft 2 6 - Revised Summary Table of Potential Impacts, & Proposed Mitigation Measures CHAPTER TWO OVERVIEW OF COMMENTS RECEIVED 2.1 PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT PROCEDURES CEQA requires public disclosure in an EIR of all project environmental effects and encourages public participation throughout the EIR process. As stated in § 15299 of the CEQA Guidelines, the purposes of public review of environmental documents are: a) sharing expertise b) disclosing agency analyses c) checking for accuracy d) detecting omissions e) discovering public concerns f) soliciting counter proposals Section 15201 of the CEQA Guidelines states that "Public participation is an essential part of the CEQA process." A public review period of no less than 30 days nor longer than 60 days is required for a Draft EIR under § 15087(c) of the CEQA Guidelines. If a State agency is a lead or responsible agency for the project, the public review period shall be at least 45 days. In this case, a review period extending from August 23, 1999 to October 7, 1999 was established. Two letters of comment were received after the close of the review period and are also addressed in this Final EIR. Three public hearings were held on the Draft EIR by the City Planning Commission: Monday August 23, 1999, Monday September 13, 1999 and Monday September 20, 1999. Questions and comments related to the General Plan Update were made and recorded. Only limited comment was received on the Draft EIR. Oral comments received that were specific to the EIR as well as written comments are addressed in Chapter Four. 2.2 AGENCIES AND INDIVIDUALS WHO COMMENTED ON THE DRAFT EIR Letter 1: Governor's Office of Planning and Research, State Clearinghouse Letter 2: Andrew R. Cassano, Nevada City Engineering, Inc. Letter 3: Rodney A. Hill, Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District Letter 4: Overton Caperton, Carriage House Property Owners Association Letter 5: Kenneth J. Absher, O.D. Letter 6: Sharon M. Boivin Letter 7: Thomas Miller, Interim County Administrator, Nevada County Letter 8: Stephanie Snider, Administrative Analyst, Nevada County Letter 9: John W. Rumsey, Nevada County Dept. Of Transportation and Sanitation Letter 10: Mark Tomich, Planning Director, Nevada County Letter 11: Laurie Oberholtzer, Rural Quality Coalition Letter 12: Jean L. Baker, CALTRANS District 3, Marysville Letter 13: Jason Marshall, California Department of Conservation Letter 14: S R Jones, Executive Officer, Nevada LAFCo Letter 15: Dan Landon, Executive Director, Nevada County Transportation Commission Letter 16: James P. Chatigny, General Manager, Nevada Irrigation District Letter 17: Jeff Wagner, Fire Chief, Ophir Fire Protection District Letter 18: Tim Fike, Chief, Nevada County Consolidated Fire District Oral Comment, September 20, 1999 Planning Commission Meeting: Paul Schwartz