Rachelle B. Chong is the assigned Commissioner and Jonathan Lakritz is the assigned Administrative Law Judge in this proceeding.
1. The proposed 65-year lease/option agreement will not interfere with SCE's use of the property or its facilities or with service to SCE customers, and the property will be utilized safely and in a manner consistent with Commission and legal requirements.
2. The City is the Lead Agency for RHC's proposed project under CEQA.
3. On November 3, 2004, the City of Los Angeles Planning Department Staff Advisory Committee issued a draft MND.
4. On February 11, 2005, the City of Los Angeles Zoning Administrator approved Case No. ZA 2004-5051 (ZV) (YV) (ZAA) (SPR) which granted RHC a variance, zoning adjustments and approved a site review plan. The Zoning Administrator also approved and adopted the draft MND.
5. The City's MND found that granting Case No. ZA 2004-5051 (ZV) (YV) (ZAA) (SPR) CU 05-14 would have no potentially significant adverse environmental impacts that could not be mitigated to either eliminate or substantially reduce those impacts to less than significant levels.
6. The City has adopted specified mitigation measures that the City asserts will either eliminate or substantially reduce the impacts to less than significant levels.
7. The City's CEQA review did not address uses of the site for vehicle or boat storage, retail facilities, or uses other than a self-storage facility.
8. The Commission is a Responsible Agency for the purposes of environmental review of the proposed lease under CEQA.
9. Rent received by SCE from RHC under the lease will be treated as OOR from a "passive" revenue source and will be allocated among shareholders and ratepayers on a 70%/30% basis pursuant to D.99-09-070.
10. The proposed lease will generate substantial lease revenues for the benefit of SCE ratepayers.
11. The proposed lease will allow productive use of the site without interfering with SCE's existing use of the property for its transmission and substation facilities.
1. The Commission has reviewed the City's MND and finds it adequate for our decision-making purposes under CEQA.
2. The Commission finds that the City has adopted feasible mitigations and reasonably concluded that the specified mitigation measures will either eliminate or substantially reduce the potentially significant environmental impacts to less than significant levels.
3. RHC's construction and operation of a self-storage facility on 5.84 acres of the site will not have any potentially significant adverse effects on the environment that can not be adequately mitigated.
4. Consistent with Section 851, SCE's conveyance of the lease to RHC will serve the public interest and should be approved.
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. Southern California Edison Company (SCE) is authorized pursuant to Public Utilities Code Section 851 (Section 851) to convey a lease across 5.84 acres on its Eagle Rock-Sylmar Transmission Right of Way property located in the City of Los Angeles, California (the City) to RHC Communities, LLC (RHC) as described in this decision.
2. SCE shall file an advice letter that contains a legal description of the property leased to RHC pursuant to this order with the Commission Energy Division within 60 days.
3. SCE shall treat compensation received from RHC under the lease as other operating revenue received from a "passive" revenue source pursuant to Decision 99-09-070 and shall allocate this revenue between shareholders and ratepayers on a 70%/30% basis, unless directed otherwise in a future Commission order.
4. SCE shall amend its option agreement and any subsequent lease with RHC to require advance Commission approval of any proposed assignment, transfer, sublease, or mortgage of the lease that would alter the lease terms or change the use of the property to other than as a self-storage facility on 5.84 acres of the site.
5. If RHC wishes to utilize the property for any purposes other than the uses analyzed in the environmental documents prepared by the City and relied upon by the Commission in this decision, SCE shall first apply for Commission authorization pursuant to Section 851, undergo any required environmental review, and apply for any required local approvals. SCE shall amend its option agreement and any subsequent lease with RHC to include this requirement.
6. Application 06-09-020 is closed.
This order is effective today.
Dated March 15, 2007, at San Francisco, California.
MICHAEL R. PEEVEY
President
DIAN M. GRUENEICH
JOHN A. BOHN
RACHELLE B. CHONG
TIMOTHY ALAN SIMON
Commissioners