Item 6.1 - Big Stone Lodge EIR G1,�• OF POki-,,
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MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: John Mullin, Councilmember
DATE: September 17, 2019
SUBJECT: Big Stone Lodge EIR
The City/Poway Redevelopment Agency purchased the Big Stone Lodge property, at 12237 Old
Pomerado Road, in 2003. In January 2018, the Poway Housing Authority purchased the property
from the City. The building has been unused for decades, has become a nuisance and plans are
proceeding to demolish the building — even though there are no current development plans for
the site.
In the Fiscal Year 2018/2019, we included $100,000 (from the Housing Fund) in the budget to
conduct an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the demolition of the structure. It is locally
designated as a historic site which makes the demolition subject to environmental review pursuant
to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The preparation of an EIR, however, is not
necessarily required. Staff, and subsequently the Council, decided to err on the side of caution
in conducting an EIR for the demolition, but I'm now proposing we revisit that decision.
As staff conducted research on the subject, it was confirmed that the City's General Plan and the
Poway Municipal Code (PMC) lay out an administrative process for demolishing historic
structures. This process was identified as a mitigation measure in the EIR prepared for the Poway
General Plan.
We have the opportunity to utilize the administrative process in the General Plan to address the
demolition of the Big Stone Lodge. As long as we follow the provisions of the general plan EIR,
Staff has confirmed that a new and additional EIR is not required. The General Plan process
includes conducting a historic assessment that addresses alternatives to the demolition and
documents the historic structure with plans and photographs. Such an assessment was prepared
in 2005 and is still relevant.
Relying on this assessment from 2005 and complying with the general plan stipulations would
save the City the time and money required to prepare an EIR. I advocate that we still follow a
process with public input, possibly in the form of a public workshop, and explore incorporating
mitigation features into any future development that occurs on the property.
I am proposing that the City Council discuss this option as an alternative to processing an EIR
and provide direction to staff on how to proceed. The RFP process to hire an environmental
consultant to prepare the EIR has begun but approval of the consultant agreement has not yet
been scheduled for City Council approval.