By Brandon HENSLEY

A somewhat brief virtual Crescenta Valley Town Council meeting took place on Oct. 15 and included an update by LA County on Senate Bill 743, which outlines California’s traffic impact on the environment.
Ken Tsujii made the presentation, via Zoom, and said the LA County Dept. of Public Works is currently implementing metrics on vehicle miles traveled to help meet the state’s goal of reducing greenhouse emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.

The bill was passed in 2013, and changes the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) traffic environmental impact metrics.

According to Caltrans, “SB 743 requires the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to identify new metrics for identifying and mitigating transportation impacts within CEQA.”

In this case, since this past July, the County has adapted how it studies VMT, or vehicles miles traveled, Tsujii said.

If the number of miles a vehicle travels is low, a study would not need to be done. According to the Technical Advisory on Evaluating Transportation Impacts on CEQA, projects that generate or attract fewer than 110 trips per day generally may be assumed to cause a less-than-significant transportation impact and a study would not need to be done. Tsujii also said any analysis is judged by the baseline, which is the “average number of vehicle miles traveled by vehicles in an area.”

“Your project has to actively try and reduce the amount of vehicle miles traveled in order for it to not be considered a significant traffic impact,” he said, while noting it needs to meet goals to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Before Tsujii spoke, council heard from Glendale Unified School District Superintendent Vivian Ekchian on the possibility of lower grade levels returning to campuses for hybrid learning. GUSD is still considered to be in an unsafe zone to return, according to state guidelines.

“We have made a request to our Parents Teachers Association, GTA, CSCA and we will be sending a request [to the CV Town Council] to receive community support,” she said. “In order to obtain a waiver from the county for TK, [kindergarten], first and second grade – because we’re still in the purple zone – we have to bring in community support letters.”

Ekchian said school employees have to be willing to return, but added the “desire is there, the campuses are ready, the plans are in place.”
Marta Wiggins, librarian for La Crescenta Library, said the library is now accommodating Tuesday hours for book pick-up. The hours are now Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday from noon to 7 p.m.

“This gives commuters the ability to pick up their library items,” Wiggins said.

The next CVTC meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, visit thecvcouncil.com.