Church of God Use Permit Amendment

2025070229

Sacramento County

NOE - Notice of Exemption

7/3/2025

7/3/2025

Julie Newton

County of Sacramento

Environmental Coordinator

Lead/Public Agency

827 7th Street Room 225
Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 874-6141

newtonj@saccounty.gov

David Goble

Church of God Carmichael

Applicant

Project Applicant

5334 Whitney Ave
Carmichael, CA 95608

(916) 799-2319

david.f.goble@gmail.com

258-0130-021-0000

The project site is located at 5316 Whitney Avenue, approximately 675 feet west of Garfield Avenue, in the unincorporated portion of Sacramento County, in the Carmichael community.

Categorical Exemption

CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 - Existing Facilities • CEQA Guidelines Section 15303 - New Construction or Conversion of

Class 1 consists of alterations or changes to the operation and licensing of an existing facility, involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use. The Cove was granted an Emergency Temporary Use Permit by the Planning Director (in 2021) to provide tutoring services in the Fellowship Hall at the Church of God location, to accommodate for COVID-19 mandated social distancing requirements. The Cove wishes to continue to use the Fellowship Hall space for their operations. Because The Cove is not affiliated with the Church of God, the church’s Use Permit must be amended to include for The Cove’s tutoring and child-care operation. During the time that The Cove was operating at the site, there were no significant increases in traffic and no noise complaints; therefore, The Cove’s operations can be considered a negligible expansion of the church’s operations and is therefore exempt from the provisions of CEQA. Class 3 consists of the construction and location of limited numbers of new small facilities or structures to the maximum allowable on any legal parcel. The proposal is for a new 3,600 square-foot multi-purpose building, sport court and gazebo for use by church members during church-related activities. The project site is currently developed with a church worship building, a Fellowship Hall building and associated parking lot and landscaping. The project site does not contain any sensitive biological resources and is located within an urbanized area where all public facilities and services are available. The new building will not expand the capacity of the church (church membership is limited to the seating capacity of the worship building) and construction and operation of the building will not result in the removal of any protected native trees, cause an increase in traffic generation, have adverse impacts to air quality, greenhouse gases or use excessive energy, and is therefore exempt from the provisions of CEQA. Section 15300.2 of the CEQA Guidelines, Exceptions, provides conditions under which categorical exemptions are inapplicable. Review of the Project indicates that it will not violate any of the exceptions, as described in the following section. 1. For Classes 3, 4, 5, 6, and 11, will the project have an impact on an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern where designated, precisely mapped, and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state, or local agencies? Construction of the project will not result in impacts on an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern. The project site is mostly developed and is surrounded by urban development consisting of various residential (single-family and multi-family), commercial, and community/public uses (such as parks, community centers and schools). The project site is not identified or mapped as having sensitive vegetation communities or have critical habitat for any sensitive species. The site is not located within any fire hazard zone. Although the property is not located within a federally mapped flood zone, the property is located within a local floodplain; the County Department of Water Resources reviewed the proposed project and did not require a drainage study. In addition, half of the property is undeveloped and serves as onsite detention, and there are stormwater facilities available to the south and east of the property. 2. Will cumulative impacts be considerable because successive projects of the same type will occur at the same place over time? As it stands, the Project will not result in potentially significant impacts. Therefore, no cumulative impacts will result from the Project and successive projects of the same type and at the same place over time. 3. Is there a reasonable possibility that the activity will have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances? Sacramento County Department of Transportation reviewed the proposed project and prepared a preliminary trip generation analysis to determine if additional analysis would be required. For the review, the proposed condition included the new 3,600 square-foot multi-purpose building and The Cove operations. The preliminary analysis determined that the proposed condition will not trigger the requirement for a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) analysis as the estimate was less than 237 new automobile daily trips. A Local Transportation Analysis (LTA) will not be required since the estimate determined that the new trips associated with the proposed condition would be less than 1,000 new daily trips and less than 100 new trips during the AM/PM peak hours. The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD) has operational screening thresholds for a variety of land uses and their pollutant generation potential for ozone precursors, particulate matter and greenhouse gases. Based on the operational screening levels, a place of worship greater than 53,000 square feet would generate greenhouse gases above thresholds. A day care center over 29,000 square feet or an elementary school greater than 57,000 square feet would exceed the greenhouse gas screening level. The existing church building is about 14,600 square feet in size and the existing Fellowship Hall is about 7,900 square feet, where The Cove will occupy about 6,300 square feet of the overall building. The proposed project will increase the total building area by an additional 3,600 square feet, for a total of 26,100 square feet. The proposed project will not contribute to worsening air quality. The new sport court will be just south of the existing parking lot. Based on aerial imagery (as far back as at least 2006), a portion of the southern parking lot area has been used as a basketball court, complete with paint markings and basketball hoops. The proposed new court will be located closer to the existing residences to the south by about 75 feet; however, use of the new court will be similar to the existing condition – used by church members during church-related activities. There will be no lighting on the court, so use of the court will be during daylight hours, when receptors are generally more tolerable to intermittent noise. The new sport court is not a significant change to the existing environment and existing condition and therefore does not introduce a new noise impact. There are no known unusual circumstances that will have a significant effect on the environment. 4. Will the project result in damage to scenic resources, including but not limited to trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or similar resources within a highway officially designated as a scenic highway? River Road/ Highway 160 (from the Sacramento City Limits at the northern edge of Freeport to the southern tip of the Delta at Antioch Bridge) is a designated State Scenic Highway. The project site is not located within the vicinity of this scenic highway. Therefore, the project will not result in damage to scenic resources or similar resources within a highway that is officially designated as a scenic highway. 5. Is the project located on a site which is included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code? The project site is not included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code. Therefore, the project will not have an impact related to being located on a hazardous waste site. 6. Will the project cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historic resource? The project site does not contain any historical resources.