Elk Grove Mural Festival (Paint the Grove) (PLNG26-014)

2026050967

City of Elk Grove

NOE - Notice of Exemption

5/26/2026

5/26/2026

Kyra Killingsworth

City of Elk Grove

Senior Planner

Lead/Public Agency

8401 Laguna Palms Way
Elk Grove, CA 95758

(916) 478-3684

kkillingsworth@elkgrove.gov

Elk Grove, CA., Sacramento County

Various Locations

Other

Existing Facilities [Section 15301] & Historic Resource Restoration/Rehabilitation [Section 15331]

CEQA requires analysis of agency approvals of discretionary “projects.” A “project,” under CEQA, is defined as “the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment” (State CEQA Guidelines Section 15378). The proposed Project is a project under CEQA. The Project is exempt from further environmental review pursuant to Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) of the CEQA Guidelines, which reads as follows: Class 1 exemptions consist of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing at the time of the lead agency's determination. The types of "existing facilities" itemized in the exemption are not intended to be all inclusive of the types of projects that might fall within Class 1. The key consideration is whether the project involves negligible or no expansion of an existing use. The Project consists of painting murals on 10 existing buildings, three of which are historic resources. The installation of the murals will not alter the physical structures of the buildings and will not increase the intensity or density of their existing uses. The cumulative impact of this project is not expected to have any significant environmental impact. The project is not located along any state-designated scenic highway nor within any designated hazardous waste site. The project will not cause a substantial adverse change to any of the buildings or any historical resource because the murals will not require any structural or architectural changes and will be placed on buildings that have been painted since they were in their original state. The murals will be temporary in nature and can be painted over to revert the buildings to their previous condition. Additionally, artists will be using paint that is not damaging to the building or the defining character features of those building that are designated historic resources. The portion of the Project that involves historic resources is also exempt pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines section 15331 which applies to projects limited to maintenance, repair, stabilization, rehabilitation, restoration, preservation, conservation or reconstruction of historical resources in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic Buildings. As described above, the building rehabilitation is being undertaken consistent with the SOI Standards as described in the findings for the Major Certificate of Appropriateness and no special circumstances exist that would create a reasonable possibility that granting a Major Certificate of Appropriateness would create a significant adverse effect on the environment or the historical resource. Additionally, the cumulative impact of this project is not expected to have any significant environmental impact. The project is not located along any state-designated scenic highway nor within any designated hazardous waste site. The project will not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of any historical resource because the murals will occur on secondary building elevations that have already been repainted since their original state, the murals will not alter any of the respective buildings’ character defining historic features, and the murals can be reversed with new paint reverting any affected elevations to their pre-mural state. State CEQA Guidelines section 15300.2 provides that a categorical exemption, such as Section 15301, should not be used for a project which may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. While the Project here involves a historical resource, there will be no substantial adverse change in the significance of the historical resource for the reasons stated in this Resolution and the accompanying staff report. For example, the Project involves painting only, which will not involve a structural change to the buildings. The paint will be temporary and can always be painted over. Additionally, State CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.5(b)(3) states that a project that follows the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic Buildings or the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings (1995), Weeks and Grimmer (“SOI Standards”), shall be considered as mitigated to a level of less than a significant impact on the historical resource. As the building rehabilitation is being undertaken consistent with the SOI Standards as described in the findings for the Major Certificate of Appropriateness, no special circumstances exist that would create a reasonable possibility that granting a Major Certificate of Appropriateness would create a significant adverse effect on the environment or the historical resource. (State CEQA Guidelines sections 15300.2 and 15064.5(b)(3)).