Planning Commission FONSI on Kanaha Building

The Planning Commission granted a finding of no significant impact on the environmental assessment for the proposed 6 story office building and parking garage slated for land adjacent to Kanaha Pond and Wildlife Refuge. The Planning Commission found no significant impact despite:

• The building is in an area which will become innundated with the projected sea rise
• The building violates the standard which says that taller buildings should be in the center of a block and not on the edges.
• The building is in an area which would be better used for wetlands as sea level rises and overflows the existing wetland area.  (Note: a major use of wetlands which is to filter out silt and runoff so that the reefs do not become choked and to serve as a buffer to contain water during storms and tsunamis and high tides.  Wetlands protect towns.)
• The existence of 2 available medical office buildings next to the hospital which renders this building superfluous.