CEQA Process

 The draft 2045 Atascadero General Plan will be evaluated for its potential environmental impacts as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This page contains all CEQA-related studies, meetings and materials. Please check back regularly for content updates and new materials.  

Final Environmental Impact Report

The City of Atascadero, as the Lead Agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), prepared an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to assess the impacts that may result from the approval of the proposed 2045 General Plan Update and Zoning code Update. The City published a public Notice of Availability (NOA) for the Draft EIR on April 20, 2026, inviting comment from the general public, agencies, organizations, and other interested parties. The NOA was filed with the State Clearinghouse (SCH# 2024070598) and was published in the County Clerk-Recorder’s office and the local newspaper, pursuant to the public noticing requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Draft EIR was available for public review from April 20 through June 4, 2026. The Public Draft General Plan was also available for public review and comment during this time period.

The Final EIR below was prepared to address comments received in response to the Public Review Draft EIR. The City has prepared a written response to the Draft EIR comments, and made textual changes to the Draft EIR where warranted. The responses to the comments are provided in this Final EIR in Chapter 2, and any changes to the text of the Draft EIR are summarized in Chapter 3, Errata. Responses to comments received during the comment period for the Draft EIR do not involve any new significant impacts or “significant new information” that would require recirculation of the Draft EIR pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15088.5.

Full Document

Draft Environmental Impact Report

The City of Atascadero has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to address the potential environmental impacts associated with implementation of the proposed 2045 Atascadero General Plan. Members of the public, agencies and interested organizations are invited to provide comments on the Draft EIR that focus on whether the Draft EIR is sufficient in discussing possible impacts to the physical environment, ways in which potential adverse effects may be avoided or minimized through mitigation measures, and alternatives to the project considering the purpose of the EIR to provide useful and accurate information about such factors.

Full Document

Individual Chapters

CEQA Notice of Preparation

The City of Atascadero will be the Lead Agency and will prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the Atascadero 2045 General Plan. The following Notice of Preparation (NOP) was prepared pursuant to Section 15082(a) of the State CEQA Guidelines. The NOP was circulated for a 30-day comment period from July 15, 2024 to August 14, 2024. No Initial Study (IS) is attached because the City determined that an EIR is required for the project. 

The Project Team recieved several comments from community members and responsible angencies related to the scope of the environmental analysis. The City circulated a Notice or Preparation (NOP) for a 30-day comment period from July 15, 2024 to August 14, 2024. The City also held an NOP Scoping meeting on July 24, 2024. The following are the comments recieved from community members and responsible agencies:

Scoping Meeting

The General Plan Update is considered a project of regional and areawide significance, and in accordance with Section 15082(c)(1) of the State CEQA Guidelines, the City of Atascadero held a scoping meeting on July 24th, 2024 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The scoping meeting was held at the Atascadero City Administration Building, located at 6500 Palma Ave, Atascadero, CA 93422.

    

CEQA Overview

The City prepared the following newsletter to provide a general overview of the CEQA process for the Draft General Plan.