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Agoura Hills council adopts Bicycle Master Plan and certifies programmatic EIR, citing safety and grant opportunities
Summary
The council voted 5–0 to certify the final programmatic Environmental Impact Report, adopt the Bicycle Master Plan (30.1 miles of new bikeways) and approve a General Plan amendment to update the bikeways exhibit; council members emphasized safety for students, grant competitiveness and that project‑level EIRs will be required for specific segments.
The Agoura Hills City Council unanimously adopted the Bicycle Master Plan (BMP), certified the final programmatic environmental impact report and approved related General Plan amendments at its May 27 meeting.
Staff said the programmatic EIR analyzes the citywide effort to expand and improve bicycle facilities and recommends mitigation measures for most impacts; however, cultural‑resource impacts remain significant and unavoidable at the programmatic level and will require site‑specific study when individual projects are proposed. "At the programmatic level we cannot say whether site‑specific assessments will reduce every impact to less than significant," Public Works Director Charmaine Yamba said.
The BMP proposes about 30.1 miles of new bikeways, including two concept projects: the Media Creek pathway (a two‑mile class‑1 path along the Media Creek channel) and a short connection behind Agoura High School. Traffic and outreach work on the plan was led by Kimley‑Horn; Rencon (Rencon/Ringcon in the EIR presentation) prepared the environmental analysis.
Council members pressed staff on how a proposed vehicle‑miles‑traveled (VMT) mitigation/exchange banking program would work. "Is the city taking on developers' mitigation responsibilities?" asked Mayor Pro Tem Tim Klein Lopez. Staff replied the banking approach would be optional and available only for projects within the BMP; developers would still be responsible for meeting mitigation requirements under CEQA when a project is evaluated.
Council members also sought clarification on the Media Creek segment and were told the draft EIR assesses impacts programmatically and that any specific Media Creek project would require additional environmental review and public hearings. "These are reconsidered as individual projects as they become funded," Yamba said.
After discussion about safety, ebike use, phasing and grant competitiveness, the council voted to adopt three resolutions as recommended by staff: Resolution 26‑2130 (certifying the final programmatic EIR, adopting findings and a statement of overriding considerations and the mitigation monitoring and reporting program), Resolution 26‑2131 (adopting the Bicycle Master Plan) and Resolution 26‑2132 (amending the General Plan bikeways exhibit). The roll‑call vote was Anderson, Anstead, Sylvester, Klein Lopez and Wolf — yes, 5–0.
What happens next: staff and consultants said the BMP provides a funding and implementation pathway, but individual projects (for example, the Media Creek pathway) will come back to commissions and the council for project‑level environmental review, design, public workshops and funding allocation.
Resolution and vote at a glance: Resolutions 26‑2130, 26‑2131 and 26‑2132 were approved 5–0. Staff emphasized that the programmatic EIR does not substitute for later project‑level CEQA review.
Council members and staff said the immediate priorities are pursuing grants and phasing projects so the city can apply for competitive state and federal funding for specific segments.
