Sent to all Decision Makers: The Draft EIR fails on a number of grounds, most glaringly, a failure to use a proper baseline that renders moot its verdict on the project’s true environmental impacts on the area as it has existed since November 21, 2011 and failure to propose or analyze thoughtful alternative projects. FAILURE TO USE A PROPER BASELINE: The key failure of the DEIR is its cynically calculated selection of the baseline, which the DEIR defines as the conditions that existed before the landslide of Nov. 20, 2011. The DEIR admits that its choice for the baseline is unusual. It notes that commonly the choice for a baseline are the “conditions or environmental setting at the time of the release of the Notice of Preparation” and notes that “deviation from this is permitted with substantial evidence, which allows the lead agency to set the appropriate baseline condition that is a time other than the release of the NOP.” The NOP was issued in the fall of 2016, five years after the road collapsed. The DEIR offers neither an explanation or evidence for making this choice of baseline. As a result, the public is precluded from responding because the “evidence” is missing. This act, in itself, renders the subsequent EIR meaningless and requires a reissue of the DEIR to include such “substantial evidence." There is no case law that supports using a baseline rooted in the past. The selection of this historical baseline ignores current conditions, which will be substantially impacted by the road restoration. These current conditions will be the existing conditions for a period of six years by the time a final EIR is released.Traffic, air pollution, crime, accidents and noise are all sharply reduced since the landslide in the vast majority of homes, apartments, streets, parks near the slide. Therefore, the adverse potential impacts include degradation of: aesthetics, geology, hydrology, water quality, soils, land use, noise levels, public safety, air quality, housing, public services, utilities, cultural resources, recreation, and growth among others. Essentially, this DEIR prejudged the outcome of the analysis. This is illegal and at odds with the spirit and letter of California environmental law. The point of an EIR is to discuss what impacts a project would have, discuss their significance and propose ways to mitigate these impacts. Picking a time before the road’s collapse bypasses this analysis and renders the DEIR pointless and useless except in furthering a presupposed political agenda. FAULTY ANALYSIS OF PROJECT ALTERNATIVES: The report misstates the impacts of the no-project alternative, incorrectly stating that there are “significant and unavoidable impacts” on aesthetics, including scenic vistas, scenic resources, and visual character, among others. This is false. You can walk, run, bike and drive to and through the landslide area. There is complete access to all of the landslide adjacent areas except for the few hundred feet where the city has chosen not to provide permanent, safe access because it anticipates building a through-road. The DEIR’s also fails to properly offer and analyze a wide range of alternatives for the restoration project. The DEIR analyzes only projects that INCLUDE a two-lane roadway. It ignores the fact that restoration of Paseo Del Mar can include non-car-centric restorations. This violates the law. It is essential that the project look at a restoration that provides for full and safe public access to the area, but does not include a two-lane road. The agency must analyze, and the city should build, a view area and landslide overlook with appropriate amenities. Such restoration would include a two-way bike path, and could also include a fire road with a locked gate that allows limited emergency vehicle access, should that be shown to be necessary by analysis of run-times or other suitable data. We look forward to learning that the current, invalid DEIR has been rejected and that a new one that addresses our concerns has been authorized...or that the project has been abandoned for good and the welfare of the taxpayer has finally triumphed.