A Supplemental Environmental Impact Report is now available for review on the proposed project, which is a Use Permit to allow for the construction and operation of a State permitted hospital heliport for emergency air ambulance flights. The proposed hospital heliport (an elevated helipad) is proposed to be located adjacent to the main new Kaiser Permanente Hospital under construction on a 53-acre site at 700 Lawrence Expressway. The heliport would be on the south side of the hospital building, approximately 285 feet from the closest residential property. The proposed Use Permit states that the operation of the proposed helipad would be limited to emergency evacuation of critically ill patients from the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara hospital to receive specialized, life-saving treatment, where time is of the essence for the patient. Evacuations would be to regional medical facilities, such as Stanford University, that specialize in medical care for life-threatening conditions that are not common. The following uses would not be allowed under the proposed Use Permit for the project: transportation of patients to the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center facility; and routine transportation of staff or individuals to or from the facility. Current emergency helicopter evacuations of patients from the existing Kaiser Permanente hospital facility on Kiely Blvd. occur approximately 9 to 13 times per year.

Please note that in each chapter of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report document (chapters are shown as links, below), embedded in some of the chapters are references to figures. There are seventeen figures in all. The figures cannot be accessed from within the chapters; they are shown as separate documents, below.

Paper copies of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report are available for review weekdays at City Hall at the Planning Department. Additional copies have been placed at the Central Park Library, 2635 Homestead Road; the library is open seven days a week.

The public comment period extends for 45 days, from Wednesday June 14, 2006 through Monday, July 31, 2006. Comments must be submitted in writing on or before the end of the public comment period. Written comments should be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on July 31, 2006 to the City's Planning Division, attention Jeff Schwilk, 1500 Warburton Ave., Santa Clara CA 95050.

Please note that the PDF files are very large and may take several minutes to load if you are on a dial-up connection. If you have difficulty opening the PDF, you may need to refresh the page (F5) or download a newer version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.