SOLANA BEACH — Cedros Crossing, the proposed mixed-use development adjacent to the Solana Beach Train Station is one step closer to becoming a reality after the City Council voted unanimously to certify the project’s Environmental Impact Report, or EIR, Jan. 17.

The approval came after two public meetings held that week, the first of which was a five-hour session Jan. 16 that included 2 1/2 hours of public comments.

The wheels officially began turning on Cedros Crossing when the developer, Shea Properties, and the property owner, North County Transit District, submitted their project application to the city June 14, 2004. Since then, thousands of hours have been spent in meetings and public hearings to review the EIR.

City Manager David Ott said the public needs to keep perspective on the project. “It’s not unusual for a complex project like this to take anywhere from two to four years to certify the Environmental Impact Report,” Ott said.

Ott also stressed that the certification of the EIR does not constitute approval of the project. The next step for Cedros Crossing and the City Council is the project approval phase, which could take several months.

While the council voted to certify the EIR, it included comments with the finalized document that reiterates its position that some of the proposed mitigation measures are inadequate and will require further analysis during the project approval phase.

During the two most recent meetings, the City Council reviewed project impacts regarding aesthetics, traffic and parking.

The project would have a significant traffic impact at the intersection of Lomas Santa Fe Drive and Coast Highway 101 — the council feels the increased traffic would result in unacceptable congestion during peak hours.

To mitigate the impact, the EIR proposed the installation of an additional left-hand turn lane from Coast Highway 101 onto Lomas Santa Fe Drive. But the council feels this is not suitable due to the fact that the additional lane would take away 26 commercial parking spaces and result in the loss of two dedicated bicycle lanes.

“The bike lanes would have to be relocated and that’s not a good solution,” Deputy Mayor Dave Roberts said. “We want to keep the downtown area friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists.”

The current plan for Cedros Crossing — which has undergone six redesigns — is formally known as the Reduced Massing Alternative without the North Coast Repertory Theatre. In August 2007, the theater decided to back out of the project, which would have included a new 27,000-square-foot theater facility.

The project now calls for 11,000 square feet of office space, 21,100 square feet of restaurant/retail space, 141 residential units and a new 517-space parking garage for Coaster and Amtrak passengers.

“This is one of the biggest public works projects in the history of this city,” Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian said.

One of the project’s biggest hurdles could be the apparent shortfall in long-term parking for transit riders. The parking garage would include 517 spaces, but anywhere from 800 to 1,000 parking spaces will be needed by the year 2030, according to two different parking studies.

“Not having adequate parking would have a significant impact on our businesses and neighborhoods,” said Councilwoman Lesa Heebner.

Nevertheless, the certification of the EIR is a step forward for Cedros Crossing and Roberts thanked Shea Properties and the public for their dedicated cooperation.

“Our city staff worked overtime and the community spent hours and hours on this project to make sure we got the right decision,” Roberts said. “There’s still a long way to go, but if it hadn’t been for the community working with us, we never would have been able to get to the step where we are now.”