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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Statement 1985/04/16 Item 5 COUNCIL AGENDA STATEMENT Item 5 Meeting Date 4/16/85 ITEM TITLE: a. Consideration of Final EIR-83-2, El Rancho del Rey Specific Pl an Amendment b. Resolution //9'1/ Certifying Final EIR-83-2, El Rancho del Rey Specific Plan Amendment SUBMITTED BY: Planning Director G7~ (4/5ths Vote: Yes___No~) REVIEWED BY: City Manager /~ 170- BACKGROUND This draft ErR involves a revision to the El Rancho del Rey Specific plan. The document was issued for public review on October 19, 1984. The Draft EIR was circulated by the State Clearin9house and their 45-day review period has closed. Letters of comment from state and other agencies are attached. They will be included in the final EIR with appropriate responses. The Plannin9 Commission held a public hearing on this EIR on January 23, 1985, and no verbal testimony was taken; however, several letters of comment were received. They have now been incorporated into the final EIR along with a response to those comments. The ori ginal project i nvol ved a specific pl an amendment for 1673.5-acres within the existing 2450-acre El Rancho del Rey Specific Plan. Since the El Rancho del Rey Specific Plan is the official land use designation for this property in the Chula Vista General Plan, the proposed amendment to the specific pl an will in effect al so amend the General Pl an. Subsequent to public review of the DEIR, several proposed land use designations were altered and a 10.2-acre out parcel was excl uded from the project. The proposed project revisions are described in Section 2 of the addendum to the Final EIR, along with a summary of the original project. The original project was revised to reduce environmental impacts to the project area. The City of Chula Vista's planning staff proposed further revisions to the proposed project plan. These revisions are also described in Section 2 of the addendum which analyzed the adequacy of the EIR. RECOMMENDATION: Certify that E IR-83-2 has been prepared in compl i ance wi th the California Environmental Quality Act and the environmental review procedures of the City of Chul a Vi sta and that the Pl anni ng Commi ssi on has reviewed and considered the information in this document. BOARDS/COMMISSIONS RECOMMENDATION: At its March 25, 1985, meeting the Pl anning Commission certified EIR-83-2. Page 2, Item 5 Meeting Date 4/lb/B~ DISCUSSION: EIR STATUS This final ErR for the El Rancho del Rey Specific Plan amendments is comprised of three vol urnes: Vol ume 1 is an addendum to the E IR whi ch was prepared to determine if the EIR adequately addresses the environmental effects of the revised project; Volume 2 consists of the final EIR including all comments on the draft EIR and responses to those comments (al so a supplemental traffic study); Volume 3 is the ErR technical appendices which is available at the Planning Department. It is the conclusion of the Addendum to this EIR that the evaluation provided in the draft document is accurate gi ven the revi si ons that have been made in the project. It was the finding of the Draft EIR that all significant environmental impacts could be mitigated to a level of insignificance with the exception of biology and air quality. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The proposed project i nvol ves a Specifi c Pl an Amendment for 1673.5 acres of the 2450 acre El Rancho del Rey Specific Plan. Of this, 1582 acres are under ownership of the Gersten Companies and the remaining 91.5 acres are under various other private ownerships. The property is located east of Interstate 805 and north of Telegraph Canyon Road. Existing topography of the site consists of east-west trending ridges and intervening valleys. Major roads in the project area include Telegraph Canyon Road on the south, East H Street (which is presently constructed with two lanes) through the central portion of the property, and Otay Lakes Road along the eastern and northeastern portion of the site. The original proposed Specific Plan Amendment as described in the Draft EIR would involve an increase in the maximum permitted dwelling units from 4220 to 5928. This increase would reflect a shift from predominantly single family units as envisioned by the adopted plan to more small lot single family and multiple family units. The proposed plan would provide a 93.4-acre Employment Park designation adjacent to East H Street. This would permit the development of industrial, office and commercial support uses within the area, which were not provided for under the adopted plan. Other land use changes proposed by the project include the addition of a public facilities designation to accommodate community service uses (9.9 acres), an increase in acreage designated for parks/recreation uses (from 27.0 acres to 90.5 acres), and a decrease in natural open space acreage. The north leg of Rice Canyon, which was shown as natural open space in the adopted plan, would be partially filled under the original proposed plan, and used for active parks/recreation uses. The center leg of Rice Canyon would include designation of a larger open space area than under the proposed plan, with this canyon envisioned as the natural open space area. Subsequent project revisions have eliminated any fill in the north leg of Rice Ca nyon. c>\:'\ \ I?-\\ Page 3, Item 5 Meeting Date 4/1b/8~ The circulation system for the project site would be changed from the adopted pl an's modi fi ed gri d system. The proposed amendment woul d create a loop system with fewer direct connections through the site, which will reduce through-trips in this area. ANAL YSIS 1) Land Use The land use designation changes proposed by the Specific Plan Amendment would increase the residential density of the project, and would introduce Employment Park uses. The proposed land use designations would be compatible with existing and planned developments surrounding the project site, and would also be internally compatible. No significant land use impacts would be associated with the compatibility of internal uses or adjacent offsite uses. 2) Traffic Circulation Development according to the proposed Specific Plan Amendment would result in traffic generation that is substantially higher than the adopted plan. Total trips would increase from 44,000 ADT with the proposed amendment to 73,900 ADT. The project tri ps when consi dered on a cumul ati ve basi s wi th other development in the area, would require the improvement of roads throughout the project vicinity. Potential impacts would be associated with this traffic if required improvements are not provided, or are not phased in accordance with need. However, all potenti al impacts can be mi ti gated to i nsi gnifi cance by providing a combination of road improvements as outlined in Section 3.2.3 of the draft E IR. The major road improvements needed to avoid significant impacts include construction of onsite roads, and some offsite segments, to their designated wi dths. Several changes in these wi dths are requi red by the cumul ati ve traffic volumes including the proposed project. These are the internal roadways "A" and "C" whi ch are shown as two-l ane coll ectors but shoul d be upgraded to four-lane collectors, and East H Street which should be upgraded from four lanes to six lanes. The segment of East H Street between 1-805 and Ridgeback Road would require a change in classification from a major road to a prime arterial, due to the proposed project's increase in traffic generation. If project development is phased with needed circulation improvements, potential impacts would be reduced to insignificance. If improvements are not made, a significant adverse traffic impact would result. 3. Fi scal Analysi s The operating costs and revenues for the development of El Rancho del Rey under both the adopted and proposed plans were projected by a fiscal consultant to determine the approximate fiscal effect of the project on the City of Chul a Vi sta. It was estimated that revenues exceed costs for both plans for all phases of the project. However, the proposed plan would provide substantially greater net revenues to the City than the adopted plan (a total of $12-$14 million in 20 years plus about $825,000 per year thereafter). This woul d result in si gni ficant benefi ci a 1 fi seal effects to the Ci ty with the proposed project. \O{\\ ~.\\ Page 4, Item 5 Meeting Date 4/1b/H~ 4) Biological Resources The proposed Specific Plan amendment would reduce the natural habitats of the project site and retains substantially less sensitive habitats and species than the adopted plan. Given the unique character of the low scrub vegetation (Maritime Desert Scrub) in the area, the rapidly declining status of this habitat along the coastal plain of San Diego County, and the use of this habitat by a number of declining plant and animal species, the implementation of either the proposed and the adopted Plans would cause significant biological effects. The proposed Pl an woul d potenti ally retai n more natural open space in the central and southern legs of Rice Canyon. The significant biological effect of development of El Rancho del Rey by the proposed Plan is essentially cumulative. It is a combination of the loss of a variety of declining regi onal habitats and speci es. The long-term vi abi 1 ity of the open space system in the proposed Plan is considered substantially less than the adopted Plan. The revised project would be significantly biologically more sensitive than the original project. The north leg of Rice Canyon would be retained as natura 1 open space; thereby, el imi nati ng impacts associ ated wi th the development of Rice Canyon. Since the revised projects would retain the north 1 eg of Ri ce Canyon as natural open space the following measures shoul d be implemented to ensure the long-term protection of the north leg: Development of an erosion reversal plan which includes improvements to the north or main leg of Rice Canyon. Development of a long-term erosion control plan for the canyon area. Development of a plan to keep out off-road vehicles. The miti gati on measures associ ated with the other areas of the site and discussed in the EIR would also need to be implemented in order to achieve an overall biologically sensitive project. The revised plan would be substantially more sensitive to the existing biological environment and was revised in response to impacts identified in the EIR. A revegetation plan is included as part of the proposed project. Elements of this plan include revegetation of manufactured slopes adjacent to natural areas with native vegetation, reestablish canyon bottom biota in the north leg of Rice Canyon, modify natural slopes through brush removal and transplantings of indigenous cacti, and create a cacti refuge on the south facing slope of the canyon south of East H Street. The miti gati on program for the proposed Plan only partially mitigates the significant effects of development of the project area. ,-:.,?\\ ~\\ Page 5, Item 5 Meeting Date 4/16/85 5) Cultural Resources A total of six archaeological sites are located within the project boundaries, and development of the pl an area under the adopted or proposed pl ans woul d resul tin potenti ally s i gnifi cant adverse impacts to these resources. Mi ti gati on woul d be necessary as part of project approvals and pri or to grading of the property. This would include a testing program and subsequent preservation or data recovery program. 6) Paleontological Resources The project site includes extensive paleontological resources within the rich fossiliferous San Diego Formation which occurs over much of the plan area. Significant impacts would occur for either the adopted or proposed plan from exposure and possible destructi on of fossil materi al duri ng gradi ng. Mitigation measures are available to avoid significant impacts to paleontological resources. These include a program of onsite monitoring and fossil salvage which should be made a condition of project approvals. 7) Geology/Soils The project site is generally geologically suitable for development. Onsite geotechnical conditions woul d not pose maj or constraints to development as proposed. Potential seismic activity would be no greater at the site than elsewhere in southern California. Construction in accordance with the Uniform Building Code will minimize the effects of earthquake shaking. Prior to final project design, a detailed geological investigation will be required to provide grading, foundation and construction recommendations. 8) Landform/Aesthetics Development of the project site according to the adopted and original plans would substantially change the visual character of the site from a rural area to an urbanized community. The proposed landform alteration included major grading of ridgetops which would be similar to grading required for development under the adopted Specific Plan. However, the proposed plan would have resulted in fi 11 i ng the bottom of the north 1 eg of Ri ce Canyon whereas the adopted plan would not. The filling of the bottom of the north leg of Ri ce Canyon woul d have been a si gnifi cant impact of the proposed amendment that would have been mitigable only through an alternative project design. The Specific Plan incorporates requirements for grading and design review as part of subsequent project actions, such as Sectional Planning Area plans and tentative maps, which will permit appropriate mitigation measures to be incorporated should adverse impacts be identified. The revi sed project woul d permi t development of the si te to the adopted plans. The resulting visual character of the area would, therefore, be similar to that identified in the original proposed plan. However, the retenti on of the north 1 eg of Ri ce Canyon as an undi sturbed open space area would eliminate the significant impact identified for the originally proposed project. The revised Specific Plan also incorporates requirements for grading and design review as part of subsequent project actions. The staff proposal woul d al so retain more open space at the northwest corner of Paseo Ranchero and Telegraph Canyon Road. This would prevent an intrusion into the Telegraph Canyon Road Scenic Route viewshed. ~\\~~\ Page 6, Item 5 Meeting Date 4/lb/8~ 9) Noise The major source of noise affecting the project site will be from future years' traffic on the exi sti ng and p1 anned roadway network. Future residential development in some portions of the plan area would be subject to noise levels that exceed standards for exterior and/or interior uses. However, the noise levels can be feasibly reduced to acceptable levels through the use of barriers, building shell modifications and siting of structures. Specific noise mitigation should be determined for each project as part of subsequent approvals. 10) Schools The precise number of students to be generated by project development has not been determi ned, however, the additi ona1 dwell i ng units wou1 d generate more students than wou1 d result under exi sti ng 1 and use desi gnati on. School sites have been identified within the Specific Plan area. Adequate school facilities must be provided in conjunction with the proposed development to avoid any significant impact. Details regarding school facilities phasing construction and capacity would be resolved before the time SPA plans and tentative maps are filed. 11) Parks, Recreation and Open Space The proposed Specific Plan Amendment includes substantially more parks/ recreation designated land than the adopted plan. This is located primarily with the community spine in the north leg of Rice Canyon, with smaller park designations in other portions of the plan area. The total acreage for parks exceeds the City's standard requirement, thus no park impacts would be associated with the project. The proposed p1 an retains 1 ess natural open space than the adopted p1 an. A maj or area of change is the fi 11 i ng of the easterly porti on of the north 1 eg by the proposed plan, which is considered a significant impact of the proposed project. The desi gnati on of a 1 a rger porti on of the central 1 eg of Ri ce Canyon as open space reduces this impact, although not to insignificance. FISCAL IMPACT: Not applicable. ~o---.__.._ WPC 1850P ~~ .... -,. .._-,.-._~ ----"-. ------,- I C.I.. ~ , I i Dated __jL/~ -J0--1 -.--- _f) --"'-_J r\~\ ~\\