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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReso 1981-10471 --/,- RESOLUTION NO. 10471 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA ADOPTING CANDIDATE CEQA FINDINGS FOR BONITA LONG CANYON ESTATES The City Council of the City of Chula Vista does hereby resolve as follows: WHEREAS, the staff has prepared Candidate CEQA Findings in accordance with Section 15088 of the State EIR Guidelines based upon the fact that the final Environmental Impact Report 79-2 for said project concluded that there was a potential for significant environmental impacts necessitating such Candidate CEQA Findings, and WHEREAS, each potentially significant impact is identified, mitigation measures are proposed, and a finding has been offered, and WHEREAS, all impacts can be reduced to a level of insignificance if the specified mitigation measures are implemented, and WHEREAS, said Candidate CEQA Findings have been adopted by Planning Commission Resolution No. EIR-79-2-A. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Chula Vista that said Candidate CEQA Findings contained in Planning Commission Resolution No. EIR-79-2-A, attached hereto and incorporated herein as if set forth in full, be, and the same are hereby adopted. Presented by Approved as to form by Director of George D. Lindberg, City Attorney .':'-/1:,--::::.. D. J. Pet; Planning ~ D4 I - ADOPTED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHl.l.A VISTA, CALIFORNIA, thIt 26th 19'A 1 , by the following Wlte, t01t: day of May AYES: NAYES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: CCdlCilmen Councimen Cculcilmen Scott, Cox, McCand1iss, Hyde, Gi110w None None Councilmen None (,.)~~(~ Mayor of the City of ChuIa Vista ATTE STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO ) 55. CITY OF CHULA VISTA ) I, JENNIE M. FULASZ, CMt, CITY CLERK of the City of ChuJo Vista, California, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the above and foregoing is 0 full, true and correct copy of RESOLUTION NO. 10471 ,and that the same has not been amended or repealed. DATED City Clerk ( seal) CC-660 /D~7/ RESOLUTION NO. tlK-/~-L-A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION RECERTIFYING AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT ON BONITA LONG CANYON ESTATES AND ADOPTING FINDINGS PURSUANT TO CALIFORNIA RESOURCES CODE SECTION 21081 WHEREAS, EIR-79-2 was certified by the Chula Vista Planning Commission on February 28, 1979, and WHEREAS, the project proponent subsequently submitted a Sectional Planning Area plan involving several revisions to the plan described in the Environmental Impact Report, and WHEREAS, the Environmental Review Committee, after giving appropriate public notice, held a public hearing on March 19, 1981, to determine the adequacy of EIR-79-2 in light of the project revisions and possible changes in circumstances, and WHEREAS, the Environmental Review Committee concluded there would be no new significant environmental impact which was not identified in the original Environmental Impact Report, and WHEREAS, the Environmental Review Committee recommended recertification of EIR-79-2, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: From facts presented to the Planning Commission, the Commission recertifies that EIR-79-2 has been prepared in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, the State EIR guidelines, and the environmental review procedures of the City of Chula Vista, and WHEREAS, EIR-79-2 concluded that there were potentially significant environmental impacts if the project were implemented as proposed, and WHEREAS, project design revisions and conditions of approval will lower the level of impact to an insignificant level, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Chula Vista Planning Commission adopts the attached Candidate CEQA Findings pursuant to California Public Resources Code Section 21081. PASSED AND APPROVED by the City Planning Commission of Chula Vista, California this 22nd day of April, 1981, by the following vote, to-wit: AYES: NAY: ASS ENT : Commissioners Stevenson, R. Johnson, Williams, Pressutti and G. Johnson Commissioner O'Neill None ~~~~ Cha i rman ATTEST: ItJll/ /~ /JJt~ " BONITA LONG CANYON EQUESTRIAN ESTATES EIR-79-2 CANDIDATE CEQA Findings (Calif. Public Resources Code Sec. 21081) (Calif. Administrative Code Sec. 15088-9) A. BACKGROUND It is the policy of the State of California and the City of Chula Vista that it shall not approve a project if it would result in a significant environmental impact and it is feasible to substantially lessen that effect. Only when there are specific economic, social or technical reasons which make it infeasible to mitigate an impact, can a project with significant impact be approved. Therefore, when an EIR has been completed which identifies one or more significant environmental impacts, one of the following findings must be made: 1. Changes or alternatives have been required of, or incorporated into the project which mitigate or avoid the significant environmental effects identified in the final EIR, or 2. Such changes or alternatives are within the reasonsibility and jurisdiction of another public agency and not the agency making the finding. Such changes have been adopted by such other agency or can and should be adopted by such other agency, or 3. Specific economic, social or other considerations make infeasible the mitigation measures or project alternatives identified in the final EIR. B. Effects found to be insignificant The final EIR on this project concluded that the project would have no potential, substantial and adverse impact in the following areas: /02/7/ -2- l. Impacts on ground water. 2. Impacts on mineral resources. 3. Impacts on air quality. 4. Impacts on water quality. 5. Impacts resulting from stationary noise sources. 6. Impacts on paleontological resources. 7. Impacts on historical resources. 8. Impacts on social structure. 9. Impacts on the City tax structure. 10. Impacts on parks and recreation services. 1l. Impacts on fire and police services. 12. Impacts on waste disposal. C. Potent i a 11 y Significant Impacts & Feasible Mitigation Measures 1 . Geo logy The presence of a possible fault and several landslides and mudflows require further investigation in more detailed geotechnical studies. Such a study has been completed for phase one, three and four of the project. Finding The project is being approved based on the condition that before considera- tion of tentative subdivision maps, detailed geotechnical reports will be prepared for the area involved and the recommendations of geological and/or soils engineers will be followed. Subject to this condition, impacts of the project can be avoided. 2. Soils Some of the soils on the site are characterized as having high expansive- ness, compressibility, high runoff potential and average erodibility. /64 7/ -3- Findings Standard development regulations require the submission of detailed soils reports and the recommendations of a soils engineer prior to the issuance of a grading permit. This will insure the avoidance of sub- stantial impacts due to soil conditions. Additionally, the provision of landscaping on newly graded slopes and siltation basins downstream from graded areas will mitigate problems due to the erodibility of the soils. 3. Drainage 76% of the project area is located within the Long Canyon drainage basin with the balance in the Sunnyside basin. Both of these drainage basins have existing drainage facilities which are inadequate to one degree or another. Insofar as the Sunnyside basin is concerned, the increased flows as a percent of the ultimate 50 year storm runoff, is .82%. However, the same increase in the Long Canyon basin is 4%. Because the Long Canyon basin is bulb shaped at the upper southeastern end, there is a higher velocity of runoff downstream and a higher intensity of runoff than would normally be expected. Thus the project would result in a small but significant increase in runoff which will aggravate the existing well documented drainage problems. Findings The project proponent is proposing to mitigate the downstream drainage problem by using on-site retention basins to control the amount of flow and reduce peak flow volumes. This would not only have the capacity to retain the increased runoff hut would minimize the existing drainage problem. An alternative to this system would be off-site, downstream facilities which could cost over $700,000. If this alternative were implemented the developer of Bonita Long Canyon would be responsible for the proportion of the development within the drainage basin. /0411 -4- 4. Land Form Approximately 2,659,600 cubic yards of cut and 3,328,300 cubic yards of fill will be necessary to implement the project. This is about 6,922 cubic yards of 9rading (cut and fill) per dwelling lot. The highest fill slopes are necessary to extend streets across canyons. The highest cut slope will be 28 ft. and the highest fill slope will be 75 ft. The project has been designed to minimize the amount of grading. Most of the steeper slopes and canyon bottoms (flood plain) have been left essentially undisturbed (300 acres). The alignment of roads, including Corral Canyon Road, was selected because it would minimize lar.d form alteration. Finding The design of the plan with about 266 acres of natural open space including most slopes over 30% and canyon bottoms, mitigate much of the degradation of visual quality due to land form alteration. Contour grading and native and/or drought resistant planting as required by city code will further reduce this effect. Thus mitigation measures have been incorporated into the project which will reduce the level of impact to insignificant. 5. Mobil e Noi se The project will subject residents within the project and along access roads to potentially significant acoustical impacts. These areas include the following: 1. The dwellings in phase 1 which are arljacent to East "H" Street and the existing homes which front on East "H" Street. 2. Rutgers Avenue between East "H" Street and Tel egraph Canyon Road. 3. The phase VI apartments and the existin9 condominiums to the north. 4. The extension of Corral Canyon Road through the project and the Corral Canyon Road-Central Avenue link to the north. /04 -r J -5- The single family dwellings within the project along East "H" Street and Corral Canyon Road will be shielded from significant acoustical impact by decorative masonry walls. The proposed apartments on Otay Lakes Road will have to conform to the 45dBA interior noise level standard. Depending on location this may require measures beyond standard construction techniques to insure adequate acoustical reduction. Exterior active and private open space areas should also be shielded. The change in dBA for existing dwelling units would be as follows: Corral Canyon Road (North of project) +4 dBA Central Avenue +2 Rutgers Avenue +3 East "H" Street +3 Tim Street/Acacia Avenue +1 Otay Lakes Road No change (assuming the future extension of East "H" Street to Otay Lakes Road) These changes will not result in any increase above the 65 dBA criteria for existing dwelling units. Due to future projects which are not currently planned, the 1995 noise level may exceed the 65 dBA criteria. Finding The mitigation measures incorporated into the project and those which are standard development regulations will avoid any significant acoustical impact. 6. Biology The project as first designed was generally responsive to the biological sensitivity of the site. In addition, a section of the project (Q Street) has been redesigned to preserve a large portion of the unique Cleveland sage population on the site. In addition, the following potential measures were noted in the final EIR: jC>'l7/ -6- 1. Long term preservation and maintenance of the open space areas. 2. Revegetation of slopes with native plant species and transplanta- tion and seeding culture from on-site Opuntia and Simmondsia respectively. 3. Clearly marked equestrian and hiking trails. 4. Planning of grading operations to avoid unnecessary disturbance of open space areas. Fi ndi ng The proposed project as refined and the inclusion of the mitigation measures specified above will avoid any substantial biological impact. 7. Archaeology The project area includes two sites (SDi 5829 & 5830) which are considered to be of major potential informational significance. After an initial reconnaissance of the property test excavations were conducted on these two sites and indications of subsurface cultural material were found. In addition there is a previously impacted site (SDi 4891) which will be indirectly impacted by informal, undocumented collection. A program of surface and subsurface excavation, including a series of postholes, would mitigate the impact on these significant archaeological resources. Findin9 The proposed mitigation will avoid any significant impact on archaeological resources. 8. Aesthetics The project area is largely undisturbed containing large stands of native vegetation and involving rough topography. Much of the natural vegetation and landform would be retained, however, the ridges would be lowered by up to 30 ft., the sides of some canyons would be filled and the areas developed / &f r....7 IOL/7/ -7- with houses, streets, a school and other uses. The introduction of non-native vegetation such as large trees would have a visual effect. The adversity of this effect is a very subjective judgment. Although the project will result in a substantial aesthetic impact, the effect is not considered adverse. Finding The project design incorporates mitigation measures which avoid a significant aesthetic impact. 9. School s The project would add school students in school districts and neighbor- hoods which have enrollments above school capacities. About 494 elementary and 412 secondary students are anticipated. Ordinance No. 1848 of the Chula Vista Municipal Code Chapter 17.11, provides that under conditions of overcrowding the city may require the dedication of land, the payment of fees or both for the purpose of providing interim school facilities as required by the affected school districts. The provision of land and interim educational facilities in a timely fashion, as development of this phased project takes place over several years, will partially mitigate this significant impact. The long range fiscal problems of school districts throughout the state in providing permanent educational facilities is beyond the province of this project and the EIR. Finding The project is being approved subject to the provision of adequate educational facilities. This will reduce the level of impact on the ability to provide educational services to less than substantial. 10. Utilities (Sewer) Most of this project will connect to a sewer line that for a short distance has a very level grade (0.4%). During peak periods this section J 04 7 j -8- would according to City standards 02 at capacity. It may be necessary to re~lace that portion of the line, instal' a parallel line or take other m2~sures to insure adequate line capacity. Now that the potential problem has been identified further studies will be made and appropriate improvements required when the existing line reaches capacity. Finding Approval of the project is based on a requirement for the necessary calculations for each phase of development to assure no impact will result or that necessary improvements be made to avoid any significant impact. 10. Tra Hi c The project could have a significant impact on street or intersection capacities in the vicinity of the project. The following mitigation measures, tied to each phase of the project, are necessary to avoid any significant impact. Phase I -East "H" Street .shall be extended from Rutgers westerly to Otay Lakes Road. -Otay Lakes Road shall be widened to four travel lanes between Bonita Road and Telegraph Canyon Road. -Via Hacienda and Canyon Drive shall be extended to Otay Lakes Road. Phase II I -Central Avenue shall be improved to a four lane configuration from Corral Canyon Road to Bonita Road. Phase IV -Corral Canyon Road shall be extended south to East "H" Street. Finding Subject to the inclusion of the above noted mitigation measures in the project or their implementation prior to an appropriate phase of the project, the project will not have a significant traffic impact on street service levels. / 0'-/7/ -9- There will be a substantial increase in traffic on existin9 streets (Bonita Road and Telegraph Canyon Road) until East "H" Street is extended from 1-805 to Otay Lakes Road. I olf 7/