Appendix C: Cultural Resources Assessment
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Cultural Assessment for Metro Emergency Security Operations Center CULTURAL RESOURCES ASSESSMENT FOR THE METRO EMERGENCY SECURITY OPERATIONS CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Prepared for: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Prepared by: AECOM 515 South Flower Street, 8th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90071 Authors: Marc A. Beherec, Ph.D., R.P.A. M.K. Meiser, M.A. Linda Kry, B.A. Angela H. Keller, Ph.D., R.P.A. June 19, 2015 June 19, 2015 i Cultural Assessment for Metro Emergency Security Operations Center TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ iv Chapter 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Report Organization ............................................................................................................ 1 Project Location .................................................................................................................. 1 Project Description ............................................................................................................. 2 Regulatory Setting ............................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 2 Project Setting ..................................................................................................................... 8 Environmental Setting ........................................................................................................ 8 Cultural Setting ................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 3 Archival Research............................................................................................................... 18 Archaeological Records Search ......................................................................................... 18 Sacred Lands File Search ................................................................................................... 25 Other Interested Parties ................................................................................................... 25 Paleontological Records Search ........................................................................................ 25 Chapter 4 Archeological and Built Environment Survey ...................................................................... 18 Methods ............................................................................................................................ 26 Results ............................................................................................................................... 26 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 5 Management Recommendations ....................................................................................... 30 Built Environment Recommendations .............................................................................. 30 Archaeological Recommendations ................................................................................... 30 Paleontological Recommendations .................................................................................. 30 Project Personnel ............................................................................................................................... 32 References Cited ................................................................................................................................ 33 June 19, 2015 ii Cultural Assessment for Metro Emergency Security Operations Center FIGURES Figure 1 Regional Location Map ...................................................................................... 5 Figure 2 Project Location Map......................................................................................... 6 Figure 3 Project Area Map ............................................................................................... 7 TABLES Table 1: California Historical Landmarks within 0.5 Mile of the APE ............................... 19 Table 2: Los Angeles Historic‐Cultural Monuments within 0.5 Mile of the APE .............. 20 APPENDICES A Cultural Resources Investigations B Paleontological Records Search Results C DPR Forms PLATES Plate 1: Southern Pacific Railroad and Competing Routes in 1900 (modified after Mullaly and Petty 2002) ................................................................................................................. 16 Plate 2: Map of the City of Los Angeles (Stevenson 1884; Los Angeles Public Library Map Collection) (polygon indicates present Project Area of Direct Impact) ............................ 22 Plate 3: Pierce’s Birdseye Map of Los Angeles in the late 1800s, Detail Showing APE (Pierce 1894) ..................................................................................................................... 23 Plate 4: 4oo Block Center Street (Sanborn 1950) ............................................................. 24 Plate 5: Brick Industrial Building, 400 Block Center Street, View Northwest ................... 27 Plate 6: 820 E. Jackson Street, from Jackson Street, View Southwest ............................. 28 June 19, 2015 iii Cultural Assessment for Metro Emergency Security Operations Center Since the commencement of the proposed Project, the project description was updated and some project elements changed. Specifically the building footprint was reduced within the Project site (See Figure 3 in the IS/MND). The conclusions of this technical analysis that was completed for the larger building continue to apply to the updated, smaller building. The updated project description includes building a four‐story, 100,000 square foot building within the existing Metro site, with one level of underground parking. The larger project description in this technical analysis was 104,000 square feet. Furthermore, references to FTA and federal coordination below no longer apply as no federal funding is being considered at this time. Additionally, the name of the Project was changed from Operations Control Center (OCC) to the current Emergency Security Operations Center (ESOC). No other project elements were changed other than the reduction in building footprint and total square footage. Therefore it was not necessary to revise this Cultural Resources Assessment as the original findings of no impact still apply. Executive Summary This document reports a Phase I cultural and paleontological resources assessment conducted in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Metro is proposing to construct a new Operations Control Center (OCC) at 410 Center Street, roughly 0.33 mile south of Metro’s Gateway Headquarters Building. The proposed OCC will enhance Metro’s emergency response capabilities by providing a central location for personnel to command, control, and communicate the latest and developing transit and emergency intelligence more efficiently and effectively. The overall purpose of the project is to provide efficient and safe transit service to the region as the bus and rail transit system expands. The project would enhance transit reliability for Metro buses and trains and allow for efficient operation of the transit system as it grows. Metro is currently expanding the transit system throughout the Los Angeles region and coordination between bus and rail operations and emergency services is increasingly important as ridership increases, security measures are heightened, and the system components become more complex. An Area of Potential Effects (APE) was established for the Project that includes the Area of Direct Impact (ADI), or Project footprint,t and the firs tier of adjacent properties that may be indirectly affected by the Project. AECOM conducted archival research and survey to identify cultural resources within the APE. AECOM also conducted an archaeological records search at the South Central Coastal Information Center housed at California State University, Fullerton. The records search revealed that the entirety of the ADI was previously studied, and no archaeological resources had been identified within the ADI. Several historical properties were identified within 0.5 mile of the APE, but none were located within the APE. Two new historical‐in‐age (50 years or greater in age) buildings were identified within the APE June 19, 2015 iv Cultural Assessment for Metro Emergency Security Operations Center during AECOM’s built‐environment survey, but neither is considered significant or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places or California Register of Historical Resources. In addition, AECOM requested a records search at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) of the APE and vicinity. The search identified no fossil localities within the APE, although significant vertebrate fossils have been recovered from Pleistocene‐age older Quaternary alluvial deposits like those that underlie the Project vicinity at varying depths below the current ground surface. Paleontologically sensitive deposits are anticipated to be present 5 to 15 feet below the surface, although depths may vary. In compliance with state and federal law, the FTA