CITY of SAN JACINTO ESPLANADE AVENUE WIDENING-PHASE I Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration
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CITY OF SAN JACINTO ESPLANADE AVENUE WIDENING-PHASE I Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration Prepared for December 2019 City of San Jacinto CITY OF SAN JACINTO ESPLANADE AVENUE WIDENING-PHASE I Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration Prepared for December 2019 City of San Jacinto 550 West C Street Suite 750 San Diego, CA 92101 619.719.4200 esassoc.com Bend Oakland San Diego Camarillo Orlando San Francisco Delray Beach Pasadena Santa Monica Destin Petaluma Sarasota Irvine Portland Seattle Los Angeles Sacramento Tampa OUR COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY | ESA helps a variety of public and private sector clients plan and prepare for climate change and emerging regulations that limit GHG emissions. ESA is a registered assessor with the California Climate Action Registry, a Climate Leader, and founding reporter for the Climate Registry. ESA is also a corporate member of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Business Council on Climate Change (BC3). Internally, ESA has adopted a Sustainability Vision and Policy Statement and a plan to reduce waste and energy within our operations. This document was produced using recycled paper. TABLE OF CONTENTS City of San Jacinto Esplanade Avenue Widening-Phase I Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration Page Project Description .................................................................................................................. 1 Overview and Background ............................................................................................... 1 Project Location and Setting ............................................................................................ 5 Project Objectives ............................................................................................................. 5 Project Description ........................................................................................................... 5 Construction of the Proposed Project .............................................................................. 5 Operation and Maintenance ............................................................................................. 6 Proposed Project Approvals ............................................................................................. 6 Environmental Factors Potentially Affected ......................................................................... 9 Environmental Checklist ....................................................................................................... 10 Aesthetics ....................................................................................................................... 10 Agriculture and Forestry Resources ............................................................................... 12 Air Quality ....................................................................................................................... 17 Biological Resources ...................................................................................................... 20 Cultural Resources ......................................................................................................... 27 Energy ............................................................................................................................ 31 Geology and Soils .......................................................................................................... 32 Greenhouse Gas Emissions ........................................................................................... 36 Hazards and Hazardous Materials ................................................................................. 37 Hydrology and Water Quality ......................................................................................... 40 Land Use and Planning .................................................................................................. 43 Mineral Resources .......................................................................................................... 44 Noise ............................................................................................................................... 46 Population and Housing ................................................................................................. 48 Public Services ............................................................................................................... 49 Recreation ...................................................................................................................... 51 Transportation................................................................................................................. 52 Tribal Cultural Resources ............................................................................................... 54 Utilities and Service Systems ......................................................................................... 57 Wildfire ............................................................................................................................ 59 Mandatory Findings of Significance ............................................................................... 61 City of San Jacinto Esplanade Avenue Widening-Phase I i ESA / D181073.00 Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration December 2019 Table of Contents Appendices A. Emissions Modeling Outputs B. Jurisdictional Determination C. Biological Resource Reports List of Figures 1 Regional Location .......................................................................................................... 2 2 Project Overview ........................................................................................................... 3 3 Farmlands .................................................................................................................... 13 List of Tables 1 Proposed Project: Regional Construction Emissions lbs per day .............................. 19 2 California Native American Tribes Notified Pursuant to AB 52 .................................. 55 3 Summary of Tribes Consulted ..................................................................................... 55 City of San Jacinto Esplanade Avenue Widening-Phase I ii ESA / D181073.00 Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration December 2019 CITY OF SAN JACINTO ESPLANADE AVENUE WIDENING-PHASE I Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration Project Description Overview and Background The City of San Jacinto is located in western Riverside County, California and is surrounded by mountain ranges in all directions. The City of Hemet borders the City of San Jacinto at Esplanade Avenue; a key east to west traffic corridor. Major transportation corridors in the vicinity include State Routes (SR) 74 and 79. In Hemet, SR-79 overlaps SR-74 following it eastward for a few miles before heading north again through San Jacinto (Figure 1). Between 2000 and 2016, Riverside County’s population increased by 52 percent whereas the total population of the City of San Jacinto increased by 23,877 to 47,656; a population growth rate of 100 percent. During the same period, the City of Hemet’s population increased by 21,258 to 80,070; a population growth rate of 36 percent (Southern California Association of Governments [SCAG], 2017a and 2017b). The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) has approved the realignment of SR- 79 from Domenigoni Parkway to Gilman Springs Road that would alleviate the existing meandering route through the downtown areas of Hemet and San Jacinto, resulting in a more direct north to south route through the San Jacinto Valley (2016). Although it is uncertain as to when or if the project would proceed as planned, if constructed, the proposed SR-79 realignment would traverse Esplanade Avenue near the intersection of Warren Road (RCTC, 2016) (Figure 2). The regional transportation system needs to be expanded to accommodate anticipated future growth to avoid unacceptable levels of traffic congestion and related adverse impacts (RCTC, 2016). The City of San Jacinto, in cooperation with the City of Hemet, is proposing to construct Phase I of Esplanade Avenue Widening Project (Phase 1 or Proposed Project) which would widen Esplanade Avenue from Warren Road to Sanderson Avenue, approximately 1.5 miles, from two lanes to four (Figure 2). To widen Esplanade Avenue, the City of San Jacinto would acquire right-of-away (ROW) frontage on the north side of Esplanade Avenue from residentially used properties and agricultural operations but would not be displacing anyone or taking any residential structures. City of San Jacinto Esplanade Avenue Widening-Phase I 1 ESA / D181073.00 Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration December 2019 UV60 ¨¦§10 BANNING MORENO VALLEY Ø 79 PROJECT Perris Duck Ponds UV Reservoir LOCATION BEAUMONT RIVERSIDE COUNTY San Jacinto River San Jacinto Res. Cottonwood Lake SAN JACINTO Ø PROJECT LOCATION MENIFEE UV74 HEMET Little Lake 02 N Miles Path: U:\GIS\GIS\Projects\18xxxx\D181073_SanJacinto_EsplandeAve\03_MXDs_Projects\Fig1_RegionalLoc.mxd, Janderson 3/21/2019 Janderson U:\GIS\GIS\Projects\18xxxx\D181073_SanJacinto_EsplandeAve\03_MXDs_Projects\Fig1_RegionalLoc.mxd, Path: SOURCE: ESRI San Jacinto Esplanade Avenue Figure 1 Regional Location NEWCASTLE WAY SEVENTH ST 7TH ST R D W O D A E M Y S S A R D G R N E R R A P W O E S O V W E R L A E T C L O V E N N O S R ANDE S CAWSTON AVE CAWSTON (!S ESPLANADE AVE (!S (!S O N E D R ST E D A H E S V A T E C V R A A E R B N E A T O S N T A N S C I B R R C COMMONWEALTH