Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration City of Hollister San Benito River Greenway
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INITIAL STUDY / MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION CITY OF HOLLISTER SAN BENITO RIVER GREENWAY DECEMBER 2008 Lead Agency: City of Hollister Engineering Department 375 Fifth Street Hollister, CA 95024 Prepared By: Analytical Environmental Services 1801 7th Street, Suite 100 Sacramento, Ca 95811 INITIAL STUDY / MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION CITY OF HOLLISTER SAN BENITO RIVER GREENWAY DECEMBER 2008 Lead Agency: City of Hollister Engineering Department 375 Fifth Street Hollister, CA 95024 Prepared By: Analytical Environmental Services 1801 7th Street, Suite 100 Sacramento, Ca 95811 TABLE OF CONTENTS SAN BENITO RIVER GREENWAY PROJECT INITIAL STUDY / MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Purpose of Study ............................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Environmental Factors Potentially Affected ....................................................................... 1-1 1.3 Evaluation Terminology ..................................................................................................... 1-1 1.4 Organization of the Initial Study ......................................................................................... 1-2 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................ 2-1 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 2-1 2.2 Project Location ................................................................................................................. 2-1 2.3 Project Background ........................................................................................................... 2-1 2.4 Project Objectives ............................................................................................................. 2-4 2.5 Project Description ............................................................................................................. 2-4 2.6 Regulatory Requirements, Permits, and Approvals .......................................................... 2-7 3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS (CHECKLIST) ........................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Evaluation of Environmental Impacts ................................................................................ 3-1 3.2 Environmental Checklist and Discussion........................................................................... 3-2 Aesthetics .......................................................................................................................... 3-2 Agricultural Resources ................... …………………………………………………………….3-4 Air Quality .......................................................................................................................... 3-6 Biological Resources ....................................................................................................... 3-11 Cultural Resources .......................................................................................................... 3-33 Geology and Soils ............................................................................................................ 3-36 Hazards and Hazardous Materials .................................................................................. 3-43 Hydrology and Water Quality ........................................................................................... 3-47 Land Use and Planning ................................................................................................... 3-50 Mineral Resources ........................................................................................................... 3-53 Noise ................................................................................................................................ 3-54 Population ........................................................................................................................ 3-57 Public Services ................................................................................................................ 3-58 Recreation ....................................................................................................................... 3-60 Transportation/Traffic ....................................................................................................... 3-61 Utilities and Service Systems .......................................................................................... 3-64 Mandatory Findings of Significance ................................................................................. 3-66 4.0 SIGNIFICANCE DETERMINATION .............................................................................................. 4-1 5.0 LIST OF PREPARERS ................................................................................................................. 5-1 6.0 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 6-1 AES i San Benito River Greenway Project December 2008 Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration Table of Contents LIST OF TABLES Table 3-1 MBUAPCD Attainment Status ..................................................................................... 3-7 Table 3-2 Mitigated (unmitigated) Construction Emissions ......................................................... 3-8 Table 3-3 Unmitigated Operational Emissions ............................................................................ 3-9 Table 3-4 Habitat Acreages ....................................................................................................... 3-12 Table 3-5 Project Site Soils ....................................................................................................... 3-37 Table 3-6 Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale ............................................................................... 3-40 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2-1 Regional Location ....................................................................................................... 2-2 Figure 2-2 Site and Vicinity ........................................................................................................... 2-3 Figure 2-3 Site Plan ...................................................................................................................... 2-5 Figure 3-1 CNDDB 5-mile Radius Map ...................................................................................... 3-13 Figure 3-2 Habitat Map ............................................................................................................... 3-14 Figure 3-3 Site Photographs . ..................................................................................................... 3-15 Figure 3-4 Soils Map ................................................................................................................... 3-38 Figure 3-5 City of Hollister of General Plan Land Use Designations ......................................... 3-51 APPENDICES Appendix A Air Quality URBEMIS Data Appendix B Biological Resources Database Searches and Special Status Species Table Appendix C List of Observed Wildlife and Plant Species Appendix D Native American Consultation AES ii San Benito River Greenway Project December 2008 Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration SECTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 PURPOSE OF STUDY This document examines the potential environmental effects associated with construction and operation of the proposed San Benito River Greenway (Proposed Project). The Proposed Project would result in the development of a recreational trail and two associated parking lots within the City of Hollister along the San Benito River between Bridge Road and Apricot Lane. The proposed trail would accommodate pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian uses. This Initial Study has been prepared for the City of Hollister (Lead Agency) in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) of 1970 (as amended), codified in California Public Resources Code Sections 21000 et seq., and the State CEQA Guidelines in the Code of Regulations, Title 14, Division 6, Chapter 3. This Initial Study identifies potentially significant impacts and where applicable, presents mitigation measures that would reduce all identified environmental impacts to less-than-significant levels. Therefore, as discussed in Section 4.0, this Initial Study would support a Mitigated Negative Declaration as defined under CEQA Guidelines Section 15070. 1.2 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS POTENTIALLY AFFECTED The environmental factors checked below would be potentially affected by the Proposed Project, involving at least one impact requiring mitigation to bring it to a less-than-significant level. Impacts to these resources are evaluated using the checklist included in Section 3.0. The Proposed Project was determined to have a less-than-significant impact or no impact even without mitigation on unchecked resource areas. Aesthetics Land Use and Planning Agriculture Mineral Resources Air Quality Noise Biological Resources Population Cultural Resources Public Services Geology and Soils Recreation Hazards and Hazardous Materials Transportation/Traffic Water Resources Utility and Service Systems 1.3 EVALUATION TERMINOLOGY The following terminology is used to describe the levels of significance