Airway Community Care Appendix 08 Habitat Assessment
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Habitat Assessment Airway Community Care 3731, 3745, 3737 Airway Drive Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA March 13, 2015 Prepared for Ms. Carey Algaze Pacifica Companies 1775 Hancock Street, Suite 200 San Diego, CA 92110 Prepared by Wildlife Research Associates 1119 Burbank Avenue Santa Rosa, CA 95407 707-544-6273 And Jane Valerius Environmental Consulting 2893A Scotts Right of Way Sebastopol, CA 95472 707-824-1463 Habitat Assessment Airway Community Care 3731, 3745, 3737 Airway Drive, Santa Rosa TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. iv INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 1 Site Location ............................................................................................................................................. 2 METHODS .................................................................................................................................... 3 EXISTING CONDITIONS .......................................................................................................... 4 Wetlands and Waters of the U.S. and State ............................................................................................... 4 Vegetation Communities ........................................................................................................................... 5 Wildlife Habitats ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Movement Corridors ................................................................................................................................. 7 SPECIAL-STATUS BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES .................................................................. 8 Special-status Vegetation Communities .................................................................................................... 8 Special-status Plant Species ...................................................................................................................... 9 Special-status Animal Species ................................................................................................................... 9 IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES ........................................................................ 13 Wetlands and Waters of the U.S and State: ............................................................................................. 13 Special-Status Plants ............................................................................................................................... 16 Vegetation Community ........................................................................................................................... 16 Tree Removal .......................................................................................................................................... 17 Wildlife Movement Corridors ................................................................................................................. 19 Birds ........................................................................................................................................................ 19 Roosting Bats .......................................................................................................................................... 19 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 21 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE TITLE PAGE 1 Regional Project Vicinity ..................................................................................................... 24 2 Northern parcel looking south .............................................................................................. 25 3 Northern parcel looking west along northern tributary to Piner Creek ................................ 25 4 Snag with nesting birds and potentially roosting bats .......................................................... 26 3731, 3745, 3737 Airway Drive, Santa Rosa Wildlife Research Associates and Habitat Assessment ii Jane Valerius Environmental Consulting Habitat Assessment Airway Community Care 3731, 3745, 3737 Airway Drive, Santa Rosa TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont’d) LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX TITLE PAGE A Federal, State and Local Plans, Policies, Regulations and Ordinances 27 B Potentially Occurring Special-Status Plant Species in the Study Area 32 C Potentially Occurring Special-Status Animal Species in the Study Area 38 D Plant Species Observed at the Airway Drive Project Site 41 E Wildlife Species Observed at the Airway Drive Project Site 44 3731, 3745, 3737 Airway Drive, Santa Rosa Wildlife Research Associates and Habitat Assessment iii Jane Valerius Environmental Consulting SUMMARY The Airway Community Care Project, located at 3731, 3745, 3737 Airway Drive in northwestern Santa Rosa, includes development of the parcel and associated improvements, as depicted on the Construction Drawings (BKF Engineering 2015). Of the 3.9 acre parcel, comprising three parcels, development will occur over the entire 3.9 acres. Two drainages occur on the parcel, Piner Creek in the south and a tributary to Piner Creek in the north. Another channel originally identified as an irrigation ditch occurs in the central portion of the site. The eastern portion of this ditch has developed into a small wetland area. This ditch does not connect directly to Piner Creek as the end of the ditch has a berm that prevents water from flowing into Piner Creek. The emergent wetland area at the eastern end of the ditch is not suitable habitat for any of the three federally listed vernal pool plant species known to occur on the Santa Rosa Plain. Another very small wetland area (0.004 acres) was mapped in the east-central portion of the site not associated with any drainage. This wetland is also not suitable habitat for any of the three federally listed vernal pool plants. Two years of surveys were conducted and no special status plants were observed within the project site. This Habitat and Site Assessment presents the findings of our review of scientific literature and reports detailing previous studies conducted in the area, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) Natural Diversity Data Base (CNDDB) for reported occurrences of special-status vegetation communities, plants and animals. Seven vegetation community types occur on the property. Native vegetation types have been classified corresponding to The Manual of California Vegetation Second Edition (Sawyer, et. al. 2009). One of these types, the Elymus triticoides herbaceous alliance or creeping rye grass turfs, is a sensitive natural community with an S3 state ranking indicating that there are 21-100 viable occurrences statewide (CNDDB 2014). Although not ranked as a sensitive natural community by The Manual of California (Sawyer, et. al. 2009), wetland habitats are considered to be sensitive as they are regulated under state and federal laws and regulations. Three wetland habitats have been described for the property which are Typha (angustifolia, domingensis, latifolia) herbaceous alliance or cattail marshes, Eleocharis macrostachya herbaceous alliance or pale spike rush marshes and seasonal wetland. As part of this Habitat Assessment, we conducted a site visit of all habitats on the site to evaluate the potential for occurrence of 54 special-status plant species and 18 special-status wildlife species. All vegetation and structures were assessed for potentially suitable bird and bat habitat. An initial reconnaissance level survey was conducted on November 15, 2012, which was followed by focused surveys for plants conducted between April and June 2013. A nesting bird survey and a bat habitat assessment were conducted on May 24, 2013. Additional plant surveys were conducted from April to May 2014 as part of the wetland delineation and for vernal pool plants. Based on the literature review, presence of drainages on site, seasonal periods of bird nesting and bat maternity roosting activity and limitations of the surveys conducted for this assessment, the following are action items to be addressed prior to ground breaking: Obtain a Section 404 Nationwide Permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a 401 Water Quality Certification from the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and a Section 1600 Streambed Alteration Agreement from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for work in any of the drainages. Obtain authorization from the Sonoma County water Agency for work in Piner Creek. Obtain a tree removal permit from the City of Santa Rosa for the removal of trees as per Chapter 17-24 of the City Code. 3731, 3745, 3737 Airway Drive, Santa Rosa Wildlife Research Associates and Habitat Assessment iv Jane Valerius Environmental Consulting A nesting bird survey should be conducted within one week of the removal of tree nesting habitat, unless removal occurs after August 15 and before March 1, or as identified in the Streambed Alteration Agreement. A bat habitat assessment should be conducted of all trees that are proposed for removal. This habitat assessment can be conducted at any time of the year and it is recommended that it be conducted several months in advance of tree removal. Removal of trees that provide potentially suitable bat roosting habitat must occur under direct