San Ysidro Community Plan Update
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San Ysidro Community Plan Update Biological Technical Report April 2016 Prepared for: City of San Diego Prepared by: Planning Department HELIX Environmental Planning, Inc. 1010 Second Avenue, Suite 1200 7578 El Cajon Boulevard San Diego, CA 92101 La Mesa, CA 91942 San Ysidro Community Plan Update Biological Technical Report TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Title Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 2.0 METHODS ............................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Literature Review .............................................................................................. 3 2.2 Botanical Resources .......................................................................................... 4 2.2.1 Vegetation Communities ......................................................................... 4 2.2.2 Sensitive Plants ....................................................................................... 4 2.3 Sensitive Wildlife .............................................................................................. 4 3.0 EXISTING CONDITIONS ...................................................................................... 5 3.1 Plan Area Description ........................................................................................ 5 3.1.1 Topography ............................................................................................. 5 3.1.2 Land Use ................................................................................................. 5 3.1.3 Soils ......................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Botanical Resources .......................................................................................... 6 3.2.1 Wetland Vegetation Communities .......................................................... 7 3.2.2 Upland Communities .............................................................................. 9 3.2.3 Other Uplands ....................................................................................... 10 3.3 Sensitive Biological Resources ....................................................................... 11 3.3.1 Sensitive Vegetation Communities ....................................................... 12 3.3.2 Sensitive Plant Species .......................................................................... 13 3.3.3 Sensitive Wildlife Species .................................................................... 28 3.4 Jurisdictional Waters/Wetlands ....................................................................... 49 3.4.1 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ............................................................. 49 3.4.2 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service .............................................................. 51 3.4.3 California Department of Fish and Wildlife ......................................... 51 3.4.4 Regional Water Quality Control Board ................................................ 51 3.4.5 City of San Diego .................................................................................. 51 3.5 Wildlife Movement Corridors ......................................................................... 52 4.0 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK .......................................................................... 53 4.1 Multiple Species Conservation Program ......................................................... 53 4.1.1 Vernal Pool Lawsuit .............................................................................. 54 4.1.2 Multi-habitat Planning Area .................................................................. 55 4.1.3 MHPA Land Use Adjacency Guidelines .............................................. 56 4.2 City of San Diego Environmentally Sensitive Lands Regulations .................. 65 4.3 City of San Diego General Plan Policies ......................................................... 66 4.4 San Ysidro Community Plan Policies ............................................................. 70 i TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) Section Title Page 5.0 IMPACTS ............................................................................................................... 71 5.1 Vegetation Community and Land Cover Type Impacts .................................. 72 5.2 Impacts to Common Wildlife Species ............................................................. 74 5.3 Sensitive Biological Resources Impacts .......................................................... 75 5.3.1 Sensitive Vegetation Communities ....................................................... 75 5.3.2 Sensitive Plants ..................................................................................... 75 5.3.3 Sensitive Wildlife .................................................................................. 76 5.4 Jurisdictional Waters/Wetlands ....................................................................... 80 5.4.1 City Wetlands ........................................................................................ 80 5.4.2 Unvegetated Basins ............................................................................... 80 5.4.3 Other Jurisdictional Waters/Wetlands .................................................. 81 5.5 Wildlife Movement Corridors ......................................................................... 81 5.6 Multi-habitat Planning Area ............................................................................ 82 5.6.1 MHPA Consistency ............................................................................... 82 5.6.2 MHPA Land Use Adjacency Guidelines .............................................. 83 5.6.3 Specific Management Directives for Otay Mesa and the Tijuana River Valley.................................................................................................... 83 6.0 MITIGATION FRAMEWORK ............................................................................. 83 6.1 San Ysidro Community Plan Update............................................................... 84 6.2 San Ysidro Historic Village Specific Plan ...................................................... 93 7.0 REFERENCES CITED .......................................................................................... 94 LIST OF APPENDICES A: Explanation of Status Codes for Sensitive Plant and Wildlife Species LIST OF FIGURES No. Title Follows Page No. 1 Regional Location Map ....................................................................................................... 2 2 Project Vicinity Map (USGS Topography) ......................................................................... 2 3 Project Vicinity Map (Aerial Photograph) .......................................................................... 2 4 Existing Vegetation Communities and Land Cover Types ................................................. 6 5 Sensitive Vegetation Communities ................................................................................... 12 6 Location of Least Bell’s Vireo Critical Habitat in the San Ysidro Community Plan Area46 7 Location of MHPA, SanGIS Conserved Lands, and Proposed San Ysidro Community Plan Open Space ................................................................................................................ 52 8 Impacts to Vegetation Communities and Land Cover Types ............................................ 72 9 Impacts to Sensitive Vegetation Communities .................................................................. 76 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) LIST OF TABLES No. Title Page No. 1 Vegetation Communities/Land Cover Types in the SYCPU Area ...................................... 6 2 Sensitive Vegetation Communities in the SYCPU Area ................................................... 12 3 Sensitive or MSCP Narrow Endemic Plant Species Observed or with Potential to Occur15 4 Sensitive Wildlife Species Observed or with Potential to Occur ...................................... 29 5 City of San Diego General Plan Policies Relating to Biological Resources ..................... 66 6 SYCPU Policies Relating to Biological Resources ........................................................... 70 7 Potential Impacts to Vegetation Communities and Land Cover Types within the SYCPU Area ................................................................................................................................... 73 8 Anticipated Impacts to Vegetation Communities from the Three Options for Calle Primera............................................................................................................................... 74 9a City of San Diego Wetland Mitigation Ratios ................................................................... 85 9b City of San Diego Wetland Mitigation Ratios ................................................................... 85 10 Mitigation Ratios for Impacts to Upland Vegetation Communities .................................. 86 iii THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK iv 1.0 INTRODUCTION This Biological Resources Report addresses the existing biological resources present in the San Ysidro Community Plan Update (SYCPU) area. The proposed project addressed in this Biological Resources Report consists of two basic components: (1) the SYCPU, and (2) the San Ysidro Historic Village Specific Plan (SYHVSP). The description of each component is described below, and each component is addressed separately throughout the report.