VTA's BART Silicon Valley—Phase II Extension Project Draft SEIS/SEIR
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4.4 Community Facilities and Public Services 4.4.1 Introduction This section describes the affected environment and environmental consequences related to community facilities and public services from operations of the NEPA Alternatives. The following sources of information were used to prepare the analysis in this section. Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan (City of San Jose 2011a). Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan EIR (City of San Jose 2011b). City of Santa Clara 2010-2035 General Plan (City of Santa Clara 2010). City of Santa Clara 2010-2035 General Plan EIR (City of Santa Clara 2010a). Fire Department Organizational Review – City of San Jose, CA (Citygate Associates, Inc. 2016). Triennial On-Site Security Review of VTA (California Public Utilities Commission 2014). Personal communications with San Jose Police Department, San Jose Fire Department, San Jose Unified School District, San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, Santa Clara Police Department, Santa Clara Fire Department, Santa Clara Unified School District, Santa Clara Department of Parks and Recreation, and BART Police Department. 4.4.2 Environmental and Regulatory Setting 4.4.2.1 Environmental Setting This section discusses the existing conditions related to public services and community facilities in the vicinity of the BART Extension Alternative. For the purposes of this analysis, public services include fire protection, emergency services, and law enforcement, whereas community facilities include schools, parks, libraries, civic and cultural centers, religious institutions, entertainment hubs, and museums. Figures 4.4-1 through 4.4-3 show the locations of these public services and community facilities within San Jose and Santa Clara along the alignment. Police, Fire, and Emergency Services Police Services Police protection for the BART Extension Alternative is provided by the BART Police Department for the station platforms and trackway and VTA in coordination with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office for other facilities, as discussed in Section 4.13, Security and System Safety. Police protection and traffic enforcement for areas outside the BART Extension Alternative facilities would be provided by the San Jose Police Department (SJPD) VTA’s BART Silicon Valley—Phase II Extension Project December 2016 4.4-1 Draft SEIS/SEIR Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Community Facilities and Public Services and Santa Clara Police Department (SCPD). In addition, local police departments have mutual-aid agreements with other agencies such as the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol. Police protection services for each city in the study area are discussed below. Police facilities servicing the BART Extension Alternative are mapped in Figure 4.4-1. City of San Jose SJPD provides police services to the City of San Jose, and currently employs 932 sworn officers and 423.67 civilian staff members. SJPD’s response target, defined as the period from when a call is received until an officer is on the scene, is under 6 minutes for Priority 1 calls and under 11 minutes for Priority 2 calls. (Priority 1 calls indicate an event of immediate potential for imminent danger to life or property; Priority 2 calls indicate that an event has occurred but the suspect is no longer at the scene and/or no imminent threat exists to life or property). For the first quarter of the 2015 fiscal year, SJPD maintained an average 7.58-minute response time for Priority 1 calls and 20.89-minute response time for Priority 2 calls. SJPD responded to 53 percent of Priority 1 calls in under 6 minutes, and 45 percent of Priority 2 calls in under 11 minutes. SJPD operates out of the 201 West Mission Street headquarters, located outside of the BART Extension Alternative study area. This location serves the entire City of San Jose. As of fall 2015, there were no new proposed police stations. SJPD does not consider current equipment, staffing, facilities, and response times as adequate to provide police service in its jurisdiction (Morales pers. comm.). City of Santa Clara SCPD provides police services to the City of Santa Clara. SCPD currently employs 205 full- time and 68 volunteer employees. The Santa Clara BART station would be served by the SCPD Police Building at 601 El Camino Real. The City of Santa Clara 2010-2035 General Plan establishes a 3 minutes-or-less response time for high priority calls. In fiscal year 2014, SCPD had an average response time of 3:59 minutes to high-priority calls (McDowell pers. comm.). SCPD currently needs additional police officers and support staff to maintain its level of service, and is conducting a detailed assessment to better evaluate existing resources and plan for future staffing needs. VTA’s BART Silicon Valley—Phase II Extension Project December 2016 4.4-2 Draft SEIS/SEIR Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Community Facilities and Public Services Santa Clara County Sherriff’s Office The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office (SCCSO) provides law enforcement for Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, Saratoga, and unincorporated Santa Clara County, and maintains contracts with VTA and Santa Clara County Parks Department for police services. SCCSO currently employs 1,299 sworn officers and 426 civilian staff members, operating from a headquarters in San Jose and multiple substations across Santa Clara County. Currently, under the direction of VTA’s Director of System Safety and Security, VTA’s law enforcement and investigative services are provided under contract with the SCCSO Transit Patrol Division. Transit Patrol deputies are on duty 24 hours per day and respond to calls for service through VTA’s Operations Control Center and passengers using the 9-1-1 system. In addition, three special enforcement units are employed to ensure a safe environment for VTA operators and passengers (California Public Utilities Commission 2014). San Mateo County Sherriff’s Office The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office (SMCSO) Transit Police Bureau provides law enforcement and investigative services to the municipal bus system in San Mateo County and the entire Caltrain commuter railroad line operating from San Francisco to Gilroy. The Transit Police Bureau currently employs 15 officers responsible for patrolling transit stations, railroad rights-of-way, district parking lots, and related properties throughout San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties; as well as the investigation of crimes, collisions, accidents, and deaths involving Caltrain passenger trains. The Transit Police operate from a headquarters in San Carlos, but maintain substations at the 4th and King Caltrain Station in San Francisco and the Diridon Caltrain Station in San Jose. SMCSO provides primary enforcement for the parking areas related to the Diridon Caltrain Station. Fire Protection and Emergency Services Fire protection services and emergency medical rescue in the study area are provided by the Cities of San Jose and Santa Clara. These cities maintain mutual-aid agreements with the municipal and county fire departments through the Santa Clara County Local Mutual Aid Plan, as well as with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Fire protection services for San Jose and Santa Clara are discussed below. Fire facilities servicing the BART Extension Alternative are mapped in Figure 4.4-1. City of San Jose The San Jose Fire Department (SJFD) provides fire protection and emergency services throughout San Jose. As of October 2015, SJFD had 660 sworn personnel and 33 active fire stations (Pereira pers. comm.). Each station is capable of providing fire protection, fire rescue, and emergency medical services. VTA’s BART Silicon Valley—Phase II Extension Project December 2016 4.4-4 Draft SEIS/SEIR Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Community Facilities and Public Services Six SJFD stations serve the study area: Fire Station 1, located at 225 North Market Street, is staffed 24 hours a day. This station has a four-person fire engine, a four-person fire truck, and a battalion chief. Fire Station 2, located at 2949 Alum Rock Avenue, is staffed 24 hours a day. This station has a four-person fire engine, a four-person fire truck, and a battalion chief. Fire Station 7, located at 800 Emory Street, is staffed 24 hours a day. This station has a four-person fire engine. Fire Station 8, located at 802 Santa Clara Street, is staffed 24 hours a day. This station has a four-person fire engine. Fire Station 30, located at 454 Auzerais Avenue, is staffed 24 hours a day. This station has a four-person fire truck, a two-person squad, and a paramedic supervisor. Fire Station 34, located at 1634 Las Plumas Avenue, is staffed 24 hours a day. This station has a four-person engine and a four-person urban search and rescue team. SJFD’s current performance goal is to arrive within 8 minutes for 80 percent of 9-1-1 calls for serious (Priority 1) incidents. For medical emergencies and emerging fires, national best practices recommend that the first fire unit arrive within 7 minutes of a 9-1-1 call 90 percent of the time. Neither of these standards are met department-wide, though five individual station areas meet the 8-minute goal (Citygate 2016). In addition, the Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan identifies a 4-minute response time for first engine response, and 6 minutes for the second engine and first truck/urban search and rescue responses. No SJFD station meets this response time goal (Citygate 2016). The SJFD’s primary obstacles to meeting response goals include too few stations, traffic congestion, high workload rates, and movements of station companies for mandatory multi-unit training. City of Santa Clara The Santa Clara Fire Department (SCFD) provides fire protection and emergency services to Santa Clara. SCFD currently employs 134 full-time personnel and 44 volunteer reserve staff members. SCFD aims for a city-wide response time of less than 5:30 minutes for 90 percent of all high-level emergency calls.