Saratoga High School Sports Field Lighting

INITIAL STUDY

Prepared by the

Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District

February 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE ...... 3 SECTION 2.0 PROJECT INFORMATION ...... 4 2.1 PROJECT TITLE ...... 4 2.2 PROJECT LOCATION ...... 4 2.3 LEAD AGENCY CONTACT ...... 4 2.4 PROPERTY OWNER/PROJECT APPLICANT ...... 4 2.5 ZONING DISTRICT AND GENERAL PLAN DESIGNATIONS ...... 4 SECTION 3.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION ...... 7 SECTION 4.0 SETTING, ENVIRONMENTAL CHECKLIST AND IMPACTS ...... 11 4.1 AESTHETICS ...... 11 4.2 AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST RESOURCES ...... 22 4.3 AIR QUALITY ...... 24 4.4 BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES ...... 29 4.5 CULTURAL RESOURCES ...... 32 4.6 GEOLOGY AND SOILS ...... 34 4.7 GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ...... 37 4.8 HAZARDS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS ...... 40 4.9 HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY ...... 42 4.10 LAND USE ...... 45 4.11 MINERAL RESOURCES ...... 49 4.12 NOISE ...... 50 4.13 POPULATION AND HOUSING...... 57 4.14 PUBLIC SERVICES ...... 58 4.15 RECREATION ...... 60 4.16 TRANSPORTATION...... 61 4.17 UTILITIES AND SERVICE SYSTEMS ...... 64 4.18 MANDATORY FINDINGS OF SIGNIFICANCE ...... 66 SECTION 5.0 REFERENCES ...... 69 SECTION 6.0 AUTHORS AND CONSULTANTS ...... 70

Saratoga High School Sports Field Lighting Initial Study Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District i February 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS

FIGURES

Figure 2.2-1: Regional Map ...... 5 Figure 2.2-2: Vicinity Map ...... 6 Figure 3.1-1: Location of Proposed Light Standards ...... 8 Figure 4.1-1: Photosimulation Viewpoint Locations ...... 15 Figure 4.1-2: View 1 – Daytime Photosim (view from Herriman Avenue) ...... 16 Figure 4.1-3: View 2 – Daytime Photosim (view from Alta Vista Avenue) ...... 17 Figure 4.1-4: View 1 – Nighttime Photosim (view from Herriman Avenue) ...... 18 Figure 4.1-5: View 2 – Nighttime Photosim (view from Alta Vista Avenue) ...... 19 Figure 4.1-6: Spill Light Levels ...... 20 Figure 4.10-1: Aerial Photograph with Surrounding Land Uses ...... 46 Figure 4.11-1: Noise Measurement Locations ...... 51

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Lighting Design and Photometric Study Appendix B: Environmental Noise Assessment

Saratoga High School Sports Field Lighting Initial Study Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District ii February 2015

SECTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE

This Initial Study of environmental impacts is being prepared to conform to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations §15000 et.seq.).

This Initial Study evaluates the potential environmental impacts that might reasonably be anticipated to result from the installation and use of sports field lighting on the existing Saratoga High School softball field and adjacent multi-use field.

1.1 Background and Objective

Under existing conditions, the Saratoga High School softball field and adjacent multi-use field are not equipped with permanent sports lighting. For this reason, use of the softball field is limited to daylight hours. Portable sports lighting, however, is currently used on the multi-purpose field to allow for evening use.

The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District proposes lighting the softball field and adjacent multi-use field to provide better, safer sports lighting on the multi-use field and enable the high school to hold lit evening high school softball games, practices, and camps on the softball field. The District would also rent the softball field for private games, practices, and camps up to 15 evenings per year.

Saratoga High School Sports Field Lighting Initial Study Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District 3 February 2015

SECTION 2.0 PROJECT INFORMATION

2.1 PROJECT TITLE

Saratoga High School Sports Field Lighting

2.2 PROJECT LOCATION

Saratoga High School is located at the intersection of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and Herriman Avenue, in the southeast quadrant. Driveways on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and Herriman Avenue provide direct access to the campus. A regional map and vicinity map of the project site are shown on Figures 2.2-1 and 2.2-2.

2.3 LEAD AGENCY CONTACT

Kevin Mount, Assistant Principal Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District 17421 Farley Road West Los Gatos, CA 95030

2.4 PROPERTY OWNER/PROJECT APPLICANT

Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District 17421 Farley Road West Los Gatos, CA 95030

2.5 ZONING DISTRICT AND GENERAL PLAN DESIGNATIONS

Zoning: Single Family Residential 1-12,500 General Plan: Community Facility

Saratoga High School Sports Field Lighting Initial Study Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District 4 February 2015 Fremont 84 0510 Miles Newark Redwood Cityty

East Palo Alto Milpitas

Palo Alto 101 237 680 280

Mountain 82 Santa Clara View

Los Altos 880 35 San Jose

Project Site 87 Saratoga 9 85

Los Gatos 236

101

17 Morgan Hill

Santa Cruz Gilroy

Monterey Bay

REGIONAL MAP FIGURE 2.2-1

5 Lexington Court Project Site Verde Vista Lane 0 50 200 400 600 Feet

Herriman Avenue

South Saratoga Sunnyvale Road 6

Jerries Drive

Reid Lane Elvira Street

Loma Rio Drive

Alta Vista Avenue

Loma Rio Drive

Marion Road

VICINITY MAP FIGURE 2.2-2

SECTION 3.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

3.1 EXISTING AND PROPOSED USE

The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District (the District) proposes to install sports field lighting at the Saratoga High School softball field and adjacent multi-use field. The softball field and adjacent multi-use field are located in the southeast corner of the campus. Existing use of the softball and multi-use fields includes the following:

Softball Field • High school softball practices and games. • Rented to club softball teams for practices, games and camps.

Multi-use Field • High school soccer practices. • High school lacrosse practices. • High school field hockey practices. • High school football practices. • High school band practices. • Rented to club lacrosse for practices, games and camps.

All existing use of the softball and multi-use fields currently takes place during the daylight hours, except for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, football practice, and band, which also takes place on the multi-use field using portable lights. The existing schedule of multi-use field lit evening use is shown below in Table 3.1-1.

Table 3.1-1: Existing Schedule of Multi-use Field Lit Evening Use Use Month Day of Week Time of Day Field Hockey/ October – December Monday – Sunday 5pm – 9:00pm Football/Band Soccer/Lacrosse/Band November - April Monday – Sunday 5pm – 9:00pm

A site plan showing the existing Saratoga High School softball and multi-use fields and the proposed location of the light standards (poles) is shown on Figure 3.1-1. The proposed schedules for lit evening softball field and multi-use field use are shown below in Tables 3.1-2 and 3.1-3, respectively. For all events, the lights would be turned off no later than 9:30 PM.

Table 3.1-2: Proposed Schedule of Softball Field Lit Evening Use Use Month Day of Week Time of Day Softball practice, January - April Monday – Sunday 5pm – 9:00pm games, camps Rented softball October – April Monday - Sunday 5pm – 9:00pm practice, games & Up to 15 evenings per camps year.

Saratoga High School Sports Field Lighting Initial Study Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District 7 February 2015 F1 F2 F3

0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4

5 0

0 3

0 2

18 1

10 20 30 40 50 40 30 20 10 30

31 0

41 32

0 21 22 Football 27 Soccer COMM B 20 23 24 25 0 19 28 Lacrosse36 29 360'40 x 160' 330' x 195' 37 33

0 300' x 180'

0 35

10 2038 30 39 40 50 40 30 20 10 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 34

WV F4

PIPE DRAIN

WOOD WALL F5 10

711

Softball

200'/200'/200'6 12 - basepath 60'

3 5 9 16 4 13

2 A1

14 17

WATER FOUNTAIN

(

B2 A2

0' 60' 120' Source: Musco Lighting, Jan. 5, 2015.

SITE PLAN FIGURE 3.1-1

Table 3.1-3: Proposed Schedule of Multi-use Field Lit Evening Use Use Month Day of Week Time of Day Field Hockey/ October – December Monday – Sunday 5pm – 9:00pm Football/Band Soccer/Lacrosse/Band November - April Monday – Sunday 5pm – 9:00pm Rented Lacrosse October – April Monday - Sunday 5pm – 9:00pm Up to 15 evenings per year.

3.2 SPECTATOR ATTENDANCE

Spectator attendance at the existing softball field and multi-use field uses fluctuates based on many factors. Softball games have the highest attendance, with an average range of approximately 40 to 60 spectators per game. Spectator attendance is not anticipated to increase with the proposed sports lighting. The project proposes to replace the existing bleachers at the softball field. The capacity of the proposed bleachers would be similar to the existing bleachers. The project does not propose to install a public address (PA) system at the softball or multi-use fields.

3.3 LIGHTING DESIGN

Design would adhere to the recommendations of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). According to the IESNA, a high school facility with some provision for spectators is considered a Class III facility.1 As recommended by the IESNA, the proposed sports lighting is designed to provide an average light level of 50 and 30 maintained footcandles on the softball infield and outfield, respectively. The proposed lights would provide an average of 30 footcandles on the multi-use field.2

The proposed sports lighting on the softball and multi-use fields includes a total of nine light standards (poles). The light standards would be between 60 and 70 feet in height. The location of each light standard is shown on Figure 3.1-1. Each light standard would hold up to 6 metal halide lamp fixtures. Each fixture has an aluminum reflector, light hood, and visor to direct light onto the field and reduce the amount of spill light (refer to Section 4.1 Aesthetics).3 The fixtures would be equipped with 1,500-watt metal halide lamps. These proposed high power lamps reduce the number of fixtures needed and increase light beam control and efficiency, thereby reducing the size of the light racks mounted atop the standards and minimizing the amount of spill light onto the adjacent land uses. Installation of the proposed lighting system would require minor excavation to construct the foundations for the light standards and route the electrical conduit.

3.3.1 Emergency Lights

Metal halide lamps typically take 10 minutes to come back on after a power outage. In accordance with state requirements, the District will develop an emergency egress lighting plan to ensure the safe

1 Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, Recommended Practice for Sports and Recreational Lighting, 2001. 2 A footcandle (fc) is one lumen of uniform luminance over an area of one square foot. 3 Spill light is any light where it is unintended or unwanted.

Saratoga High School Sports Field Lighting Initial Study Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District 9 February 2015 exit of spectators from the bleachers, in the event of a power outage. As part of this emergency egress lighting plan, the proposed project includes the installation of battery operated lights on light standards near bleachers and pathways. In the event the field lights go out, these battery powered back-up lights will turn on.

Saratoga High School Sports Field Lighting Initial Study Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District 10 February 2015

SECTION 4.0 SETTING, ENVIRONMENTAL CHECKLIST AND IMPACTS

This section describes the existing environmental conditions on and near the project sit