Appendix D: Historic Resources Evaluation CULTURAL RESOURCES ASSESSMENT REPORT Garaventa Hills Project Livermore, Alameda County, California PREPARED FOR: LAMPHIER-GREGORY 1944 Embarcadero Oakland, CA 94606 PREPARED BY: WILLIAM SELF ASSOCIATES, Inc. PO Box 2192 Orinda, CA 94563 January 2012 CULTURAL RESOURCES ASSESSMENT REPORT Garaventa Hills Project Livermore, Alameda County, California PREPARED BY: Matthew A. Russell, Ph.D., RPA and Aimee Arrigoni, M.A. SUBMITTED BY: James M. Allan, Ph.D., RPA, Principal Investigator WSA PROJECT NO. 2011-63 WSA REPORT NO. 2012-02 January 2012 Cover Photo: Overview of Garaventa Hills, view to the northwest. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project Location ................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Project Description ........................................................................................... 5 2.0 Regulatory Context .............................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Federal Regulations (Section 106) ................................................................... 5 2.2 State Regulations .............................................................................................. 6 3.0 Project Setting ..................................................................................................................... 7 3.1 Environmental Setting ...................................................................................... 7 3.2 Paleoenvironment ............................................................................................. 8 3.3 Cultural Setting ................................................................................................. 9 4.0 Results of the Literature and Records Search .................................................................... 24 4.2 Previous Cultural Resource Studies ............................................................... 24 4.3 Previously Recorded Archaeological Resources ............................................ 25 5.0 Native American Consultation .......................................................................................... 25 6.0 Results of the Archaeological Survey ............................................................................... 25 7.0 Results of Paleontological Resources Assessment ............................................................ 28 8.0 Evaluation Under NHPA and CEQA ................................................................................ 28 8.1 NRHP Evaluation Criteria .............................................................................. 28 8.2 CEQA Evaluation Criteria .............................................................................. 30 9.0 Impacts and Mitigation ...................................................................................................... 31 9.1 Previously Undiscovered Archaeological Resources ..................................... 31 9.2 Previously Undiscovered Paleontological Resources .................................... 32 9.3 Previously Undiscovered Human Remains .................................................... 32 10.0 References ......................................................................................................................... 34 List of Figures Figure 1 Project Vicinity Map……………………………………………………….....2 Figure 2 Project Area Map………………………………………………..………….....3 Figure 3 Project Location Map……………………………….…………..………….....4 Figure 4 Project Location on. 1878 Alameda County Farm Map....……………….….21 Figure 5 Project Location on 1907 Tesla USGS 15’ Topo Quad....……………….….2Error! Bookmark not defined.3 Figure 6 Plywood Aerial Mapping Target....……………….………………...……….26 Figure 7 Barb Wire Fence……………………………..………………………………27 Figure 8 Debris Scatter Located in the Bottom of a Dry Pit…………………………..27 List of Tables Table 1 Previous Cultural Resource Studies ................................................................ 24 Appendix A Native American Heritage Commission Consultation Cultural Resources Assessment Report William Self Associates, Inc. Garaventa Hills Project i January 2012 Management Summary William Self Associates, Inc. (WSA) has been contracted by Lamphier-Gregory on behalf of the City of Livermore to perform a cultural resource assessment of the proposed Garaventa Hills Project (Project). The Project will develop a 76-unit residential subdivision on a 31.7-acre site of vacant grazing land in the northern part of the City of Livermore, Alameda County, California. As the Project will involve a realignment of Altamont Creek, which would affect waters of the United States, the Project proponent must meet requirements of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and therefore, is seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), Sacramento District. Under the jurisdiction of the ACOE, the project must comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), in addition to the cultural and paleontological resources provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This report was prepared pursuant to those requirements. WSA implemented a records search, conducted by the Northwest Information Center (NWIC) at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California, of a ¼-mile radius surrounding the proposed Project area. Results indicate that no archaeological sites have been previously recorded within ¼-mile of the Project area, no historic buildings have been recorded within ¼-mile of the Project area, and no buildings located within ¼-mile of the Project area are listed in the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) Historic Properties Directory. WSA archaeologists Matthew Russell and David Buckley conducted a pedestrian field survey of the Project area on December 19, 2011. No historic properties, historical resources, or unique archaeological resources were observed. WSA also conducted a paleontological resources assessment to address potential Project impacts to paleontological resources, and found that there is a high potential for significant fossils to be present within the Project area. This Cultural Resources Assessment Report (CRAR) defines the Project area, presents the results of the records search and Native American consultation, describes the field survey of the Project area and presents the results, assesses the significance of the findings, and proposes mitigation measures for cultural and paleontological resources. The proposed Project will not have a substantial adverse change in the significance of any historic properties, historical resources, or unique archaeological resources. Should any previously unknown cultural resources be discovered during construction, their significance would have to be determined in relation to the criteria for eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and the California Register of Historic Places (CRHP). Cultural Resources Assessment Report William Self Associates, Inc. Garaventa Hills Project ii January 2012 1.0 Introduction William Self Associates, Inc. (WSA) has been contracted by Lamphier-Gregory to perform a cultural resource assessment of the proposed Garaventa Hills Project (Project). The Project will develop a 76-unit residential subdivision on a 31.7-acre parcel of vacant grazing land in north Livermore, Alameda County, California. WSA implemented a records search, conducted by the Northwest Information Center (NWIC) at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California, of a ¼-mile radius surrounding the proposed Project area. Results indicate that no archaeological sites have been previously recorded within ¼-mile of the Project area, no historic buildings have been recorded within ¼-mile of the Project area, and no buildings located within ¼-mile of the Project area are listed in the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) Historic Properties Directory. WSA archaeologists Matthew Russell and David Buckley conducted a pedestrian field survey of the Project area on December 19, 2011. No historic properties, historical resources, or unique archaeological resources were observed. WSA also conducted a paleontological resources assessment to address potential Project impacts to paleontological resources, and found that there is a high potential for significant fossils to be present within the Project area. This Cultural Resources Assessment Report (CRAR) presents the results of research conducted to identify and evaluate potential cultural and paleontological resources within the Project area. The report defines the Project area, presents the results of the records search and Native American consultation, describes the field survey of the Project area and presents the results, assesses the significance of the findings, and proposes mitigation measures for cultural and paleontological resources. As the Project will involve a realignment of Altamont Creek, which would affect waters of the United States, the Project proponent must meet requirements of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and therefore, is seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), Sacramento District. Under the jurisdiction of the ACOE, the project must comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), in addition to the cultural and paleontological resources provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).