DRAFT MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION CITY OF CARPINTERIA LOCAL COASTAL PROGRAM AMENDMENTS LINDEN AVENUE - CASITAS PASS ROAD INTERCHANGES AND VIA REAL EXTENSION SOUTH COAST HOV LANES SANTA CLAUS LANE BIKE PATH Applicant: City of Carpinteria Permit Types 5775 Carpinteria Avenue Carpinteria,Project CA No. 93013 PublicAugust Review 29, 2013 Dates August 29, 2013 until September 27, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Environmental Review Committee Meeting September 19, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall 5775 Carpinteria Avenue, Carpinteria, CA 93013 Contact Jackie Campbell, Director Community Development Department City of Carpinteria [email protected] 805-684-5405 x451 Table of Contents Section 1: Project Background and Regulatory Process .................... 6 1.1 Project Overview ................................................................................................ 6 1.2 CEQA Lead Agency and Discretionary Approvals ............................................... 6 1.3 Other Public Agencies Whose Review and/or Approval May Be Required ....... 6 1.4 Public Review Process ........................................................................................ 7 Section 2: Project Description ............................................................ 8 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 8 Background and Need for Proposed Amendments ........................................... 8 Balancing Coastal Act Policy Conflicts: Coastal Access and Recreation Enhancement Program ......................................................................... 9 2.2 Purpose and Intent .......................................................................................... 12 2.3 Location ............................................................................................................ 13 2.4 Surrounding Land Uses and Environmental Setting ........................................ 18 2.5 Project Description .......................................................................................... 18 Section 3: Impact Discussion ........................................................... 21 3.1 AESTHETICS ...................................................................................................... 21 3.2 AGRICULTURAL AND FORESTRY RESOURCES ................................................... 25 3.3 AIR QUALITY ..................................................................................................... 29 3.4 BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES.................................................................................. 33 3.5 CULTURAL RESOURCES .................................................................................... 44 3.6 GEOLOGY AND SOILS ....................................................................................... 46 3.7 GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ........................................................................ 49 3.8 HAZARDS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS ......................................................... 51 3.9 HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY ................................................................. 53 3.10 LAND USE AND PLANNING ............................................................................... 59 3.11 MINERAL RESOURCES ...................................................................................... 65 Carpinteria Local Coastal Program Amendments MND i 3.12 NOISE ............................................................................................................... 66 3.13 POPULATION AND HOUSING ........................................................................... 71 3.14 PUBLIC SERVICES .............................................................................................. 72 3.15 RECREATION ..................................................................................................... 74 3.16 TRANSPORTATION/TRAFFIC ............................................................................. 76 3.17 UTILITIES AND SERVICES SYSTEMS ................................................................... 79 3.18 MANDATORY FINDINGS OF SIGNIFICANCE ...................................................... 81 3.19 PROJECT ALTERNATIVES .................................................................................. 82 3.20 RECOMMENDATION BY STAFF ......................................................................... 82 Section 4: References and Contacts for the Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration ....................................................................................... 83 4.1 Agencies and Persons Consulted ..................................................................... 85 List of Figures Figure 1 Whitney Site Agriculture Overlay District Boundaries ........................................................ 9 Figure 2 Transportation Corridor Wetland Overlay District Boundaries ........................................ 11 Appendices Appendix A Draft Whitney Site Agriculture Overlay District Appendix B Draft Text Amendments – Coastal Land Use Plan (Agriculture) Appendix C Transportation Corridor Wetland Overlay District Appendix D Draft Text Amendments – Coastal Land Use Plan (Wetland) Appendix E Whitney Parcel Transportation Portion Zoning & Land Use Designations Carpinteria Local Coastal Program Amendments MND ii This Page Left Blank Intentionally Carpinteria Local Coastal Program Amendments MND iii City of Carpinteria Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration 1. Project Title: Carpinteria Local Coastal Program Amendments for Linden Avenue and Casitas Pass Road Interchanges and Via Real Extension Improvements, South Coast High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes and Santa Claus Lane Bike Path 2. Lead Agency: City of Carpinteria 5775 Carpinteria Avenue Carpinteria, CA 93013 3. Contact Person: Jackie Campbell, Community Development Director [email protected] / (805) 684-5405 x451 4. Project Location: The proposed Transportation Corridor Wetland Overlay District would generally encompass: Highway 101 (including a narrow strip of land along the outside shoulders) from the western boundary of the City of Carpinteria to the approximate vicinity of the Casitas Pass Road overcrossing; the alignments for Linden Avenue and Casitas Pass Road overcrossings within 1,000 feet of Highway 101; and the alignment for the Via Real extension. Refer to Figure 1 for conceptual boundaries of the Transportation Corridor Overlay District. The proposed Whitney Site Agriculture Overlay District would encompass only the remainder of the original 8.95-acre Whitney parcel (APN 001-070-012) not dedicated to public roadway purposes. Refer to Figure 2 for conceptual boundaries of the Whitney Site Agriculture Overlay District. 5. Project Co-sponsors: California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) 6. General Plan/Local Coastal Land Use Plan Designations: Transportation Corridor (TC), Agriculture (AG), Open Space/Recreation (OSR), Public Facility (PF), Visitor- Serving Commercial (VC), General Commercial (GC) and Residential (LDR and MDR) 7. Zoning: Community Facility (CF), Manufacturing (M-CD), Commercial (CPD), Utility (UT), Agriculture (A-5), Planned Unit Development (PUD), Residential (PRD 20, PRD 18, 4-R-1, 6-R-1, 7-R-1, MHP), Resort (RES) and Recreation (REC) 8. Project Description: See Section 2 for project specific information. 9. Surrounding Land Uses and Setting: See Section 2.4 for a discussion of the surrounding land uses and environmental setting. Carpinteria Local Coastal Program Amendments MND 1 10. Other public agencies whose approval is required: See Section 1.3 for a discussion of other public agencies whose review or approval is required. Carpinteria Local Coastal Program Amendments MND 2 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS POTENTIALLY AFFECTED The environmental factors checked below would be potentially significantly affected by this project as indicated by the checklist on the following pages. Aesthetics Agricultural Resources Air Quality Biological Resources Cultural Resources Geology/Soils Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hazards & Hazardous Materials Hydrology/Water Quality Land Use/Planning Mineral Resources Noise Population/Housing Public Services Recreation Transportation/Traffic Utilities/Service Systems Mandatory Findings of Significance EVALUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 1) A brief explanation is required for all answers except “No Impact” answers that are adequately supported by the information sources a lead agency cites in the parentheses following each question. A “No Impact” answer is adequate supported if the referenced information sources show that the impact simply does not apply to projects like the one involved (e.g., the project falls outside a fault rupture zone). A “No Impact” answer should be explained where it is based on project-specific factors as well as general standards (e.g., the project will not expose sensitive receptors to pollutants, based on a project-specific screening analysis). 2) All answers must take account of the whole action involved, including off-site as well as on-site, cumulative as well as project-level, indirect as well as direct, and construction as well as operational impacts. 3) Once the lead agency has determined that a particular physical impact may occur, then the checklist answers must indicate whether the impact is potentially significant, less than significant with mitigation, or less than significant. "Potentially Significant Impact" is appropriate