Balboa Avenue Station Area Specifi c Plan Acoustical Analysis Report April 2018 | RDG-01.10 Prepared for: RRM Design Group 3765 S. Higuera Street, Suite 102 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Prepared by: HELIX Environmental Planning, Inc. 7578 El Cajon Boulevard La Mesa, CA 91942 Balboa Avenue Station Area Specific Plan Acoustical Analysis Report Prepared for: RRM Design Group 3765 S. Higuera Street, Suite 102 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Prepared by: HELIX Environmental Planning, Inc. 7578 El Cajon Boulevard La Mesa, CA 91942 April 2018 | RDG-01.10 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. ES-1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Purpose of the Report ......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Project Location .................................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Project Description ............................................................................................................. 1 1.4 Noise and Sound Level Descriptors and Terminology ........................................................ 2 1.5 Vibration Descriptors and Terminology .............................................................................. 3 2.0 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................. 4 2.1 State Regulations ................................................................................................................ 4 2.1.1 California Noise Control Act of 1973 ..................................................................... 4 2.1.2 California Environmental Quality Act .................................................................... 4 2.1.3 California Noise Insulation Standards (California Code of Regulations Title 24) ... 4 2.1.4 2016 California Green Buildings Standards Code .................................................. 4 2.2 Local Regulations ................................................................................................................ 5 2.2.1 City of San Diego General Plan Noise Element ...................................................... 5 2.2.2 City of San Diego Municipal Code .......................................................................... 7 3.0 EXISTING NOISE ENVIRONMENT ...................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Existing Land Uses ............................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Noise and Vibration Sensitive Land Uses ............................................................................ 9 3.3 Ambient Noise Levels .......................................................................................................... 9 4.0 ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY AND ASSUMPTIONS ............................................................................ 11 4.1 Methodology and Equipment ........................................................................................... 11 4.1.1 Ambient Noise Survey .......................................................................................... 11 4.1.2 Noise Modeling Software .................................................................................... 11 4.2 Assumptions ...................................................................................................................... 11 4.2.1 Vehicular Traffic Noise ......................................................................................... 11 4.2.2 Railway Noise ....................................................................................................... 12 4.2.3 Stationary Noise Sources ..................................................................................... 12 4.3 Guidelines for the Determination of Significance............................................................. 13 5.0 IMPACTS ......................................................................................................................................... 14 5.1 ISSUE 1: Temporary Increase in Ambient Noise Levels .................................................... 14 5.1.1 Impacts................................................................................................................. 14 5.1.2 Significance of Impacts ........................................................................................ 15 5.1.3 Mitigation Measures ............................................................................................ 15 5.1.4 Significance After Mitigation ............................................................................... 16 i TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) 5.2 ISSUE 2: Excessive Ground-borne Vibration ..................................................................... 16 5.2.1 Impacts................................................................................................................. 16 5.2.2 Significance of Impacts ........................................................................................ 17 5.2.3 Mitigation Framework ......................................................................................... 17 5.2.4 Significance After Mitigation ............................................................................... 17 5.3 ISSUE 3: Permanent Increase in Ambient Noise levels ..................................................... 17 5.3.1 Impacts................................................................................................................. 17 5.3.2 Significance of Impacts ........................................................................................ 19 5.3.3 Mitigation Framework ......................................................................................... 20 5.3.4 Significance After Mitigation ............................................................................... 20 5.4 ISSUE 4: Noise Level Standard Compliance for New Uses ................................................ 20 5.4.1 Impacts................................................................................................................. 20 5.4.2 Consistency with City Standards .......................................................................... 22 5.4.3 Conditions of Approval ........................................................................................ 22 5.4.4 Policy Consistency After Implementation of Conditions of Approval ................. 22 6.0 LIST OF PREPARERS ........................................................................................................................ 23 7.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 24 LIST OF APPENDICES A Site Survey Measurement Sheets B Existing and Future Traffic Noise Levels ii TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) LIST OF FIGURES No. Title Follows Page 1 Regional Location Map .................................................................................................................... 2 2 Project Vicinity (Aerial Photograph) ................................................................................................ 2 3 Proposed Land Use Plan .................................................................................................................. 2 4 Ambient Noise Survey .................................................................................................................... 10 5 Existing Transportation Noise Contours ........................................................................................ 12 6 Future Transportation Noise Contours (2035) .............................................................................. 20 LIST OF TABLES No. Title Page 1 City of San Diego Land Use Noise Compatibility Guidelines ............................................................ 6 2 City of San Diego Applicable Noise Limits ........................................................................................ 8 3 Noise Monitoring Results ............................................................................................................... 10 4 Typical Construction Equipment Noise Levels ............................................................................... 14 5 Off-site Traffic Noise Levels ........................................................................................................... 18 iii ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ADT Average Daily Trips ANSI American National Standards Institute BASASP Balboa Avenue Station Area Specific Plan BNSF Burlington Northern and Santa Fe CALGreen California Green Buildings Standards Code Caltrans California Department of Transportation CBSC California Building Standards Commission CEQA California Environmental Quality Act City City of San Diego CNEL Community Noise Equivalent Level dB Decibel dBA A-weighted decibels FTA Federal Transit Administration Hz Hertz I- Interstate in./sec inches per second kHz kilohertz LDN Day-Night Level LEQ Equivalent Sound Level LMAX Maximum Sound Level LRT Light Rail Transit mPa micro-Pascals MTS Metropolitan Transit System NSLU Noise-Sensitive Land Use PPV peak particle velocity RMS root mean square SANDAG