April 3, 2020 Bob Stark, AICP Michael Baker International 5050 Avenida Encinas, Suite 260 Carlsbad, CA 92008 RE: Biological Resources Assessment for the Fox Point Farms Project This Biological Resources Assessment letter report describes the field assessment methods, existing biological resources, biological constraints that may exist, and potential for sensitive biological resources to be present on the property proposed for the Fox Point Farms Project (Proposed Project). Regulated biological resources that may occur on the property or in adjacent areas that could be affected with implementation of the Project are discussed as consideration for resource avoidance measures, mitigation measures, Project design features, and during construction compliance measures. The purpose of this document is to inform the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analyses of the Proposed Project. PROJECT LOCATION AND PROPERTY DESCRIPTION The property consists of 21.48 acres at 1150 Quail Gardens Drive in the City of Encinitas, California, at Assessor Parcel Number (APN) 254-612-12-00 (Figure 1 and 2). The Project Area is located north of Leucadia Boulevard, east of Sidonia Street, and west of Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas, California. The Project Area is currently occupied by the existing Fox Point Farms flower-growing facility. Adjacent land uses include the Magdalena Ecke County Preserve to the north, Encinitas Ranch Golf Course to the east, Quail Gardens Drive and Olivenhain Road and residential development to the south, and Sidonia Street and residential development to the west. The property is within the Carlsbad Watershed. The Proposed Project, when completed, will replace the existing flower growing facilities with the mixed- use Fox Point Farms planned community that will incorporate housing and agriculture land on the approximately ±20-acre property. Resources within Proposed Project impact areas consist solely of urban/developed and disturbed lands with ornamental landscape around the perimeter. For purposes of this report, the term “Development Area” refers to the areas directly impacted by the Proposed Project. METHODS Literature Review ECORP conducted background research which included a review of standard resources such as the latest version of the California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) within 5 miles of the property (CNDDB; Size of printing extent and margins differs with printer settings, please adjust margins if necessary. NOTE: This map is set up in NAD 1983 StatePlane California II FIPS 0402 Feet. Please Change to Define Your Local State Plane or UTM Coordinate System. Project Location (TR)-trotellini 3/24/2020 I Mile s 0 1 Location: N:\2020\2020-029 Fox Point Farms EIR\MAPS\Location_Vicinity\Fox_Location.mxd Map Date: 3/24/2020 Service Layer Credits: Sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, USGS, Intermap, INCREMENT P, NRCan, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri Korea, Esri (Thailand), NGCC, (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community Figure 2. Project Location 2020-029 Fox Point EIR Project Size of printing extent and margins differs with printer settings, please adjust margins if necessary. NOTE: This map is set up in NAD 1983 California Teale Albers. Please Change to Define Your Local State Plane or UTM Coordinate System. P a c i f i c O c e a n Project Location ^_ (TR)-trotellini 3/24/2020 I Mile s 0 5 10 Location: N:\2020\2020-029 Fox Point Farms EIR\MAPS\Location_Vicinity\Fox_Vicinity.mxd Map Date: 3/24/2020 Service Layer Credits: Sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, USGS, Intermap, INCREMENT P, NRCan, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri Korea, Esri (Thailand), NGCC, (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community Figure 1. Project Vicinity 2020-029 Fox Point EIR Project California Department of Fish and Wildlife [CDFW] 2020a), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Critical Habitat Portal and Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC) Trust Resources List (USFWS 2020a), USFWS National Wetland Inventory (USFWS 2020b), and San Diego Geographic Information Source (SANGIS). Using desktop review information and observations in the field, a list of special-status plant and wildlife species that have potential to occur within or adjacent to the Development Area was generated. For the purpose of this assessment, special-status species are defined as plants or wildlife that: have been designated as either rare, threatened, or endangered by CDFW, California Native Plant Society (CNPS), or the USFWS, and/or are protected under either the federal or California Endangered Species Acts (ESAs); are candidate species being considered or proposed for listing under these same acts; are fully protected by the California Fish and Game Code, §§ 3511, 4700, 5050, or 5515; and/or are of expressed concern to resource and regulatory agencies or local jurisdictions. Potential for occurrence of special-status species were determined based on the following guidelines: Present: The species was observed on site during a site visit or focused survey. High: Habitat (including soils and elevation factors) for the species occurs within the Project site and a known occurrence has recently been recorded (within the last 20 years) within five miles of the area. Moderate: Habitat (including soils and elevation factors) for the species occurs within the Project site and a documented observation occurs within the database search, but not within five miles of the area; a historic documented observation (more than 20 years old) was recorded within five miles of the Project site; or a recently documented observation occurs within five miles of the area and marginal or limited amounts of habitat occurs in the Project site. Low: Limited or marginal habitat for the species occurs within the Project site and a recently documented observation occurs within the database search, but not within five miles of the area; a historic documented observation (more than 20 years old) was recorded within five miles of the Project site; or suitable habitat strongly associated with the species occurs on site, but no records or only historic records were found within the database search. Presumed Absent: Species was not observed during a site visit or focused surveys conducted in accordance with protocol guidelines at an appropriate time for identification; habitat (including soils and elevation factors) does not exist on site; or the known geographic range of the species does not include the Project site. Field Survey On March 19, 2020, the entire property and Development Area were surveyed on foot by biologists familiar with the biological resources located in the region. Natural areas adjacent to the property were also studied. Focused, protocol-level surveys were not conducted as part of this site visit and were determined to be unnecessary for the purposes of this analysis. Plant and wildlife species observed during the survey were recorded, and representative photographs of the property were taken. Binoculars were used to aid in bird identifications. Vegetation mapping was conducted using resources reviewed during the literature review and aerial imagery, and ground-truthed during field surveys. RESULTS Habitats, Vegetation Communities, and Land Cover Types Vegetation communities observed in and adjacent to the Development Area are described below and depicted in Figure 3 (Holland 1986; Oberbauer et al. 2008). The Development Area consists of the Urban/Developed land type. The majority of areas that are adjacent to the Development Area consist of Urban/Developed land types, however Eucalyptus Woodland, Diegan Coastal Sage Scrub, and Grassland vegetation communities occur near and adjacent to the northern boundary of the property. Representative photographs of the habitats within or adjacent to the Development Area are included within Attachment 1. Urban/Developed (Holland Code 12000) The Development Area and areas adjacent to the property consist in part of urban/developed land, including project areas that will be used for access and staging. Developed areas do not constitute a vegetation classification, but rather a land cover type. Areas mapped as developed have been constructed upon or otherwise physically altered to an extent that vegetation communities are no longer supported. This land cover type is not considered to be sensitive by the City, or by state or federal agencies. Diegan Coastal Sage Scrub (Holland Code 32500) This plant community was observed adjacent to the Development Area and the stands had characteristic vegetation that typifies this community. Diegan coastal sage scrub is comprised of low-growing, aromatic, drought-deciduous, soft-woody shrubs. Typically, this community is found on sites with steep, dry slopes or on clay-rich soils that are slow to release stored water. This vegetation community occurs directly north of the Project site. Dominant species include California encelia (Encelia californica), coastal sagebrush (Artemisia californica), and jimson weed (Datura wrightii). This vegetation community has the potential to host special-status species such as the coastal California gnatcatcher. Eucalyptus Woodland (Holland Code 79100) Eucalyptus habitats range from single-species thickets with little or no shrubby understory to scattered trees over a well-developed herbaceous and shrubby understory. Found in coastal and foothill regions with significant access to water stores. In most cases, eucalyptus forms a dense stand with a closed canopy and produces a large amount of leaf and bark