Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Public Health Service Hospital, The Presidio of San Francisco, CA This document provides new analysis, information, and changes made in response to public comments on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Public Health Service Hospital (PHSH), which was circulated and filed in August 2004. This document, together with the accompanying Response to Comments, will be filed as the Final SEIS. The Final SEIS is a supplement to and tiers from the 2002 Final EIS for the Presidio Trust Management Plan (PTMP), the Presidio Trust’s comprehensive land use plan and policy framework for Area B of the Presidio. The PTMP evaluated in the 2002 Final EIS included planning guidelines for the PHSH district. LEAD AGENCY The Presidio Trust (Trust), a federal corporation and executive agency created by Congress in 1996, is the lead agency for the proposed action under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Trust maintains jurisdiction over the interior 80 percent of the Presidio of San Francisco (Area B), while the National Park Service has jurisdiction over the coastal areas of the former army post (Area A). The Trust must preserve and enhance the Presidio and also become financially self-sufficient by the year 2013. ABSTRACT The Trust is proposing to rehabilitate and reuse buildings within the PHSH district of the Presidio, to re-introduce residential uses to the district, and to undertake related site improvements. These actions represent the “proposed action” evaluated in this Final SEIS. The Final SEIS evaluates five alternatives, including a publicly requested “no action” alternative and the PTMP baseline alternative. The alternatives propose different treatments for the main hospital (Building 1801) and different amounts of demolition and replacement construction within the project site. Potential impacts associated with each alternative are described, together with mitigation measures that would reduce or eliminate those impacts. NEXT STEPS The Trust will circulate this Final SEIS for at least 30 days before making a decision on the proposed action. The Trust Board of Directors will hold a public meeting on June 15, 2006 beginning at 6:30 PM, at the Golden Gate Club, 135 Fisher Loop in the Presidio, to introduce the proposed action. Although there is no requirement for the Trust to respond to comments received on the Final SEIS, the Trust will consider all comments received during the 30-day circulation period before making the final decision on the proposed action. The Trust will determine whether the Final SEIS meets the standards for EIS adequacy under the NEPA, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA Regulations, and its own NEPA regulations (36 CFR 1010), and will make a final decision on the proposed action in a Record of Decision (ROD). The ROD will be a written public record explaining why the Trust has taken a particular course of action and will enable the Trust to move forward to implement the proposed action. FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact John Pelka, Compliance Manager, Presidio Trust, 34 Graham Street, P.O. Box 29052, San Francisco, CA 94129-0052. Phone: 415/561-5300. Email: [email protected]. Contents COVER SHEET SUMMARY 1 Purpose 1 Planning Context 1 Previous Environmental Review, Changes to the Proposed Action, and Expanded Analysis 4 Areas of Controversy 5 Alternatives 7 Major Conclusions 9 Issues to be Resolved / Next Steps / Public Input 9 1 PURPOSE AND NEED 33 1.1 The Presidio of San Francisco 33 1.2 From Military Post to National Park 34 1.3 The Presidio Trust and Its Mandate 34 1.4 Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action 35 1.5 Project Objectives 41 2 ALTERNATIVES 43 2.1 Characteristics Shared by the Alternatives 43 2.2 Related Activities Common to All Alternatives 45 2.3 Requested No Action Alternative 50 2.4 Alternative 1: PTMP Alternative 52 2.5 Alternative 2: Wings Retained / Trust Revised Alternative 57 2.6 Alternative 3: Wings Removed Alternative 61 2.7 Alternative 4: Battery Caulfield Alternative 64 2.8 Park Presidio Boulevard Access Variant 68 2.9 Other Alternatives 71 2.10 Preferred Alternative 76 3 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES 81 3.1 Land Use, Housing, and Schools 81 3.2 Transportation 93 3.3 Historic Resources 145 3.4 Archaeological Resources 159 3.5 Air Quality 163 3.6 Noise 171 3.7 Visual Resources 179 3.8 Visitor Use 192 3.9 Utilities and Services 197 3.10 Geology and Soils 216 3.11 Hydrology, Wetlands, and Water Quality 220 3.12 Biology 232 Public Health Service Hospital Final SEIS i 4 CONSULTATION AND REFERENCES 257 4.1 Concurrent Leasing and Environmental Review Process 257 4.2 Interagency Coordination 263 4.3 List of Persons and Agencies Consulted 268 4.4 List of Preparers and Contributors 270 4.5 Agencies and Organizations to Whom Copies of the Final SEIS Were Sent (Partial Listing) 272 4.6 References 274 LIST OF ACRONYMS 285 GLOSSARY 289 INDEX 303 Appendices A Financial Analysis of PHSH Alternatives B Transportation Technical Memoranda C Environmental Review Summary ii Contents Public Health Service Hospital Figures 1 PHSH District and Project Site Boundaries 3 2 Existing Conditions at the PHSH 37 3 Related Ongoing Activities 46 4 Alternative 1: PTMP Alternative 54 5 Alternative 2: Wings Retained / Trust Revised Alternative 58 6 Alternative 3: Wings Removed Alternative 62 7 Alternative 4: Battery Caulfield Alternative 65 8 Park Presidio Boulevard Access Variant 69 9 Study Intersections 94 10 Existing Transit Routes 99 11 Trails and Bikeways 103 12 Historic Buildings and Archaeological Resources 147 13 Park Presidio Boulevard Access, Circa 1932 156 14 Building 1801, Existing Conditions 180 15 View Looking North from the Central Green, Existing Conditions 181 16 View Toward Battery Caulfield, Existing Conditions 182 17 Important Views to and from the PHSH District 183 18 Building 1801, Alternative 2 (Non-Historic Wings Remain) 186 19 Building 1801, Alternatives 3 and 4 (Non-Historic Wings Removed) 187 20 View Looking North from the Central Green, Alternative 4 189 21 View Toward Battery Caulfield, Alternative 4 190 22 Existing Site Hydrology 222 23 Conceptual Cross-Section of Hydrologic Conditions at Battery Caulfield 224 24 Biological Resources 233 Public Health Service Hospital Final SEIS iii Tables 1 Summary of Alternatives for the PHSH Project 8 2 Summary of Environmental Consequences and Mitigation 11 3 Presidio Trust Federal Appropriations, Fiscal Years 2000 to 2006 (in Millions of Dollars) 40 4 Range of Alternatives under Consideration for the PHSH Project 53 5 Existing and Projected Employee Housing Demand at the Presidio 84 6 Projected Land Use, Population, Employment, and School Enrollment at the PHSH District by Alternative 86 7 Intersection Levels of Service – Weekday AM and PM Peak Hours Existing Conditions (2005) 98 8 Existing (2004/2005) MUNI Passenger Loads 101 9 Trip Generation Rates by Land Use 107 10 Estimated Trip Generation by Mode of Travel and by Alternative Weekday Daily, AM and PM Peak Hour 108 11 Geographic Distribution of PHSH-Generated Trips 110 12 Comparison of Factors Used in Evaluating the Relative Significance of Transportation Impacts 111 13 Intersection Levels of Service – Weekday AM Peak Hour Year 2025 Conditions 112 14 Intersection Levels of Service – Weekday PM Peak Hour Year 2025 Conditions 113 15 Comparison of Future (2025) Peak Hour Traffic Volumes through 14th/15th Avenue Gates 123 16 Future (2025) Peak Hour Transit Trips to/from Project Site by Service Provider and Alternative 127 17 Parking Demand (Spaces) by Time of Day and Alternative 132 18 Comparison of Construction and Demolition Activities 135 19 Summary of Adverse and Beneficial Impacts on Historic Resources 150 20 Predicted Localized Carbon Monoxide (CO) Concentrations at Congested Intersections 166 21 Estimated Average Weekday Emissions from Vehicle Trips and Area Sources 167 22 FHWA Noise Abatement Criteria (Hourly dBA) 172 23 Summary of Short-Term Noise Measurements, PHSH District 173 24 Traffic Noise Levels in the Vicinity of PHSH Gates by Alternative 174 25 Annual Utility Demands 202 26 Known Occurrences of Special-Status Plant Species Near the Project Site 237 27 Occurrences of Special-Status Wildlife Species On or Near the Project Site 238 28 Public Agencies, Organizations, and Individuals Commenting on the PHSH Draft SEIS 262 iv Contents Public Health Service Hospital Summary In accordance with the Presidio Trust Act, as amended (16 USC 460bb appendix) and the Presidio Trust Management Plan (PTMP),1 the Presidio Trust (Trust) is proposing to rehabilitate and reuse buildings within the Public Health Service Hospital (PHSH) district of the Presidio, to re-introduce residential uses to the district, and to undertake related site improvements. These actions represent the “proposed action” evaluated in this Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). The proposed action is intended to address the Trust’s statutory requirements and the agency’s mission, which is to preserve and enhance the cultural, natural, scenic, and recreational resources of the Presidio for public use in perpetuity while making the Presidio financially sustainable. PURPOSE The purpose of the proposed PHSH project is 1) to rehabilitate and reactivate the severely deteriorated historic buildings within the PHSH district, particularly the main hospital building; 2) to protect the National Historic Landmark District (NHLD) and other historic and cultural resources; 3) to address the health and safety risks to the Presidio and surrounding city neighborhoods from dilapidated and largely vacant buildings within the project site; 4) to improve the unsightly appearance of the existing unimproved landscapes within the project boundary; and 5) to generate revenue for the long-term enhancement of these and other Presidio resources, and for ongoing operation of the Presidio as a national park site. The Trust has identified six leasing objectives for the project, and expressed the desire that these objectives be met in balance with one another.