RESPONSES to COMMENTS on the DRAFT IS-MND

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RESPONSES to COMMENTS on the DRAFT IS-MND This section includes the comments received during circulation of the Draft Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS-MND) prepared for the

1 RESPONSES to COMMENTS on the DRAFT IS-MND This section includes the comments received during circulation of the Draft Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS-MND) prepared for the Spartan Stadium End Zone Building and responses to those comments. No changes to the Draft IS-MND were necessary based on comments received. The IS-MND was circulated for a 30-day public review period that began on February 20, 2013, and concluded on March 22, The City received one comment letter on the Draft IS-MND. The commenter and the page number on which each commenter s letter appears are listed below. Letter No. and Commenter Page No. 1. Rebekah Ross, Planner II, City of San Jose A-2 A-1

2 Letter 1 Mr. Robert Dias Director of Planning, Design & Construction, Facilities Development and Operations One Washington Square, San Jose, CA Sent via to: Robert.dias@sjsu.edu March 22, 2013 SUBJECT: FOR THE INTIAL STUDY/MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION FOR THE SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SPARTAN STADIUM END ZONE BUILDING Dear Mr. Dias: On February 15, 2013, the City of San José received notice of a draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for San José State University Spartan Stadium End Zone Building. The City of San José appreciates the opportunity to review and provide comments on the IS/MND. Please consider the following in relation to the project IS/MND: Public Works and Department of Transportation The City of San s José Department of Public Works and Department of Transportation reviewed the document and have the following comment: Please provide the traffic impact analysis, including technical appendices, for the project to City of San José for review. Contact Karen Mack, Principal Engineer, City of San José, Department of Public Works at (408) or at Karen.mack@sanjoseca.gov for more information or questions pertaining to the traffic analysis. Hydrology and Water Quality Discuss if the project will connect to the City of San José s storm and sanitary systems. If so, approval of an Encroachment Permit is required from the Department of Public Works. As a result, a post construction Stormwater Control Plan that demonstrates how the project conforms to City Council Policy 6-26, Post Construction Urban Runoff and City Council Policy 8-14, Post Construction Hydromodification Management might be required. Contact Allen Baquilar, Associate Engineer, City of San José, Department of Public Works at (408) or at allen.baquilar@sanjoseca.gov for more information or questions pertaining to the Encroachment Permit or Stormwater Control Plan. A-2

3 Biological Resources Bay Checkerspot Butterfly / Nitrogen Deposition The City of San José recently adopted the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan/Natural Communities Conservation Plan (SCVHP) developed in partnership with the County of Santa Clara, the City of Morgan Hill, the City of Gilroy, the Valley Transportation Agency and the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The SCVHP establishes a framework for development projects to comply with several state and federal regulatory processes and standardized avoidance, minimization, mitigation and compensation requirements set forth in federal and state laws, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEQA requires that any public agency approving or carrying out a project for which there is substantial evidence of a potentially significant impact must identify measures necessary to mitigate impacts to a lessthan-significant level (Pub. Res. Code 21081). The SCVHP establishes standardized, equitable, feasible and enforceable measures by which participating jurisdictions can mitigate impacts upon species covered by the SCVHP to a lessthan-significant level. The impact and mitigation analyses in the SCVHP are based on extensive analysis and the best available science and have resulted in the identification and design of feasible mitigation that may not have been identified in prior environmental documents. The SCVHP establishes standards for mitigation of impacts to several species that depend on serpentine soils, such as the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly. Potentially significant impacts to such species include indirect, cumulative, and highly dispersed impacts such as nitrogen deposition. In the past, the effects of nitrogen deposition on special-status plants and wildlife have been underestimated or were not understood; however, this is no longer true, and nitrogen impacts are articulated in detail in the SCVHP. Nitrogen deposition is known to have deleterious effects on many of the serpentine plants in the SCVHP area, as well as the host plants that support the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly. Nonpoint sources such as automobiles emit nitrogen compounds into the air. Because serpentine soils tend to be nutrient poor, and nitrogen deposition artificially fertilizes serpentine soils, nitrogen deposition facilitates the spread of invasive plant species. Non-native annual grasses grow rapidly, enabling them to out-compete serpentine species. The displacement of these species, and subsequent decline of the several federally-listed species, including the butterfly and its larval host plants, has been documented on Coyote Ridge in central Santa Clara County (the last remaining population of butterflies). Nitrogen tends to be efficiently recycled by the plants and microbes in infertile soils such as those derived from serpentines, so that fertilization impacts could persist for years and result in cumulative habitat degradation. The invasion of native grasslands by invasive and/or non-native species is now recognized as one of the major causes of the decline of the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly. All major remaining populations of the butterfly and many of the sensitive serpentine plant populations occur in areas subject to air pollution from vehicle exhaust and other sources throughout the Bay Area including from within your jurisdiction. Therefore, even relatively small amounts of increased nitrogen deposition resulting from new development could contribute to a cumulatively significant impact by diminishing the population sizes of serpentine species and possibly the chances of survival of the threatened butterfly and the serpentine-specific plant species within Santa Clara County. A-3

4 Because CEQA requires implementation of all feasible mitigation measures, even for impacts that cannot be mitigated to a less-than-significant level, including cumulatively significant impacts, and the mitigation program developed for the SCVHP includes feasible mitigation measures for the impacts of nitrogen deposition upon serpentine habitat and the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly, similar feasible mitigation should be developed and included for the subject project, correlated to the amount of new vehicle trips that the project is expected to generate. Given the development of feasible mitigation measures for the SCVHP, it will likely be difficult for a lead agency to adopt a Statement of Overriding Considerations if no similar mitigation measures are incorporated in the project Conclusion Thank you for providing the City of San Jose with the opportunity to comment on the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration. If you have questions, please contact me at (408) or by at rebekah.ross@sanjoseca.gov or my supervisor, John Davidson at (408) or by at john.davidson@sanjoseca.gov. CC: Sincerely, Daniel S. No Associate Director, Facilities Development & Operations Planning Design & Construction, One Washington Square San Jose, CA (408) daniel.no@sjsu.edu Allen Baquilar, Associate Engineer City of San José, Department of Public Works 200 East Santa Clara Street, Third Floor Tower San José, CA (408) Allen.baquilar@sanjoseca.gov Karen Mack, Principal Engineer Technician City of San José, Department of Public Works 200 East Santa Clara Street, Third Floor Tower San José, CA (408) Karen.mack@sanjoseca.gov Rebekah Ross, Planner II A-4

5 Letter 1 COMMENTER: Rebekah Ross, Planner II, City of San Jose DATE: March 22, 2013 Response 1.1 The commenter requests provision of the traffic impact analysis, including technical appendices, for review. As described in the IS-MND, the proposed facilities would accommodate the needs of the existing athlete, staff, student, and fan population. The project would not increase the existing stadium seating capacity, frequency of events, hours or dates of operations, or types of support spaces and uses. The existing athletic facilities would be upgraded, but the improved facilities would serve the same functions as under existing conditions. The project would remove 1,709 existing stadium bleacher seats and replace them with improved stadium seating areas that contain a total of1,353 seats, for a net reduction of 356 seats. It should also be noted that the project would not modify the existing South Campus park-and-ride lot and shuttle service to the Main Campus that is currently available to all students and staff. Therefore, the project would not generate new vehicle trips that could impact the City s circulation system or existing level of service standards. Accordingly, a traffic impact analysis was not necessary, and was not prepared, for the project. In addition, a letter report containing a review of the IS-MND traffic information was prepared by Fehr & Peers Senior Associate Jason Pack, PE (May 3, 2013; Attached). As described in the letter report, it is the professional opinion of Fehr & Peers that the proposed project will not generate any new trips to or from the campus beyond its existing uses and activities. As such, Fehr & Peers concurs with the conclusion of the IS-MND that traffic impacts would be less than significant, and that no additional transportation impact analysis report would be required based on the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and City of San Jose Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines. Response 1.2 The commenter requests clarification as to whether the project will connect to the City s storm and sanitary systems, and notes that if connections are proposed an Encroachment Permit would be required from the City Department of Public Works. The project would connect to existing facilities on SJSU property and therefore would not require an Encroachment Permit from the City of San Jose. Response 1.3 The commenter describes that the City recently adopted the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan/Natural Communities Conservation Plan (SCVHP), which establishes standards for mitigation of impacts to several species that depend on serpentine soils, including the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly. As described in the IS-MND, according to the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Web Soil Survey (2012), soils on-site consist of Urban Land Elpaloalto complex, 0 to 2 percent slopes. These soils are not serpentine soils and would therefore not support habitat for the species covered by the SCVHP. A-5

6 The commenter states that nitrogen deposition from nonpoint sources such as automobiles generated by a development project could contribute to a cumulatively significant impact by on serpentine species, including the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly and serpentine-specific plant species within the County. The proposed facilities would accommodate the needs of the existing athlete, staff, student, and fan population, and would not generate new vehicle trips that could result in significant nitrogen deposition that would adversely affect serpentine species. In addition, construction vehicle trips would be short-term and temporary and would therefore not result in quantities of air pollution that would contribute to cumulative impacts on such species. A-6

Final Environmental Impact Report for the Riverbank Reinvestment Project, Amendment No. 1

July 2009 Final Environmental Impact Report for the Riverbank Reinvestment Project, Amendment No. 1 RIVERBANK REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY Urban Futures, Inc. 3111 North Tustin Street, Suite 230 Orange, CA 92865