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Home My WebLink About2003-08-05; City Council; 17263; Buena Vista Creek Maintenance ProgramCITY OF CARLSBAD -AGENDA BILL MTG. 8-5-03 BUENAVISTA CREEK MAINTENANCE PROGRAM EIR 02-03 - - RECOMMENDED ACTION: That the City Council ADOPT City Council Resolution No. Environmental Impact Report (EIR 02-03) for the Buena Vista Creek Maintenance project. 2003-209 , CERTIFYING the ITEM EXPLANATION: The stretch of Buena Vista Creek from Jefferson Street eastward to the bridge at South Vista Way just south of Highway 78 is maintained by an existing Assessment District funded primarily by the property owners of the Plaza Camino Real shopping mall. The City administers the Assessment District's funds and maintenance activities which center on maintaining the Creek as a flood control channel for the protection of adjacent properties from flooding. The City performed channel maintenance in the early 1990's and again in 1994. Maintenance focuses on the removal of vegetation growth so that the initial design configuration of the drainage channel can function as a flood control feature. The involvement of various resource agencies and environmental review is required for these maintenance efforts due to the sensitive lagoon, watershed and wetland habitats in the Creek area. The purpose of the Buena Vista Creek Maintenance EIR is to provide upfront environmental review and clearances for future maintenance activities. The general program for maintenance involves the clearing of vegetation on the north side of the Creek in segmented intervals. This concept was designed with input from various resource agencies so as to not invoke numerous agency permits or cause significant environmental impacts. Two letters of comment were received during public review from SDG&E and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Responses to these comments are included in the Final EIR along with the project's Mitigation and Monitoring Program. A large portion of the project site crosses the city boundary into Oceanside and will require Oceanside permits. These permits will rely on this EIR. Oceanside will act in the capacity of a responsible agency while Carlsbad maintains lead agency status. Oceanside staff has coordinated with Carlsbad staff in the scoping and development of this project and EIR and will be a partner in the implementation of the long-term maintenance program. Title 19 of the Municipal Code requires that the City Council hold a hearing to certify an environmental document where it is the final decision-maker. Since this EIR will allow for more predictability in carrying out future maintenance efforts for this section of Buena Vista Creek, staff is recommending certification of EIR 02-03. FISCAL IMPACT: City staff is currently administering the District's funding and has implemented past maintenance efforts, so there will be no fiscal impact to the City to carry out the proposed long-term maintenance program for this section of Buena Vista Creek. ENVIRONMENTAL: EIR 02-03 is proposed for certification by the City Council and will provide the necessary environmental review, documentation and clearance for the proposed maintenance program. I PAGE 2 OF AGENDA BILL NO. 17,263 EXHIBITS: 1. City Council Resolution No. 2003 -209 2. Excerpts Pages 2-5 and 2-10 and Figure 3 of FEIR 02-03 3. Final Environmental Impact Report - FEIR 02-03, previously distributed. DEPARTMENT CONTACT: Eric Munoz, (760) 602.4608, emuno@ci.carlsbad.ca.us 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 RESOLUTION NO. 2003-209 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, CERTIFYING AN ENVIRONMENTAL MAINTENANCE PROGRAM ALONG BUENA VISTA CREEK BETWEEN SOUTH VISTA WAY AND EAST OF THE JEFFERSON STREET BRIDGE IN LOCAL FACILITIES MANAGEMENT ZONES 1 AND 2. CASE NAME: IMPACT REPORT TO ALLOW FOR A LONG-TERM CHANNEL BUENA VISTA CREEK MAINTENANCE CASE NO.: EIR 02-03 The City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, does hereby resolve as follows: WHEREAS, the City Council did consider the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to allow for a long-term maintenance program along Buena Creek east of the Jefferson Street bridge; and WHEREAS, the EIR will provide more predictability in the scheduling of necessary Creek maintenance over the next several years with appropriate environmental review procedures and documents completed in advance; and WHEREAS, the City Council did on the 5th dayof AUGUST , 2003 hold a duly noticed hearing as prescribed by law to consider the EIR; and WHEREAS, at said public hearing, upon hearing and considering all testimony and arguments, if any, of all persons desiring to be heard, the City Council considered all factors relating to the EIR. The City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California does hereby resolve as follows: 1. That the above recitations are true and correct. 2. That the EIR is certified as shown on Exhibit EIR 02-03, on file with the City Clerk and incorporated herein by reference. .... .... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City oi Carlsbad on the 5th day of AUGUST 2003, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Council Members Lewis, Finnila, Kulchin, Hall, Packard NOES: None ABSENT: None ATTEST: (SEAL) -2- LJ EXHIBIT 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION EXCERPT FROM EIR 02-03 (Please note that Figures 4-7 as referenced in the second paragraph of the attached Project Description is not supplied because they emphasize the mapping of biological habitat and vegetation; instead, Figure 3 is provided that depicts the study area and proposed area of work for the 5-year maintenance intervals, as described in the attached text). channel and it was determined that the area prone to flooding is from channel station 27+00 to station 38+00. Flooding between stations 27+00 and 38+00 during the 100-year storm event would inundate the adjacent parlung lots in the Maintenance District. 2.2 PROJECT PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES The City proposes to implement an on-going maintenance program for flood control purposes. Flood improvement measures are proposed to protect the existing Maintenance District properties from the 100-year storm event. 2.3 DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT Based on the results of the hydraulic study, a maintenance program is necessary to provide flood protection for the existing Maintenance District during the 100-year storm event. The hydraulic study indicates that 50 percent of the vegetation within the channel must be removed periodically. The proposed maintenance program consists of hand removal of vegetation within the northern halt of the channel between the Southvista Way bridge to the east and the Coastal Zone boundary to the west (Figures 4 through 7). The proposed maintenance area is located outside the Coastal Zone. Thehydraulic study indicates that the vegetation located within the Coastal Zone is not responsible for upstream flooding. The City is proposing to remove vegetation by hand within the northern half of the channel, which is dominated primarily by freshwater marsh, to minimize impacts to southern willow scrub, the majority of which occurs in the southern half of the channel. The vegetation would be removed in the northern half of the channel over a period of five years: one fifth of the northern half of the channel would be removed by hand down to ground level every year. Thus, each year one-tenth of the vegetation in the channel project site would be removed. Vegetation would not be removed between February 15 and September 1 to avoid impacts to most nesting birds in accordance with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. For purposes of vegetation removal, maintenance vehicles will use the existing access road that runs parallel to the northern bank of the channel. Currently the silt levels within the channel match the design elevations; therefore, silt removal is not necessary or proposed at this time. However, silt monitoring posts would be 2798-12 2-5 March 2003 wrmrnfi-- Buena Wsta Creek Channel Maintenance Project Program EIR installed every 500 feet to track channel bottom elevation changes due to increased silt. At each 500-foot interval, two posts would be installed on the channel banks as reference points. The silt monitoring posts would be surveyed by City of Carlsbad Public Works staff every two years or after a major flood event. IF the silt level exceeds two feet above the design elevations (as documented by monitoring posts), the City will consider maintenance dredging. However, it is not anticipated that silt levels will exceed two feet above the design elevations within this portion of the channel nor is dredging addressed in this CEQA document. March 2003 2798-12 2-10 FW,,WI~U~~-~ Buena Vista Creek Channel Maintenance Project Program EIR r- I I I I I I I I I I L \ I