HomeMy WebLinkAboutCDP 98-39; Faraday Road Extension; Coastal Development Permit (CDP) (7)lift._f •WIUMJVCSXXVICX US Fish & Wildlife Service
Carlsbad Field Office
2730 Loker Avenue, West
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760)431-9440
FAX (760) 431-9624
CA Dept. of Fish & Game
1416 Ninth Street
PO Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090
(916)653-9767
FAX (916) 653-2588
Mr. Christer Westman
City of Carlsbad
2075 Las Palmas Drive
Carlsbad, California 92009
JUL 2 9 1998
Subject: Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Faraday Avenue Extension; CDP 98-39
Dear Mr. Westman:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and California Department of Fish and Game
(Department), collectively the wildlife agencies, have completed their review of the Mitigated
Negative Declaration (ND) for the Faraday Avenue Extension. The "Draft Expanded Initial
Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Faraday Avenue Roadway Extension" and
"Expanded Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration Mitigation Monitoring Program for the
Faraday Avenue Roadway Extension" prepared by Cotton/Beland/Associates (June 1998) and
associated biotechnical report prepared by Merkel & Associates, Inc. (June 5,1998) were
consulted as part of this review as well as the City of Carlsbad's draft Habitat Management Plan
(HMP; December 1,1997) and the Final Environmental Impact Report for the Carlsbad
Municipal Golf Course (March 1998). Ms. Julie Vanderwier, from the Service's Carlsbad Field
Office, also met with you and Ms. Sherri Howard to discuss this project on July 27,1998.
The Faraday Avenue extension project site is located in the northwest quadrant of the City of
Carlsbad (City), south and east of Agua Hedionda Lagoon, north of Macario Canyon and
Palomar Airport Road, and east of El Camino Real. It is one of four City projects being
implemented or currently planned for this area, the other three being Cannon Road (Reaches 1
and 2), Veteran's Memorial Park, and a municipal golf course. The Faraday Avenue project
would extend existing Faraday Avenue approximately 5,400 linear feet from its westerly
terminus to connect with future Cannon Road. With the exception of a small portion of
privately-owned land at the western end of the proposed project area, the 72-foot wide right-of-
way for the road is under City ownership and identified as open space in the City's General Plan
(1994). Faraday Avenue has been designed to be a "split" roadway which will result in a linear
and vertical separation of the two 26-foot wide travel lanes in several locations. Sidewalks and
parking will be provided only on the north side of Faraday Avenue, however, an eight-foot wide
bike lane will be provided on both the north and south and will also provide for emergency
parking. Construction is anticipated to commence in July 1999 and be completed by December
1999. ./'
Mr. Christer Westman 2
As identified in the biotechnical report, the majority of the right-of-way is currently under
agricultural uses, however, native plant communities identified within the project area include
Diegan coastal sage scrub, southern maritime chaparral, non-native grassland, southern willow
scrub, and mulefat scrub. A number of species considered to be sensitive occur on-site,
including the federally-listed threatened coastal California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica
californica; gnatcatcher). Project implementation would result in the direct, permanent loss of
approximately six acres of Diegan coastal sage scrub (and one gnatcatcher pair), one-half acre of
non-native grassland, and an unspecified amount of agricultural and disturbed lands. No direct
impacts to southern maritime chaparral or riparian/mulefat scrub communities are anticipated.
Additionally, the following species would also be directly or indirectly affected by habitat loss:
orange-throated whiptail (Cnemidophorus hyperythrns beldingii), white-tailed kite (Elanus
caeruleus), Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperf), California horned lark (Eremophila alpestris
actid), loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus), southern rufous-crowned sparrow (Aimophila
ruficeps canescens), San Diego black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepvs californicus bennettii),
northwestern San Diego pocket mouse (Chaetodipusfallaxfallax), San Diego desert woodrat
(Neotoma lepida intermedia), California adolphia (Adolphia californica), Palmer's
grapplinghook (Harpagonella palmer•/), western dichondra (Dichondra occidentalis), Nuttall's
scrub oak (Quercus dumosa), and ashy spikemoss (Selaginella cinerascens).
Mitigation measures provided in the ND propose to compensate for direct project impacts to
coastal sage scrub and the gnatcatcher at a ratio of 2:1. Mitigation is proposed to be
accomplished on the adjacent park land or through the purchase of mitigation credits within the
Carlsbad Highlands Conservation Bank. With the exception of restricting construction activities
to that period outside of the breeding season, no mitigation is proposed for potential indirect
impacts to gnatcatchers or for the isolation of small patches of coastal sage scrub. Indirect
impacts to least Bell's vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus; vireo), which has been documented to occur in
Macario Canyon, would consist of annual monitoring for vireo presence or absence every
breeding season prior to construction, along with the identification of nest sites, in order to avoid
construction-related noise impacts. Construction on segments of the roadway that are located
adjacent to nesting vireos would not begin until after August 1, when the nesting cycle is
completed.
Based upon our review of the information provided in the draft ND, the wildlife agencies provide
the following comments and recommendations:
1. The wildlife agencies concur with the proposal to mitigate for direct impacts to coastal
sage scrub and one pair of gnatcatchers at a ratio of 2:1. It should be noted, however, that
the construction of Faraday Avenue will isolate several small patches of coastal sage
scrub: one south of the road and adjacent to golf hole 13, another south of the road
adjacent to golf hole 15, and the last at the western end of the site. It is our opinion that
these isolated patches will be too small to support a pair of gnatcatchers and, therefore,
their acreage should be added to the total impact acreage for coastal sage scrub and
mitigation measures proposed. While we'concur that it is biologically advantageous to
use lands within adjacent Veteran's Memorial Park (Park) as mitigation, it is not clear
where in the Park this would occur, if mitigation proposed would be through preservation
Mr. Christer Westman 3
of existing coastal sage scrub, restoration of coastal sage scrub, or a combination of both;
or how this would affect construction of the Park. The ND should provide a map
indicating where on the Park property coastal sage scrub preservation/restoration is
proposed, and how the City intends to manage the mitigation site to sustain its biological
values.
In order to ensure the continued existence of the gnatcatcher population in this region of
Carlsbad, a live-in and dispersal corridor between habitat north of Palomar Airport Road
and Agua Hedionda Lagoon must be provided. The wildlife agencies have been working
concurrently with the City on the proposed municipal golf course. While we have
tentatively concurred that restoration of agricultural lands between proposed golf holes 13
and IS could be used as partial mitigation for golf course impacts to coastal sage scrub,
this use is contingent upon a number of other factors. One of the most important of these
is the City's ability, through implementation of its HMP, to ensure connectivity through
the golf course site, Kelly Ranch, and the Kirgis property to Agua Hedionda Lagoon. The
majority of these lands are City-owned and, therefore, the responsibility for conservation
planning in this area should be done now, in coordination with the wildlife agencies. It
should be noted, however, that resolution of golf course impacts and mitigation issues has
not yet occurred. As such, a corridor has not been guaranteed and it is therefore
premature to assume that these agricultural lands between the proposed golf holes will be
restored to coastal sage scrub. If the required corridor can be assured in the City's HMP,
the wildlife agencies would be supportive of coastal sage scrub restoration in this area of
the Park to initiate this effort. Without such an assurance, mitigation which relies on this
premise may not be appropriate.
2. While the wildlife agencies concur with the mitigation ratio proposed in the ND, we
remain concerned about the cumulative impacts to coastal sage scrub and gnatcatchers in
this region of the City. Construction of the proposed project and the proposed municipal
golf course, combined with impacts from Cannon Road Reaches 1 and 2, and the future
development of Kelly Ranch, will result in cumulative impacts to coastal sage scrub and
gnatcatchers which are significant and only mitigatable through the application of good
preserve design, which entails avoidance and minimization of impacts to coastal sage
scrub and gnatcatchers wherever possible along with a limited amount of habitat
restoration. The ND does not provided an analysis of cumulative impacts or this project's
relationship to the HMP; this analysis should be included. Because of the cumulative
effects of the projects being implemented or planned in this area, the wildlife agencies
strongly recommend that a combination of conservation and restoration of coastal sage
scrub within the Park be used to compensate for both direct and indirect impacts which
will result from the extension of Faraday Avenue.
3. The biological technical report references an amount of the City's five percent 4(d)
allocation of coastal sage scrub from August 1997. Please provide information on the
amount of the five percent currently available. It is our understanding that the City will
likely have exhausted its five percent by the time it would be needed for the Faraday
Avenue extension project. Absent the 4(d) process, there are only two options in which
Mr. Christer Westman 4
the Service can authorize "take" of the gnatcatcher and its habitat: through a section
10(a)(l)(b) permit pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, as amended (Act) which
would require the preparation and approval of a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), or the
project could be processed as part of an approved City HMP. As it is not anticipated that
construction would commence until July 1999, the latter is recommended by the wildlife
agencies. The use of section 7 is not an available method which can be used to authorize
take of a federally-listed species for this project as there is no known federal agency
involvement.
4. Grading or brushing activities in, or adjacent to, coastal sage scrub (or other habitat
occupied by the gnatcatcher) must be restricted to that period outside of the breeding
season for this bird, which is considered to be February 15 through August 30, annually.
Similarly, such activities which Would occur adjacent to nesting vireos should be
restricted to that period outside of their breeding season which is considered to be March
15 through September 30, annually.
5. The ND indicates that road runoff will be directed to vegetated areas to filter pollutants.
These areas should be identified in the ND as the wildlife agencies are concerned about a
degradation of water quality in Agua Hedionda Lagoon due to roadway and automobile-
generated pollutants.
6. If coastal sage scrub restoration is part of the final biological mitigation plan, we request
the opportunity to review and provide comment on the restoration and monitoring plans
prior to approval and implementation.
The Service and Department appreciate the opportunity to review this ND for the Faraday
Avenue extension and your cooperation in meeting with us and providing, in advance, the
materials necessary to accomplish this task. If you have any questions regarding the contents of
this letter, please contact Julie Vanderwier (Service) at (760) 431-9440 or David Lawhead
(Department) at (619) 467-4211.
Sincerely,
ett Gail Presley
Assistant Field Office Supervisor NCCP Program Manager
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Department of Fish and Game
cc: Sherri Howard, City of Carlsbad
Don Rideout, City of Carlsbad
Ron Rempel, CDFG
#l-6-98-CA-029