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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLCPA 98-04; Thompson/Tabata; Local Coastal Program Amendment (LCPA) (8)Jack Henthom & Associates 5365 Avenida Encim, Suite A Curlsbad, CA 92008 (760) 438-4090 FLU (760) 438-0981 Memorandum To: MIKEGRIM FROM: JAYNE HAUSSLER SUBJECT: THOMPSON/TABATA DATE: MAY 13,2002 The attached packet contains previously submitted data and correspondence addressed to the Coastal Commission regarding the status of the agriculturally-created wetland on the subject property. Please note that the letter dated December 15, 2000 is the revised letter created for our files subsequent to the original submittal to the Coastal Commission in December of 2000. The original letter, dated December 14, 2000, was incorrectly addressed and referred to Vista Pacifica by its original processing name, “Sea Pines.” Although the original research was conducted using the “Sea Pines” files, it is less confusing for the Coastal Commission and other officials if in the letter, the surrounding developments were identified as they are currently known. The remainder of the content of the letter is unchanged from that originally submitted. Submitted to you under separate cover is a new letter from Dudek &a Associates, drafted in response to the questions raised by Coastal Commission staff regarding the status of the agriculturally-created riparian area in terms of Army Corps (USACE) jurisdiction. As the letter describes, the USACE has jurisdiction over wetland habitats only if it can be shown that the habitat is connected to other water bodies. The biological surveys conducted for the Thompsonnabata project determined that the riparian habitat was isolated from all other water bodies; consequently, the habitat is not within the jurisdiction of the USACE. The habitat is, however, within the jurisdiction of the California Department of Fish and Game and the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Both agencies have been contacted regarding the status of the habitat area and approved the management plan whch will result in no net loss of habitat within the project site. If after reviewing the attached packet, you find that you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to call our office. Page 1 of 1 1 II .ck Henthorn & Associi?s 5365 Auenida Encinas, Suite A Cnrlsbad, California 92008 Fax (760) 438-0981 (760) 438-4090 December 15,2000 Sherilyn Sarb, District Manager California Coastal commission San Diego Area Office 7575 Metropolitan Avenue, Suite 103 San Diego, CA 92 108-4402 Subject: Standard Pacific Homes/ Poinsettia Properties Dear Ms. Sarb: The above referenced owner, Standard Pacific Homes, is pursuing development entitlements from the City of Carlsbad for a 246 unit residential development located on 82.2 acres known specifically as “Thompson/Tabata” (formerly “Poinsettia Properties”). These entitlements include a City-issued Coastal Development Permit and a Commission-issued Local Coastal Program Amendment necessary to effectuate a change of zone from Limited Control (L-C) to residential. The amendment does not propose to amend the Land Use Plan. In preparation for the environmental review portion of the application, Dudek & Associates, Inc. prepared a biological survey report in October, 2000, following a series of reconnaissance visits to the subject property. The report brought to our attention the existence of what was described as an “isolated patch of riparian habitat” dominated by southern willow scrub species and non- native grasses, totaling 0.10 acre in area and located within what the report describes as a “manmade water retention or desiltation basin.” Representative of the Department of Fish and Game and the Regional Water Quality Control Board have reviewed our site plan and mitigation measures and found them to be acceptable in light of the marginal state of the riparian area in question. Research conducted by our staff has concluded that the isolated area of riparian habitat arose in conjunction with the recently abandoned high-intensity agricultural operation located immediately to the east. Until recently, the subject property was known as the Thompson Rose Company, a high-intensity agricultural operation consisting of 14 acres of greenhouses and 10 acres of field-cropped horticultural products, including container plants (attachment Nos. 1 and 2). According to the files of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) , the operator of the Thompson Rose Company annually purchased large quantities of water to sustain his operation in the absence of a reliable source of on-site groundwater. The tailwater from the irrigation system drained westerly and south-westerly across the property and onto the adjacent undeveloped parcels (now known as Spinnaker Hill and Vista Pacifica), following the natural topography as described in the Hydrology Report prepared by Buccola Engineering for the Thompson property (Attachment No. 3) and the Geotechnical Investigations -1- conducted by Geocon in 1998 for the Thompson site and in 1982 for the Vista Pacifica (then “Sea Pines”) development. A hydrology report prepared for the Vista Pacifica development assigned the Thompson runoff a soil coefficient (C) of 0.95 due to the nearly impervious conditions created by the agricultural operation. In the years between 1979 and 1983, the operator of Thompson Rose Company installed a small storage basin in the south-westem comer of the site to prevent drainage onto the new residential development immediately south of the operation (Spinnaker Hill). The irrigation tailwater from the southern half of the greenhouse operation naturally drained to this basin; the northern portion of the operation, which included the container plants and cut flowers, naturally drained toward the Vista Pacifica parcel, immediately to the west and into the area of the isolated patch of riparian habitat. When the western parcel began processing for development in 1983, the operator of Thompson Rose Company and the developer of the Vista Pacifica project entered into an agreement whereby the north-westem drainage outlet of the Thompson operation would be incorporated into the grading and drainage plans of the new development (Attachment No. 4). A drainage pipe was installed at the base of the newly graded area and conveyed runoff from the agricultural operation into the Vista Pacifica drainage system. The head wall of the inlet functions to create a small retention area within the basin. This drainage basin is the site of the isolated riparian area. Changes in State tailwater regulations in the mid-1980’s prompted the operator of Thompson Rose Company to file an application for the development and installation of a tailwater recovery system to collect and redistribute the irrigation runoff. According to NRCS documentation, the operator requested the system to be engineered to a holding capacity of 100,000 gallons of runoff. To improve the efficiency of the system, the NRCS project engineer recommended installing a reservoir near the location of the north-westem drainage basin to contain and re-use some of the runoff which at the time was collecting and draining off-site onto the Vista Pacifica development, as per the agreement made in 1983. Constructing a second basin or storage tank in the south- western corner was determined to be unfeasible due to the leach field associated with the drainage to and overflow from the existing basin. The estimated cost for the system was approximately $38,000 in 1989. Complications involving the complexity of the design and high cost of the installation of the system eventually resulted in the abandonment of the project in July, 1989. The operator (Thompson) consequently constructed his own simplified version of the system, improving only the southern containment facilities that serviced the largest of the greenhouses. The northern drainage basin, which collected the irrigation runoff primarily from the field operation, was not incorporated into the recovery system. This northem basin, originally designed in conjunction with the Vista Pacifica development, continued to accept the unmitigated agricultural runoff and consequently evolved into the 0.1 acre riparian habitat identified in the Dudek report. The California Code of Regulations, Title 14 9 13577 (b) 2 et seq. provides exceptions to the definition for wetlands for those habitats created by the presence of and in conjunction with an agricultural operation, provided that there is no evidence that the habitat pre-dated the -2- -4 agricultural operation. It is our conclusion that the evidence presented herein satisfies the criteria for this exception as it pertains to the feature in question on the Thompson property. Our findings have determined that it was the intense use of imported irrigation water and its rapid, unmitigated discharge from the agricultural operation along the natural topography that resulted in the development and maintenance of the 0.1 acre riparian feature. The geologic evidence, isolated nature of the habitat, and grading of the area in the mid-1980s leads to the reasonable assumption that a wetland habitat was not a naturally occurring environment in the vicinity prior to the establishment of the agricultural operation. Additionally, we have included Xerox copies of aerial photographs of the site as it existed in 1953 and 1970, which we believe further demonstrate that the riparian habitat did not pre-date the agricultural operation (Attachment Nos. 5 and 6). As the copying process did significantly diminish the quality of the photographs, we will gladly share the original 1970 photograph with you at your request. The original 1953 photograph may be obtained'from the NRCS service center in Escondido, which provided us with our first-generation copy. Applications associated with this project, including a Coastal Development Permit and Local Coastal Program Amendment, will be processed through the City over the next few months. The City will be asked to make findings based upon the information contained in this letter. In an effort to coordinate City and Coastal Activities, I will be contacting you to arrange a meeting to discuss this letter and seek your concurrence relative to the 13577 (b) 2 exception. Sincerely, k4k - Henthorn Attachments: 1: Site location and ownership 2: 1984 aerial photograph copy of agricultural operation 3: Batiquitos Lagoon watershed drainage 4: Permission to Grade Agreement and associated map segment 5: 1953 aerial photograph copy of general vicinity 6: 1970 aerial photograph copy of site cc: Gary Wayne, Assistant Planning Director, City of Carlsbad Don Rideout, Principal Planner, City of Carlsbad Mike Grim, Associate Planner, City of Carlsbad Bill Ponder, Coastal Program Analyst, San Diego Coastal Commission Office Kathy Baker, Standard Pacific Homes Brian Utsler, Standard Pacific Homes Anita Hayworth, Dudek & Associates -3- Legend 1. Ehc Reynolds 2. Kelly 3. Cailsbad Heights 4. Ci?! of Carlsbad 5. City of Carlsbad 6. Sunbelt 7. Roesch 8. Oceanbluff 9. OeJong20 10, Abada a 11. Eramalea 12. SchindlFr 13. Fernendei 14. Poinsettia Hills 15. Aitchison 16. Mc Kinney 17. Carlsbad MW3 18. Kaiser 19. Nelson 20. Hidalgo 21. Bolton 22. Cardosa 23. Lcljan 24. Krarner 25. Engler 26. Tnomoson r- @ Tabata 28. Sarkaria 29. Rudvalis 30. Carnation Properties 31. Moore 32. Tabata 33. Hadley 37. tvlur3y2 38. Taorta 39. Yamarnoto 40. Guerg2r 41. SuSino Note: Locations are approximate h -. WORK ON ADJACENT PROPERTY Permission to Grade City Engineer city of Carlsbad 1200 Elm Street Carlsbad, California 92008 DATE: May 13, 1983 TRACT: Carlsbad Tract 83-2 Attention: Subdivision Engineer OWNERS, Trustee, Thompson Trust OWNERS ADDRESS: P.O.Box 1487, Carlsbad, Calif. 92008 David B. Thompson, Karen R. ThorfIpsOn, and Dorothy M. Thompson, LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF WORK TO BE DONE: A portion of the southeast Quarter of the Northeast Quarter of Section 2g1 Tomship 12 South, Range 4 West, San Bernardino Meridian, County of Sari Diego, State of California: Assessors Parcel S'S 214-170-(09,36,@47), The undersigned, being owners of the above specified, hereby agree with Standard Pacific of San Diego, thr Devsloper of C.T. 83-2 "Sea Pines", as follows: 1, The undersigned, in consideration of the benefits to accrue to their above described property, do hereby grant the Developer,and its agents and represenatives, permission to enter upon the property of the under- signed for the purposes Of constructing a permanent fill together with protective drainage structures and landscaping as shown on the attached drawing, in accordance with the standards Of the City of Carlsbad. The undersigned acknowledge and agree tnat thay, as owners, have full auth- ority and power to grant such permission. 2. of the city of Carlsbad, and the permission to enter upon the undersigned's property shall remain in effect until such time as the subdivision work of Developer has been accepted and approved by the City of Carlsbad. Developer shall perform such work in accordance with the requirements 4, Developer agrees to replace Or restore roadways, fences, 2nd other improvements that have been removed or altered during regular course of grading and work done on property owned by undersigned. It is agreed that the restoration of improvements and compaction of soils brought in must meet the undersigneds approval for acceptability. AGREED : Developer - Standard Pacific of San Diego By : Douglas G'J Ledsam, Project Manager J U 3 Y h I .' I r c \ I 1 EZ'97