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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3598; MELROSE DRIVE EXTENSION; RESULTS OF CULTURAL RESOURCE SURVEY; 1999-04-12IILIUII April 12,1999 Mr. Kai Ramer Rick Engineering Company 5620 Friars Road San Diego, CA 92110 Reference: Results of the Melrose Drive Extension Cultural Resource Survey (RECON Number 3012A) Dear Mr. Ramer: 4241 Jutland Drive, Suite 201 San Diego, CA 92117-3653 619/ 270-5066 fax 270-5414 The following letter report presents the results of a cultural resource document search and pedestrian survey for the proposed Melrose Drive extension (Figures 1 and 2). This study was conducted according to the Cultural Resource Guidelines of the City of Carlsbad and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Section 21083.2. Summary and Recommendations RECON performed a sech of site records and field survey of the project site. The investigation revealed that five previously recorded cultural resources are present within the proposed alignment: CA-SDI-9041, CA-SDI-9043, CA-SDI-9045, CA-SDI-10,550, CA-SDI-10,552. Below is a summary of the sites and their status: Evaluated Sites Sites Recommended for Sites Not Sites Requiring Found Not Important Additional Evaluation Evaluated Evaluation CA-SDI-9041 CA-SDI-9045 CA-SDI-10,550 CA-SDI-9045 CA-SDI-9043 CA-SD!- 10,552 CA-SD!- 10,550 CA-SD!- 10,552 The two sites found not to be important will require no further investigation or mitigation. The three sites requiring evaluation will need to be tested for importance. RECON, after consulting with Christer Westman of the City of Carlsbad planning staff, recommends that this testing should be done during the preparation of the environmental Initial Study, before CEQA documentation is adopted for the project. If any of the sites are found to be important as a result of the testing, avoidance of the sites or mitigation by a data recovery program will be required as a condition of approval of the project. Any data recovery program should be accomplished after adoption of the CEQA document for the project and before construction begins. Recorded Sites and Field Surveys A search of site records and reports was conducted on April 27, 1998 and indicated that five previously recorded cultural resources are present within the proposed alignment: CA-SDI-9041, CA-SDI-9043, CA-SDI-9045, CA-SDI-10,550, and CA-SDI-10,552. However, the current field reconnaissance found no evidence of the cultural materials reported for these sites. Ground surface visibility during the survey was hindered by vegetation cover over most of the study area, the presence of a road embankment, and activity on the racetrack grounds (Photographs 1 and 2). However, the current field reconnaissance found no evidence of the cultural materials reported for these sites. Ground surface visibility during the survey was hindered by vegetation cover over most of the study area, the presence of a road embankment, and activity on the racetrack grounds (Photographs 1 and 2). 9, VISTA 41h, ~ ( C::111 42 MILES O FIGURE 1 - Regional Location of the Project OCATION I 0 A T7 ot I ' - - I 505 -560 on 1 PROJECT LOCATION 63 - - RP 40 Map Source: U.S.G.S. 7.5 minute topographic maps, San Marcos, Encntas, Rancho Santa Fe, and San Luis Rey quadrangles. 0 4000 2000 FEET 0 . FIGURE Project Vicinity 1 - - . . ..: .-. - .. .. I At ; • - -. mw .L.4 -. }L' 4 •-.•1'•" -- . 4 - ,--•.- - -; PHOTOGRAPH 1 'Southern Portion of the Proj ecVArea at the Time of the Current Survey i(- t ; -' - - .( '' - _1 ' ••;. - ., - - -. - II•___IlIIIJI!!R r -' -Il-i - - A. 1 4 1 y --; PHOTOGRAPH 2 ç 4-, 4- 3 4.. 444 -. J •4 S 4 rn Portion of the Project Area - at the Time of. the Current Survey RECON Mr. Kai Ramer Page 2 April 12.1999 The field reconnaissance survey of the project area included close inspection of a 500-foot-wide margin on either side of the proposed centerline of the Melrose Drive extension area (see Figure 2). The south end of the proposed extension will connect the intersection of Melrose Drive and Palomar Airport Road with the existing portion of Melrose Drive which ends farther north. The southern portion is a shallow, south-facing slope with a thick growth of weeds and ruderal grasses (see Photograph 1). Some of the southern portion retains evidence of past agricultural land use. The northern portion is a steeper, north-facing slope that supports thick stands of native brush and a small seasonal drainage (see Photograph 2). Some of the northern area has been cleared and altered for improvements to the Carlsbad Raceway facility. Areas not in use are overgrown with weeds. A paved portion of road runs from the drainage at the northern end of the study area, up the slope toward the south, curving westward out of the project area. This road appears to be a remnant of the raceway. The northern terminus of the project alignment consists of an embankment that forms the north side of the drainage. The top of the embankment is an unlandscaped open area at the end of Melrose Drive. Dense weed and brush cover hindered surface visibility across the entire the study area. Ground surface visibility was 10 percent over approximately one-fifth of the study area outside the raceway track. The raceway track area was not surveyed during this field effort due to vehicle activity and also because of an absence of undisturbed areas. Additionally, the track locations were inspected as part of previous resource evaluations conducted by RECON archaeologists (Wade, Davis, and Hector 1989). Prior Investigations In 1989 RECON archaeologists tested three archaeological sites (CA-SDI-9041, CA-SDI-9043, and CA-SDI-9045) on the Wimpey/Gentry property (Wade, Davis, and Hector 1989). The sites are located within the proposed alignment or survey area for the Melrose Drive extension. Each of these sites was evaluated to determine its importance under CEQA criteria. CA-SD!-9041 and CA-SD!- 9043 were found not important based on the results of the archaeological investigation. CA-SD!- 9045 was tested within only the southern margin, as this was the only portion accessible during the 1989 evaluation program (Wade, Davis, and Hector 1989). The variety of material and potential for additional subsurface deposits led investigators to propose additional study of the remaining area of CA-SDI-9045, which continues to the north of the Wimpey/Gentry fence line. The excerpt below is taken from the 1989 RECON report: Intact archaeological sites of this type would represent a very important resource for the interpretation of early settlement and subsistence patterns. Significant cultural deposits are likely to exist at CA-SDI-9045 off the property to the north. Controlled studies of this site could yield information related to the forager/biface production relationship. Questions could be answered related to subsistence and the date of occupation. These are beyond the scope of the Wimpey/Gentry program. From these discussions it is clear that the investigators believed that CA-SDI-9045 had a potential for addressing regional research issues that could not be explored as part of their study. Wade, Davis, and Hector (1989) made the following recommendations: Due to the severe impacts which have occurred on sites CA-SDI-9041, CA-SDI-9042, CA-SD!- 9043, and the southern area of CA-SDI-9045, very few artifacts remain; these have been redistributed by erosion, plowing, foot traffic, and vehicular traffic. All visible surface artifacts were collected during the field investigations. The units and shovel test pits excavated at sites CA-SD!- 9041, CA-SDI-9042, and CA-SDI-9043 indicated that no Mr. Kai Ramer Page 3 April 12, 1999 significant subsurface deposits remain. Excavation at CA-SDI-9045 revealed that a small subsurface deposit exists in this small area of the site; however, the area of the site within the project property is so small and the subsurface deposit so limited, that no further investigation in this area is necessary. Two recommendations are proposed: one related to additional potential data recovery and one related to preservation. Recommendation 1. One important source of information could likely remain in the site area of CA-SDI-9043 and CA-SDI-9045. As indicated by the previous property owner, it is possible that intact hearth features could be present on the property. Investigation of these could produce carbon materials, which could be dated. Therefore, monitoring during grading in this area is recommended. Should any intact features be uncovered, grading operations should be diverted from this area while the archaeologist hand excavates and documents the feature and recovers any special samples (carbon materials for radiocarbon dating or soil samples for microfaunal analysis). Recommendation 2. In light of the destruction of the sites on the property, the remaining portion of CA-SDI-9045 north of the property is a very important resource and should be protected from any inadvertent disturbance, which could occur from grading on the Wimpey/Gentry property. It is recommended that this site be fenced during grading and construction activities for protection. Issuance of the Final Map approval should be made conditional on the fencing of site CA-SDI-9045. No further measures related to cultural resources on the property are recommended. In summary, three sites within the Melrose Drive extension project site were assessed for their importance under CEQA criteria. Two of these sites were found not important. A portion of the third resource was also evaluated. The investigators recommended that additional evaluations be undertaken on portions of the third resource that were located outside of their study area. This third resource, CA-SDI-9045, is situated within the proposed Melrose Drive alignment at the southern terminus of the existing Melrose Drive. Two additional cultural resource sites have been recorded in the project area since Wade, Davis, and Hector (1989) completed their investigations. Both were recorded in 1985 by Cardenas and Winterrowd of RBR and Associates during a constraints investigation for the Carlsbad RacewayfKaiser Development (Site records). The additional work recommended as part of the current Melrose Drive extension investigation includes testing these two sites for importance since no archaeological investigations have been completed at these locations (CA-SDI-10,550 and CA- SD!- 10,552). Recommendations for Further Investigations CA-SDI- 10,550 is located at the southeast end of the proposed alignment corridor, along the north edge of Palomar Airport Road. It represents a northward continuation of site SDM-W-183A located south of Palomar Airport Road. This 12,892-square-meter resource was recorded by Cardenas and Winterrowd as a "light density lithic scatter" (1985 site record update). The number of artifacts reported includes two tools and two bifacial thinning flakes of metavolcanic material. Although ground visibility was reported as excellent during the recording effort, these four artifacts represent the total assemblage identified in the site area. The identified and reported cultural materials on-site suggest a low level of occupation, possibly limited to a single resource collection event. In this case, low numbers of cultural material distributed over a large area and subjected to agricultural activity would retain little integrity. Therefore, the potential for obtaining data in this case would be limited to areas of the site not impacted by agricultural activity. These include undisturbed strata below the plow zone and obscured areas at the margins of the impacted site area. Mr. Kai Ramer Page 4 April 12, 1999 CA-SD!- 10.552 is located near the northeast corner of the proposed alignment, just east of CA-SD!- 9043 and CA-SDI-9045. This 63 1 -square-metei site was also recorded in 1985 by Cardenas and Winterrowd and is reported as a small lithic scatter of moderate density consisting of 61 "biface- thinning flakes" (1985 site record). Visibility during site recording was reported as poor except in the road. Site CA-SDI-10,552 has the potential to address regional research issues related to subsistence strategy hypotheses discussed by Wade, Davis, and Hector (1989). The location of CA- SDI-10,552 is also similar to that of CA-SDI-9045. Identifying the extent to which these two resources represent either distinct loci of a single occupation event or discrete deposits formed from multiple events would also contribute to the interpretations drawn from an examination of subsistence strategy hypotheses. Evaluations of site importance are recommended for CA-SDI-10,550 and CA-SDI-10,552. Evaluation should follow a program similar to that employed by Wade, Davis, and Hector in 1989. Additional investigations are proposed for the portion of CA-SDI-9045 located to the north of the Carlsbad Raceway fence line and within the Melrose Drive alignment. The results of these evaluations will be presented in an archaeological technical report including recommendations for additional work, if further study is deemed necessary. If there are questions regarding the content of this letter, please contact Dayle Cheever or me at RECON, (619) 270-5066. Sincerely, 42~ Russ 0. Collett Project Archaeologist ROC:llg:sh References Cited Wade, Sue A., McMillan Davis, and Susan M. Hector 1989 Draft Archaeological Testing of Four Sites at the Wimpey/Gentry Property: SDI-9041, SDI-9042, SDI-9043, and SDI-9045, Carlsbad, California. RECON, San Diego. On file at the South Coastal Information Center, Social Sciences Research Lab, San Diego State University. Cardenas, D. Sean, and Cathy Winterrowd 1985 Archaeological site records, CA-SDI-10,550 and CA-SDI-10,552. On file at the South Coastal Information Center, Social Sciences Research Lab, San Diego State University.