HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-07-10 - AGENDA REPORTS - IMPACT SCIENCES CONTR (2)CONSENT CALENDAR
DATE:
SUBJECT:
DEPARTMENT:
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Agenda Item•
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
City Manager Approval:
Item to be presented by:
July 10, 2007
Lisa M. Hardy
AWARD CONTRACT TO IMPACT SCIENCES FOR THE
PREPARATION OF THE JOINT VALLEYWIDE GENERAL PLAN
(ONE VALLEY ONE VISION) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
REPORT (EIR)
Community Development
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council award the contract to Impact Sciences in the amount not to exceed $446,842.00 for
the preparation of the City of Santa Clarita and County of Los Angeles One Valley One Vision,
Joint Valleywide General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Authorize the City
Manager, or his designee, to execute all documents subject to City Attorney approval.
BACKGROUND
In 2001, the City of Santa Clarita and the County of Los Angeles began the process of preparing
a joint valleywide general plan to guide the future development of the Santa Clarita Valley called
One Valley One Vision (OVOV). To date, Phases I,11 and III of the OVOV work plan have been
completed, including the creation of the Guiding Principles, Vision Statement and Technical
Background Report to be used in developing the OVOV General Plan.
Staff has begun work on the remaining phases (Phases IV -VI) of the OVOV work plan. Included
in Phase V is the preparation of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to evaluate the
environmental impacts associated with the new General Plan. The contract with Impact Sciences
includes the preparation of an existing conditions report for the Santa Clarita Valley, an EIR for
the new City of Santa Clarita General Plan, and an EIR for the new Santa Clarita Valley
Areawide Plan for the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County within the OVOV Planning
Area.
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ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds associated with the proposed contract have been secured through previous budget
processes. The County of Los Angeles has agreed to bear its burden of the cost associated with
the remaining phases of the OVOV project including the preparation of the EIR and the general
plan documents. In a letter to the City dated March 19, 2007, the Los Angeles County Director
of Planning, Bruce McClendon wrote that, "sharing future expenses appears to be reasonable."
Should additional funds be required to complete the work associated with this contract, staff will
prepare additional budget requests at the time that funds are needed.
Therefore, no additional funds are required at this time and no fiscal impact beyond what has
previously been considered is anticipated.
ATTACHMENTS
Scope of Work and Costs
Impact Sciences EIR Proposal available in the City Clerk's Reading File
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F ' IMPACT SCIENCES
803 Camorillo Springs Road Suite A
Camarillo, California 93012
Telephone (805) 437.1900 FAX (805) 437.1901
www.impactscienm.com
Mr. Jason Smisko, Senior Planner
City of Santa Clarita
! 23920 Valencia Boulevard, Suite 302
' Santa Clarita, California 91355
May 21, 2007
1 I Subject: Proposal to Prepare Program Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) For a
' Joint City and County Valley -wide General Plan Known as "One Valley
One Vision"
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Dear Mr. Smisko:
jImpact Sciences is pleased to submit this proposal to prepare two separate program
EIRs for the joint Valley -wide City of Santa Clarita (City) and County of Los Angeles
(County) General Plan known as "One Valley One Vision" (OVOV). We believe that
I Impact Sciences is uniquely qualified to prepare the necessary environmental
' documentation in an efficient and legally defensible manner. The EIRs will assess
the environmental impacts associated with implementation of the OVOV Plan. We
i also envision that the documents will be used as a source of environmental
information during the preparation of future environmental documents to be
prepared for upcoming projects, it is expected that, future documents would tier off
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of the OVOV EIRs. This proposal is based on our review of the request for proposal,
project materials and information provided by City staff.
i We understand that the OVOV planning effort involves the creation of a "Valley of
Villages"in the Santa Clarita Valley. Existing areas within the City that can
presently be considered Villages include Downtown Newhall Specific Plan area,
North Newhall, Whitaker-Bermite, Los Canyon and the Valencia Town Center. We
understand that the villages are intended to create a stronger sense of place and
community and are intended to become more "vertical" from a density perspective
' over time. The unincorporated portion of the County at the Newhall Ranch Specific
Plan (Newhall Ranch) site is also implementing the "village" concept (e.g.,
Landmark Village and Mission Village). The concept of villages is also supported
by the City and County's goal to provide two jobs for every one housing unit (2:1)
on both a micro and macro basis. We understand that the OVOV planning effort
will add 75,000 to 80,000 additional dwelling units to the Santa Clarita Valley, with a
iresident population of approximately 500,000 people.
Another major concept associated with the planning effort is the idea of a greenbelt
I surrounding the City and County unincorporated areas. This concept is partially
implemented by preserve areas located generally north and south of the Santa
Clarita Valley in the Los Padres and Angeles National Forests. It should also be
noted that Newhall Ranch Specific Plan involves the deeding of approximately 4,000
i OFFICES IN SOUTHERN CALIrORNIA, MAY AREA AND SACRAMENTO VALLEY
i Mr. Jason Smisko
i May 21, 2007
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acres to an open space conservation agency to preserve the high country and Santa
Clara River portions of the Specific Plan site in perpetuity. In order to consciously
preserve the intent of maintaining and establishing, where necessary, a greenbelt,
another of the goals of the planning effort is to develop an urban limit line to direct
where development should take place within the Santa Clarita Valley.
Prior to preparation of an MR, the Land Use Map must be finalized. Issues that
need to be addressed prior to release of the Map include a reexamination of the
! circulation plan and land use plan to determine (1) if enough land has been set aside
j to accomplish the desired jobs/housing balance of 2:1 and (2) if an adequate amount
of roadway capacity can be created. Impact Sciences believes that the City and
(j County should also determine if an adequate supply of water would be available to
I support the land uses shown on the Map.
We have assembled a highly qualified team of professionals to provide the City and
County with the requested services. Impact Sciences has recent and very applicable
experience in the Santa Clarity Valley and is very familiar with both jurisdictions
and the environmental issues that residents of the Valley face. We have recently
prepared the Enterprise Zone Riverpark EIRs for the City. Staff of impact Sciences
associated with this proposal were also directly responsible for the prepareation of
the City's North Valencia Specific Plan EIRs. We have also prepared many EIRs for
the County, including Newhall Ranch Specific plan EIR, the West Creek EIR, the
Westridge EIR and- the Landmark Village EIR. Through our work in both
j jurisdictions, we are fully conversant with the manner in which the City and County
handles and processes environmental documents. Our General Plan project
experience provides us with an outstanding understanding of key issues for such
projects. Our team includes Tom Worthington, President of Impact Sciences; Susan
jTebo, Managing Principal; Margaret Netto, Senior Project Manager; Sara Morton,
Staff Planner; and an expert traffic subconsultant to peer review the Traffic Study for
ithe two EIRs.
The project team has many years of experience preparing and managing CEQA
t I documents. The team has dealt with a wide variety of projects and issues and has a
thorough understanding of CEQA. Tom Worthington and Susan Tebo will be
directly involved in the project and will be available to meet with and respond to
any questions from either jurisdiction; Tom Worthington and Susan Tebo bring to
i, this project more than 50 combined years of experience managing and preparing
CEQA documents. Because of its experience with the City and the County, Impact
j Sciences understands the issues involved which will enable us to identify and craft
thresholds of significance and mitigation measures specific to each jurisdiction.
Although the OVOV EIR will be a planning document EIR, it will nonetheless
receive a great deal of scrutiny. Topical areas we assume will be challenged include
water resources (namely water supply and water quality), climate change (global
warning), air quality, biology and perhaps circulation. Impact Sciences does not shy
Mr. Jason Smisko
May 21, 2007
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iIaway from controversial project work. We believe that environmental documents
today must be prepared by people with EIR litigation experience. With this in mind,
j) Tom Worthington and Susan Tebo, both of whom have prepared environmental
{ documents that have withstood vigorous legal challenge, will be very "hands-on"
during the preparation of this document and will be in attendance at project
meetings and hearings. Our proposed Senior Project Manager, Margaret Netto,
brings over 18 years of public planning experience to the project. Ms. Netto has
extensive experience as both a consultant and a city planner. Ms. Netto has
{ i successfully managed the Enterprise Zone EIR for the City of Santa Clarita, as well
!, as many large scale planning projects. Ms. Netto is very responsive to her clients
l and works effectively with lead agencies.
I We appreciate this opportunity to provide professional services to the City of Santa
Clarita and the County of Los Angeles. Please feel free to contact us at 805 437-1900
j should you have any questions regarding our proposal. We look forward to
speaking with you further about this very interesting and important assignment.
Thank you very much.
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Sincere�l]y,,� `1 Sincerely,
iSusan Tebo Margaret Netto
Associate Principle Senior Project Manager
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2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
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' IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
This Scope of Work has been prepared based on Impact Sciences staff's familiarity with assessing impacts
associated with similar EIR projects, our experience in providing sufficient information on the potential
environmental impacts of the proposed Santa Clarita Valley General Plan and the Area Wide Plan to
allow the City and the County to make informed decision regarding approval of the project, and the
substantial collective experience of the firm's staff on projects with similar technical issues in the Santa
Clarita Valley. Impact Sciences has prepared a Scope of Work that reflects input from the TBR and
technical subconsuultant(s) that we believe are necessary to address the City and the County's requests, as
!' I well as provide a technically sound and legally adequate EIR.
The Program EIR will address the scope of a series of actions and approvals which may be considered as
one large project, and are related either geographically or as logical parts in the chain of contemplated
actions. The Program EIR will be used to evaluate development within the Santa Clarita Valley in
accordance with the proposed General Plan. Use of a Program EIR provides the City and County (as
Lead Agencies) with the opportunity to consider broad policy alternatives and program -wide mitigation
measures and provides the City and County with greater flexibility to address project -specific and
cumulative environmental issues on a comprehensive basis. The Program BIR for both the City and
County will be prepared simultaneously.
l The Scope of Work presented below has been organized into major tasks, subtasks, and outputs.
i ] TASK 1- REVIEW OF THE RESPECTIVE AGENCY PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Impact Sciences will review the TBIZ, the Vision Statement, and Guiding Principles, to ensure that specific
content has been adequately discussed and provide feedback on the reports.
.� OUTPUT: One (1) memo to each agency (City and County) providing feedback on the reports.
TASK 2 - PREPARE AN EXISITNG CONDITIONS REPORT
Impact Sciences will prepare an Existing Conditions Report as an update to the TBR where appropriate to
reflect the baseline year for each impact area to be mutually agreed upon by the Project Team. Based on
our experience in the City and County possible suggestions to updates to the TBR may include: Water
Resources, Air Resources, and Circulation.
OUTPUT: One (1) Existing Conditions Report for each agency.
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TASK 3 - DEVELOPMENT OF MITIGATION MEASURES/POLICIES
` Once the technical documents and Elements become available for preparation of the Draft EIRs, Impact
Sciences will assist in development of appropriate mitigation measures/policies that can be incorporated
into each of the two agency plan documents as polices, as well as the incorporation of policies into the
EIRs as mitigation measures. Mitigation measures/polices for each significant impact will be identified
I and their effectiveness described. If a mitigation measure/policy could result in environmental impacts,
the impacts of the mitigation measures will be analyzed at a qualitative level of detail. If quantitative
analysis of a measure is requested, adjustment to our scope may be required.
OUTPUT: One (1) set of Mitigation Measures/Policies for each CEQA section of the EIR for each
agency to be submitted with the Draft EIR.
TASK 4 - PROVIDE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Impact Sciences will include a qualitative discussion of global climate change in the General Plan EIR. To
facilitate the inclusion of such discussions in the EIRs, Impact Sciences has prepare a general discussion of
the greenhouse effect; the types and sources of greenhouse gases; the global, national, and state emission
t inventories; the contribution to climate change; the primary effects of climate change; and the regulatory
programs at international, federal, and state levels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We will
incorporate this discussion into the OVOV EIR. At the present time, there is controversy regarding the
j need for, the extent of, and the format (e.g., qualitative or quantitative) of impact discussions in EIRs. As
directed in the RFP, we will include a qualitative discussion of the contributions and potential impacts
! resulting from development under the General Plan.
The extent to which global climate change should be discussed in EIRs is rapidly changing. In April 2007,
t the California Attorney General filed a petition for a writ of mandate regarding the EIR for the County of
San Bernardino General Plan. In the petition, the Attorney General alleged that the County had failed to
I estimate the emissions of greenhouse gases associated wiih future growth under the General Plan,
discuss the impact on global warming, draw conclusions regarding the significance of such impacts, or
I include mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Other lawsuits have been filed on EIRs
(both program level and project level) with respect to greenhouse gases and global warning issues. It is
j anticipated that additional lawsuits will be filed and comment letters will be submitted requesting a
quantitative approach. While it is generally recognized that no significance thresholds have been
established for greenhouse gas emissions, many believe that the emissions should be quantified because
full disclosure under CEQA is required. We would discuss the need for quantification of greenhouse gas
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emissions and assessment of their impacts in light of continuing development regarding this issue and
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assist in the development of an appropriate strategy to reduce the City's and County's potential legal
exposure. If the City and County choose to proceed with a more quantitative approach, Impact Sciences
would prepare a scope of work and budget for such an assessment.
OUTPUT: The analysis will be incorporated throughout the EIR, including the Air Quality Section
TASK 5 - FILING OF THE NOTICE OF PREPARATION AND SCOPING
MEETINGS
Impact Sciences will file the Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the EIR. The NOP will be prepared by the
City of Santa Clarita and the County of Los Angeles and will fully meet the ' content and format
j requirements contained in the CEQA Guidelines. Impact Sciences will send out the NOP based on the
distribution list prepared by the City and the County. The NOP will be mailed (by Impact Sciences via
certified mail) to all parties on the approved mailing list provided by the City and the County.
Impact Sciences will also attend one EIR scoping meeting for each jurisdiction. Assembly Bill 1532
requires a lead agency to conduct an EIR scoping meeting for any project of statewide, regional, or area
wide significance (these are large projects or environmentally -sensitive projects defined in CEQA
Guidelines Section 15206). Scoping meetings for these projects held in the past were sometimes
voluntarily, but are now required. Because the proposed project involves preparation of a General Plan
and Area Wide Plan, the project is of area wide importance.
OUTPUT: One (1) Notice of Preparation; and Attendance at one (1) Scoping Meeting for each
agency.
TASK 6- PREPARATION OF PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
The Project Description of any EIR forms the basis of the environmental analysis, and as such, an accurate
and detailed project description must be completed at the outset of any environmental review process to
ensure the completeness and legality of the EIR. Croce the Land Use Map is finalized, we will prepare
two Project Descriptions (one each) for the City of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County, for preliminary
J, review and feedback prior to preparation of the complete EIRs.
The Project Descriptions will include discussion outlining the Santa Clarita Valley General Plan and Area
Wide Plan backgrounds and characteristics. Details regarding the General Plan elements and land use, as
well as physical development under the proposed General Plan will be discussed. The Project
Description will be prepared in full accordance with Section 15124 of the CEQA Guidelines, as amended,
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and will include an identification of the project's precise location and boundaries, as well as a general
(i description of the project's technical, economic, and environmental characteristics.
f We believe definition of the project objectives is also very important to the integrity of the FIR, as the
alternatives will be'analyzed for their ability to meet the objectives of the project. If any alternatives that
are considered to be environmentally superior are to be rejected for their inability to meet the project
1 ! objectives, these objectives must be properly identified and drafted.
,! OUTPUT; One (1) Project Description section for each agency.
TASK 7— PREPARATION OF THRESHOLDS OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR EACH EIR
1 The thresholds of significance for each topic in the environmental setting and analysis chapters will be
prepared using Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines, in addition to relevant thresholds provided by tyle
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I City of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County. Impact Sciences will submit thresholds of significance for
each technical topic to the City and County for review prior to subsequent impact analysis for the
proposed project.
OUTPUT: One (1) list of Thresholds of Significance for each agency.
TASK 8 — PREPARATION OF THE DRAFT EIRs
This section of the Scope of Work presents the topical areas to be addressed, the type of technical analysis
to be used for each topic, and the known issues associated with each environmental topic. For each
topical section we will fully document existing conditions, conduct- impact evaluations (including
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cumulative impacts), and devise mitigation measures as needed.
Subtask 8.1 Introduction
iA brief introduction to the EIR will be prepared in order to describe to the reader the purpose of the EIR
' and its role in the City of Santa ClariWs and the County of Los Angeles' planning processes. This
1 introduction will include a discussion of the intent of CEQA, the nature of the project proposals, the EIR
preparation and review process, and the organization and content of the EM We propose to address
j cumulative impacts within the sections on each environmental topic. Cumulative impact analysis will
1 incorporate the Santa Clarita Valley Build -Out Scenarios, as appropriate.
Subtask 8.2 Executive Summary
The executive summary will provide the reader an opportunity to review a description of the proposed
project modifications, the conclusions of the impact analyses, findings with regard to alternatives, and the
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mitigation measures/policies recommended in the EIR. The summary will consist of a summary table
} along with text that presents an explanation of the significance thresholds used, the unavoidable
significant impacts anticipated from implementation of the project, the comparative merits of the
i l alternatives examined, and a description of issues to be resolved.
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Subtask 8.3 Project Description
We will revise the Project Description to reflect comments from the City and County. The technical
analyses in subsequent sections will be based on the project description, as confirmed from these
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jurisdictions.
i Subtask 8.4 Environmental Setting
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Section 15125 of the CEQA Guidelines requires that an EIR ,include a discussion of the physical
environmental conditions in the vicinity of the project site, as it exists at the time the notice of preparation
is published, from both a local and regional perspective to facilitate a better understanding of the impacts
i of the project and the alternatives. The environmental setting will provide a set of baseline physical
conditions that serve as a tool from which the City and County may determine the significance of
environmental impacts resulting from the proposed project.
Subtask 8.5 Aesthetics
We will review the Scenic Resources/ Viewsheds chapter of the TBR and will describe potential impacts
from buildout of the proposed project on the visual character of the area. We will characterize the
aesthetic resources of the Planning Area and will identify its visual resources, scenic vistas and the visual
character. These resources will be objectively evaluated in terms of their importance, alternation of the
existing visual setting, and the sensitivity of receptors that view them in both built and natural
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landscapes.
Subtask 8.6 Agricultural Resources
Some of the land to be affected by the proposed project is inactive agricultural production and contains
soils designated as Prime Farmland and of Statewide Importance. Development of this land would result
in the conversion of agricultural land to urban uses. As such, this EIR section will address the acreage in
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active agricultural production within the planning area and immediate surroundings that could be
I affected by the development of the property in accordance with the analysis guidelines developed by the
State Department of Conservation. Included within the analysis will be a discussion of agricultural
productivity as identified by soil types, number of acres in active production, and types and yields of
crops grown within the project bounds and the economic value of these crops. Finally, this section will
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address the type and amount of farmland conversion that would result from the implementation of the
j I pian, including the proportion of County farmland this conversion would represent. Information from
the 3.1.2, Agriculture and Mineral Resources section of the TBR will be incorporated into the EIR
i I Sribtask 8.7 Air Quality
iThe air quality section of the DEIR will summarize baseline air quality information, including area
topography and meteorology and their influence on air quality within the South Coast Air Basin. The
relevant state and federal ambient air quality standard (AAQS) will be presented, along with a discussion
of the health effects of the criteria pollutants, ambient monitoring data from the closest monitoring
station(s) to the Santa Clarita Valley for the past five years, and the attainment status with respect to state
4 and federal AAQS. The regulatory setting will discuss the SCAQMD's plans to achieve the state and
federal AAQS. Most of this material will be obtained from the TBR as updated in the Existing Conditions
Report.
The air quality impacts section will describe the significance criteria for evaluating air quality impacts
from the SCAQMD's CEQA Air Quality Handbook, including both numerical thresholds (e.g., mass
emissions due to construction and operational emissions) and qualitative thresholds (e.g., conflicts with
implementation of the air quality plan, proximity to sources of odors and toxic air contaminants).
We will compare the level of air emissions associated with development under the revisions to the
General Plan to the level of air emissions resulting from the current level of development. The mobile
source emissions associated with the actual level of development and the level under the proposed
General Plan will be estimated by multiplying the vehicle miles traveled associated with the land uses
and development densities under the General Plan by motor vehicle emission factors developed from the
i f California Air Resources Board's EMFAC2007 motor vehicle emissions inventory model for the South
' Coast Air Basin portion of Los Angeles County, Area source emissions associated with residential,
icommercial, and institutional development will be estimated using the emission calculation approach in
j the URBEMIS2002 (URBan EMISsions) computer program. Area source emissions associated with other
land uses will be estimated using the appropriate CARB area source methodologies used to prepare
regional emission inventories. Industrial stationary source emissions will be estimated using data
obtained from the SCAQMD and standard emission estimation methods for such sources (e.g., the U.S.
EPA's Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors). The difference between these results (i.e., net
emission increase) will be compared to the SCAQMD's numerical thresholds of significance.
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In addition to this numerical assessment, the air quality section will also address the following
I i significance thresholds:
• Conflicts with or obstructs implementation of the air quality plan;
! • Exposes sensitive receptors to substantial pollutant concentrations; and
i• Creates objectionable odors affecting a substantial number of people.
We will also evaluate the consistency of the General Plan and its policies to the air quality management
plans that have been prepared for the South Coast Air Basin, including SCAQMD's 2003 and 2007 Air
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Quality Management Plans.
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I, 4 If the net emission increase exceeds the SCAQMD's numerical thresholds of significance or the other
thresholds listed above, appropriate mitigation measures will be recommended. These measures will be
in the form of additional goals, policies, and objectives to be included in relevant elements of the General
Plan as discussed on the Mitigation Measures task above.
. I Subtask 8.8 Biological Resources
Impact Sciences will review and summarize the biological resources sections of those environmental
documents available, such as Newhall Ranch Specific Plan, West Creek Riverpark, and Golden Valley
i Ranch, in addition to the TBR, Los Angeles County Significant Ecological Area Update Study 2000, and
Shaping the Future 2025 documents. An inventory of all recorded flora, fauna, and plant communities
will be compiled. The section will include discussions on methodology, environmental setting, resources
I present or potentially occurring, wildlife movement corridors, regulatory programs, and biologically
sensitive species and other resources. The rich biological diversity of the Santa Clara River and its
j I tributaries and the known special -status species such as unarmored threespine stickleback, arroyo toad,
least Bell's vireo, slenderhomed and San Fernando Valley spineflowers, will be highlighted as
contributing to the over all natural historical wealth of the planning area. The importance of the habitats
and resources contained within the County designated Significant Ecological Areas will receive particular
emphasis as well as the area's proximity to the natural forests. This EIR section will analyze the
I environmental impacts of the proposed land uses and policies, and recommend appropriate mitigation
measures for the reduction of these impacts. An assessment of the potential cumulative impacts from
! plan build out will be presented.
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Subtask 8.9 Cultural Resources
This section of the EIR will address the potential for the project to impact cultural resources based on
available information. Under this task, Impact Sciences will conduct historic research of the Planning
Area and surrounding area for the project regarding its history and important historical events. We will
compile information provided in section 3.6, Cultural Resources of the TBR and from the California State
University Fullerton -South Central Coast Information Center. Historic information will include maps
research, and data compiled from previous studies in the Planning Area. This information will be used to
describe the cultural context for the preliminary evaluation of any resources that may be located within
the -Planning Area. Based this information, we will assess historic district eligibility of sites, that could be
revitalized for both identified and unidentified cultural resources.
Subtask 8.10 Geology, Soils and Seismicity
This section will identify potential geologic, seismic and soils impacts/constraints, which may affect the
proposed project, based on information related to geology, soils and seismicity in the 3.1.1 Geology
section prepared for the TBR Other sources information will include the California Division of Mines
and Geology (CDMG), United States Geologic Survey (USGS), Southern California Earthquake Center
(SCED), and published technical journals. The geology, soils, and seismicity analysis will contain
descriptions of the general geotechnical aspects and geology of the area, show existing or potential
hazards on the site, describe any effects that the proposed development will have on the stability of the
site and adjacent property, and recommend any proposed mitigation measures deemed necessary to
prove the feasibility of development. The analysis will include review of the potential for expansive and
compressible soils in the Planning Area, the potential for liquefiable soils, and other impacts related to
strong seismic ground shaking. Impact Sciences will also dutline any deficiencies detected in the existing
geotechnical information and provide appropriate recommendations to rectify the deficiencies, paying
dose attention to issues surrounding future residential development on steeper topography and slopes.
Subtask 8.11 Hazards and Hazardous Materials
The section will identify safety hazards within the Planning Area, including safety hazards, including
environmental hazards associated with fire, emergency preparedness, and hazardous waste disposal.
Under this task, we will include information provided in the TBR pertaining to hazards and hazardous
materials, from sections 6.1, Soils and Geologic Hazards, 6.3 Hazardous Materials and Waste, and 6.4,
Emergency Services and Wildland Fire Protection. We will conduct a records search of the Planning
Area in federal, state, and local hazardous waste and materials databases, and summarize database
review, information from the TBR and other previous environmental reports prepared for the Planning
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Area. Impact Sciences will also outline any deficiencies detected in the existing geotechnical information
and provide appropriate recommendations to rectify the deficiencies, paying close attention to the
increased potential for hazards associated with future development on emergency access, erosion,
subsidence, and liquefaction.
The analysis will include a discussion of potential impacts related to the creation of significant hazards to
the public or environment through the routine transport, or through reasonable foreseeable accident
conditions associated with the project. We will determine if sites in the Planning Area are included on
the list of hazardous materials sites compiled pursuant to Government Code Section 65962.5. If it is
determined that sites are listed, the potential for significant hazards to the public or the environment will
be evaluated.
Subtask 8.12 Hydrology and Water Quality
The section will discuss the potential impacts to hydrology and water quality based on the available
information provided in Chapter 32, Water Resources of the TBR. As part of this task, we will review
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood zone maps of the area and evaluate storm
drainage and 100 -year floodplain impacts. The section will examine the proposed project land uses and
determine the potential of non -point source pollutants to impact the water quality of receiving waters,
especially with respect to local National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and Total
Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) criteria and regulations.
The EIR will address the hydrologic impacts associated with buildout of the General Plan. The analysis
will include discussion of the existing characteristics, and the potential effects of the proposed project on
groundwater and surface water. Distribution and circulation of water, both on land and underground
will be discussed, in addition to the quality of surface and groundwater. Incorporation of the General
Plan policies will be considered as part of the impact* analysis for the EIRs, and will be incorporated as
mitigation measures where necessary.' The EIR will address hydrology and water quality issues in the
region, including the environmental impacts associated with possible new stormwater infrastructure and
water supply capabilities associated with future development.
Subtask 8.13 Land Use
This section will be based on the finalized Land Use Elements and Land Use Map prepared for the City
and County. The proposed Goals will be evaluated to determine their consistency with other relevant
sections of the proposed General Plan and Zoning Code Update. In addition, compatibility of the
proposed land use changes with the existing land uses in the surrounding area will be discussed in this
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Z. Plan of Studd/Scope of Work
i-�
section The proposed General Plan will also evaluated for consistency with SCAG's Regional
i� Comprehensive Plan and Guide.
The impact analysis will examine the impact of future development patterns in light of current and
i planned public service and utility infrastructure capacity (schools, water, sewer, etc.), as well as the level
of supporting commercial retail establishments, recreational facilities, and jobs. It will also evaluate the
extent to which buildout of the General Plan would convert the Planning Aiea from a rural to urban
condition through extension of infrastructure to presently undeveloped lands. This section will also
evaluate the land use compatibility of future land uses with existing land uses. Where necessary,
mitigation in the form of General Plan goals, objectives, and policies will be identified.
i Subtask 8.14 Mineral Resources
The section addresses project impacts resulting from the loss of availability of a known mineral resource.
Information from the 3.1.2, Agriculture and Mineral Resources section of the TBR delineates mineral
resources found in the Planning Area, and this information will be incorporated into the existing
conditions of the EIR. The EIR analysis will consider the proposed General Plan policies for the impact
analysis and incorporate these policies as mitigation measures where necessary. We will pay close
f attention to the proposed land uses in the vicinity of existing mining extraction areas in the EIR analysis.
Subtask 8.15 Noise
The section addresses project impacts from roadway and stationary noise sources around the Planning
Area with implementation of the project Implementation of the General Plan policies changes and their
potential to change the existing noise environment of the City will be evaluated in the section.
Specifically, Impact Sciences will summarize results from the Noise Analysis provided for the City and
�. County by Mestre Greve Associates. Based on information provided by in this analysis, Impact Sciences
will asses the significant changes and address potential noise impact of roadway noise. In addition to
motor vehicle noise, this section will identify significant noise sources and sensitive receptor locations.
The FHWA traffic noise prediction model will be used to generate CNEL noise levels along major roads
` based on traffic volume information from Traffic Impact Analysis prepared for the project.
Subtask 8.16 Population and Housing
This section will address the consistency of the proposed Land Use Element and Land Use Map with the
i latest SCAG forecasts. Irhpact Sciences will review the Housing Element and updated demographic
study information provided in sections 2.2, Population and Demographics, 2.3, Urban Form, 2.5,
Housing, and 2.6, Economic Development of the TBR. We will examine the potential socioeconomic
;.1
Impact Sctenm, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 2-10 City of Santa Ciarita
t.
I Plan of Study/Scope of Work
implications of the proposed project, including changes in populatim employment, and demand for
housing, particularly housing cost/rent ranges defined as "affordable." The relationship of the proposed
project to the regional planning policies of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)
5 and the current Housing Element will also be discussed.
This section of the EIR will discuss the expected consequences to local population as a result of adoption
and implementation of the General Plan. This section will address the amount of residential land
available to the City and County to accommodate projected growth and the impact of the planned land
i
j use changes on the City's and County's residential land use inventory. Further, as a result of project
implementation, the characteristics of the existing employment environment will be altered. The impact
ort employment forecasts will also be assessed based on the designation of additional commercial and
industrial land in the Planning Area. As such, this section will identify existing and future employment
opportunities and economic development and revitalization potentials of the City and County.
Subtask 8:17 Public Services
The proposed land use policies will have a direct impact on public services and infrastructure. Policies
and implementation programs related to the provision of public services and utilities will be identified in
relation to the proposed General Plan. Implementation of the proposed land use plan may impact fire,
police, schools, and libraries services.
Impact Sciences will coordinate with City and County staff and affected public service providers to assess
the potential impacts of the proposed project on the following services and facilities:
! • Fire Services;
• Police Services;
i
• School Services, and
i .I . • Library Services
1 i Each service provider will be contacted by telephone or letter to gather information on existing
conditions, the impact of the proposed project, and appropriate mitigation measures.
JSubtask 8.18 Recreation
The proposed land use policies will have a direct impact on recreation facilities. Policies and
implementation programs related to the provision of parks and recreation will be identified in relation to
the proposed General Plan
bWact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One VW= BIR Proposal
May 2007 2-11 City of Santa Clarita
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2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
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We will use this information from Chapter 5.2, Parks and Recreation of the TBR to evaluate the proposed
(� project for its potential impacts on recreational facilities located within the City and County. The
potential for adverse impacts on these recreational facilities, as well as impacts created due to the
1 construction of additional recreational facilities will be evaluated based on current facilities and use of
existing recreational facilities within the City and County. In addition to the TBR, the analysis from the
.� Parks and Recreation Master Plan will be incorporated into the impact analysis for the EIRs. Impact
Sciences will coordinate with the City and County staff in order to assess potential impacts of project
buildout in terms of demand for service, ability to provide service, and the possible need for construction
of additional facilities. Based on County park standards, we will calculate the park acreage and in -lieu
fee that would be required for the proposed project. We will also determine whether existing and
planned parks in the County, including those planned as part of the plan, would be adequate to cover the
proposed project and County -wide demand, and document mitigation measures proposed as part of the
project or recommended by the service providers.
Subtask 8.19 Transportation and Circulation
Crain and Associates
iCrain & Associates will work with the City of Santa Clarita and the County of Los Angeles transportation
analysis team and will perform a Peer Review of the OVOV traffic study and recommended circulation
element The improvements are anticipated to include both capacity increases for the traffic system and
enhancements to alternative transportation modes. The review will be a multi -step process. First, a
review the model results and interpretation will be performed. Crain & Associates will review the traffic
Istudy to be certain that it adequately and accurately describes the procedures used and the anticipated
land -use and cumulative transportation impacts. They will also review the proposed transportation
improvements/roadway facility designations to determine their adequacy. The Circulation Element to be
developed by City and County staff is anticipated to not only address the traffic system, but the other
j transportation elements as well. Crain & Associates will recommend changes to the element as
` mitigation measures, if appropriate. They will also review both the draft and final EIR documents
including the presentation of study procedures, assumptions, results, and recommendations. This will
i
t ( include up to 8 meetings with the technical staff preparing the analysis, and up to 4 technical memoranda
commenting on the above aspects of the Transportation Study.
Impact Sciences
Impact Sciences will summarize the information presented in the TBR, the Circulation Elements, and the
Peer Review prepared by Crain and Associates. The EIR analysis will be conducted of traffic conditions
I
1 at buildout of the Planning Area. This will include roadway link level of service analysis and
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May WO7 2-12 City of Santa Clarita
2. PIan of Study/Scope of Work
determination of any mitigation measures required to accommodate the future traffic volumes in
�Iaccordance with City and County standards. The EIR report will include text and graphics required.
Subtask 8.20 Utilities and Service Systems
The proposed land use policies will have a direct impact on utilities and infrastructure. Policies and
implementation programs related to the provision of public services and utilities will be identified in
relation to the proposed General Plan
I
Impact Sciences will evaluate impacts on utilities and service systems based on information provided by
the services providers concerning current service levels and the ability of service providers to
accommodate the increased demand created by the proposed project. We will base the analysis on
information provided in the TBR the Water Analysis prepared for the EIR, and information from various
public service agencies serving the City and County. Section 4.1, Water Infrastructure, 4.2, Solid Waste,
and 4.3, Conservation -Utilities of the TBR will be reviewed for background information It is important
to note that Impact Sciences has already been retained under a separate agreement with the City to
prepare the Water Analysis for the EIR including preparation of the water supply portion of the EIR.
Impacts sciences will use information collected to identify the current water distribution system, the
current system deficiencies, and recommended system improvements. The section will discuss the
potential demand for water use resulting from development of the proposed project and evaluate the
capacity of the projected water supply commitments to provide water to the Planning Area. Based on
readily available consumption and generation factors, we will calculate estimated wastewater and solid
waste generation for the proposed project and will determine the infrastructure (for water supply and
wastewater generation) that would be required to serve the project. In addition, using information
provided by service providers, we will determine whether existing wastewater treatment capacity,
wastewater infrastructure, and landfill capacity could adequately accommodate the project, and discuss
potential impacts. The evaluation of water supply, solid waste, and wastewater treatment will also
include a summary of the project's contribution of global greenhouse gases.
The EIR will also address the potential for increased sewer and septic system infrastructure, water supply
infrastructure and capacity, and landfill space associated with future development in the Planning Area.
Subtask 8.21 Cumulative Impacts
The EIR will include an analysis of cumulative impacts from the project that would occur after General
Plan Buildout, in the long term.
Impact SNenm, Inc. One Valley One Man EIR Proymal
May 2007 2-13 City of Santa Cle ita
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
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The CEQA Guidelines (Section 15130 (b)(1)) state that the information utilized in an analysis of cumulative
(i impacts should come from one of two sources, either.
1. A list of past, present and probable future projects producing related cumulative impacts,
including, if necessary, those projects outside the control of the agency; or
2. A summary of projections contained in an adopted general plan or related planning document
{ I designed to evaluate regional or area -wide conditions.
The cumulative impact analyses contained in the EIR will use the second method as described above.
j The Southern California Association of Governments (SLAG) has adopted growth forecasts for each
Subregion within the SCAG region through the year 2030. The cumulative impact analysis will utilizes
Ithe regional growth projections contained in the most recent projections for the North Los Angeles
County Subregion within SCAG.
I Subtask 8.22 Alternatives
Impact Sciences intends to provide comparative analysis of up to four (4) alternatives to the proposed
project, suggestions include the following: (1) the No Project Alternative, (2) a Reduced Project Area
Alternative, (3) a Reduced Development Alternative, and 4) Alternative Land Use Alternative. These
alternatives (except for No Project) will be defined or redefined in coordination with City and County
staff. Impact Sciences will work with the City and County in the definition of the alternatives to ensure
that the analysis meets the requirement of CEQA to focus on alternatives that could reduce the significant
impacts of the proposed project. In addition, we will review possible alternative sites with City and
County staff to determine if any meet the project objectives.
Each alternative will be described and comparatively analyzed on a topic -by -topic basis with the
proposed project. A matrix comparing the impacts of the alternatives to the proposed project will be
prepared to provide a visual summary of this topical analysis. A brief written summary will also be
provided that identifies the environmentally superior alternative, as required by the CEQA Guidelines,
and discusses the reason for preferring the proposed project to the alternatives.
Subtask 8.23 Impacts Found Not to be Significant
Any impacts found not to be 'significant in will be discussed in this section of the EIR. To substantiate
why specific areas of impact were found not to be significant, this section will rely on project information
submitted as part of the application process, including technical reports and Ietters from affected City and
LI County departments.
i Impact $den=, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 2-14 city Of Sonia Ckrita
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I Plan of Study/Scope of Work
l Subtask 8.24 Significant Irreversible Environmental Changes
! I This section of the EIR will include a discussion of non-renewable resources usedin future development
as well as an analysis of the potential for increased or decreased consumption of fossil fuels as a result of
I project implementation. Section 15126 (f) of the CEQA Guidelines requires that an EIR describe any
significant irreversible environmental changes which would be involved in the proposed action should it
j ( be implemented. In the case of the proposed project, implementation of the proposed General Plan
would allow for additional residential, commercial, and office development consistent with the adopted
I Land Use Element. The EIR will address the environmental changes associated with these changes,
including the commitment of vacant parcels of land or redevelopment of existing developed land,
l construction activities that will entail the commitmeni of non-renewable and/or slowly renewable energy
() resources, human resources, and natural resources, and an increased commitment of social services and
public maintenance services.
I Subtask 8.25 Growth Inducing Impacts
This section of the EIR will analyze ways in which the proposed project could foster economic or
population growth, or construction of additional projects, which could adversely affect the environment.
j Impediments to growth that would be removed as a result of the proposed project will also be discussed.
Subtask 8.26 Preliminary Screencheck Draft EIR
The above -noted environmental topical sections will be prepared and submitted to the City and County
for review.
OUTPUT: Fifteen (15) copies of the preliminary (Screencheck) Draft EIR for staff review for each
agency; and
Three (3) copies of the Appendices for the preliminary Draft EIR for staff review for each
I agency.
l.,
TASK 9: — DRAFT EIRs
t' This task will focus on responding to City and County comments on the Screencheck Draft EIRs and
Submittal and the preparation of the Public Draft EIRs.
OUTPUT: Thirty-five (35) copies plus two digital copies on a CD-ROM for each EIR
i
1 Thirty (30) copies of the appendices for the Draft EIR for public review for each EIR; and
Two (2) copies of the Notice of Availability and Notice of Completion (includes
distribution via certified mail) for each EIR.
i Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Propoml
May 2W7 2-15 city of Santa cfnrfta
1{ Z Plan of Study/Scope of Work
r- z
TASK 10 — PREPARATION OF SCREENCHECK FINAL EIRs
Pursuant to CEQA and City and County requirements for implementation of CEQA, Impact Sciences
would prepare draft written responses to all comments received during the public review period.
rI
This would include responses to all verbal comments obtained through the minutes of the public
hearings pertaining to the adequacy of this EIR, and written comments received by the City and County.
The draft Response to Comments will be provided to the City and County for review, corrected per staff's
i. direction, and published within the Final EIR The budget presented assumes that Impact Sciences will
respond to up to 100 comments and that no new analysis will be needed to address these comments.
Once.we have reviewed the comments, we will determine, in consultation with the City and County, if
r additional budget would be necessary to cover the work needed to prepare responses.
OUTPUT: Fifteen (15) copies of the Preliminary Final EIR and review mitigation monitoring
reporting program for City staff.
Fifteen (15) copies of the Preliminary Final EIR and review mitigation monitoring
reporting program for County staff.
TASK 11— PREPARATION OF FINAL EIR
.l
This task involves the preparation of the Final EIR subsequent to changes and input from City and
1 County staff review.
OUTPUT: Thirty-five (35) copies of each FEIR and two (2) digital copies on CD-ROM for each EIR
` TASK 12—ATTENDANCE OF MEETINGS AND HEARINGS
j
Impact Sciences has budgeted time for attendance at the following meetings and hearings:
r I • Project kick-off meeting with OVOV project team
• Public Scoping Meeting
• Attendance at 6 monthly coordination meetings with the project team and consultants
• Attendance at meetings with consultants and subconsultants:
- Traffic Staff (2 meetings)
- Water Consultant (1 meeting)
- Noise Consultant (1meeting)
i Impact Sdenm, Inc. One Walley One Vision EIR Proposal
j May 2007 2-16 City of Santa Clarita
I Plan of Study/Scope of Work
— Graphics Consultant (1 meeting)
— Demographics Consultant (1 meeting)
• City Parks, Recreation and Community Service Commission (2 meetings)
• City Planning Commission (4 meetings)
• City Council (4 meetings)
• Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission (4 meetings)
• Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (4 meetings)
OUTPUT: Attendance at 32 meetings by Senior and/or technical staff as determined by the Project
Schedule.
TASK 13 - PREPARATION OF DRAFT FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF
OVERRIDING CONSIDERATIONS
This task involves the preparation of the draft Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations to be
submitted with the Final EIR.
OUTPUT: Thirty-five (35) copies and two (2) digital copies on CD-ROM for each EIR
TASK 14 - FILE NOTICE OF DETERMINATION
OUTPUT: Filing the Notice for each EIR (includes distribution)
Impact Sciences, Inc. One valley One Wolon EIR Proposal
May 2007 2-17 City of Santa Clarita
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IMPACT SCIENCES
803 Camarillo Springs Road, Suite A
Camarillo, California 93012
Telephone (805) 437.1900 FAX (805) 437.1901
www.impactsciences.com
Mr. Jason Smisko, Senior Planner
City of Santa Clarita
23920 Valencia Boulevard, Suite 302
Santa Clarita, California 91355
May 21, 2007
Subject: Proposal to Prepare Program Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) For a
Joint City and County Valley -wide General Plan Known as "One Valley
One Vision"
Dear Mr. Smisko:
Impact Sciences is pleased to submit this proposal to prepare two separate program
EIRs for the joint Valley -wide City of Santa Clarita (City) and County of Los Angeles
(County) General Plan known as "One Valley One Vision" (OVOV). We believe that
Impact Sciences is uniquely qualified to prepare the necessary environmental
documentation in an efficient and legally defensible manner. The EIRs will assess
the environmental impacts associated with implementation of the OVOV Plan. We
also envision that the documents will be used as a source of environmental
information during the preparation of future environmental documents to be
prepared for upcoming projects, it is expected that future documents would tier off
of the OVOV EIRs. This proposal is based on our review of the request for proposal,
project materials and information provided by City staff.
We understand that the OVOV planning effort involves the creation of a "Valley of
Villages" in the Santa Clarita Valley. Existing areas within the City that can
presently be considered Villages include Downtown Newhall Specific Plan area,
North Newhall, Whitaker-Bermite, Los Canyon and the Valencia Town Center. We
understand that the villages are intended to create a stronger sense of place and
community and are intended to become more "vertical" from a density perspective
over time. The unincorporated portion of the County at the Newhall Ranch Specific
Plan (Newhall Ranch) site is also implementing the "village" concept (e.g.,
Landmark Village and Mission Village). The concept of villages is also supported
by the City and County's goal to provide two jobs for every one housing unit (2:1)
on both a micro and macro basis. We understand that the OVOV planning effort
will add 75,000 to 80,000 additional dwelling units to the Santa Clarita Valley, with a
resident population of approximately 500,000 people.
Another major concept associated with the planning effort is the idea of a greenbelt
surrounding the City and County unincorporated areas. This concept is partially
implemented by preserve areas located generally north and south of the Santa
Clarita Valley in the Los Padres and Angeles National Forests. It should also be
noted that Newhall Ranch Specific Plan involves the deeding of approximately 4,000
OFFICES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, BAY AREA AND SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Mr. Jason Smisko
r May 21, 2007
Page 2
acres to an open space conservation agency to preserve the high country and Santa
Clara River portions of the Specific Plan site in perpetuity. In order to consciously
preserve the intent of maintaining and establishing, where necessary, a greenbelt,
another of the goals of the planning effort is to develop an urban limit line to direct
where development should take place within the Santa Clarita Valley.
Prior to preparation of an EIR, the Land Use Map must be finalized. Issues that
need to be addressed prior to release of the Map include a reexamination of the
circulation plan and land use plan to determine (1) if enough land has been set aside
to accomplish the desired jobs/housing balance of 2:1 and (2) if an adequate amount
of roadway capacity can be created. Impact Sciences believes that the City and
County should also determine if an adequate supply of water would be available to
support the land uses shown on the Map.
We have assembled a highly qualified team of professionals to provide the City and
County with the requested services. Impact Sciences has recent and very applicable
experience in the Santa Clarita Valley and is very familiar with both jurisdictions
and the environmental issues that residents of the Valley face. We have recently
prepared the Enterprise Zone Riverpark EIRs for the City. Staff of Impact Sciences
associated with this proposal were also directly responsible for the prepareation of
the City's North Valencia Specific Plan EIRs. We have also prepared many EIRs for
the County, including Newhall Ranch Specific Plan EK the West Creek EIR, the
Westridge EIR and the Landmark Village EIR. Through our work in both
jurisdictions, we are fully conversant with the manner in which the City and County
handles and processes environmental documents. Our General Plan project
experience provides us with an outstanding understanding of key issues for such
projects. Our team includes Tom Worthington, President of Impact Sciences; Susan
Tebo, Managing Principal; Margaret Netto, Senior Project Manager; Sara Morton,
Staff Planner; and an expert traffic subconsultant to peer review the Traffic Study for
f' the two EIRs.
The project team has many years of experience preparing and managing CEQA
documents. The team has dealt with a wide variety of projects and issues and has a
thorough understanding of CEQA. Tom Worthington and Susan Tebo will be
directly involved in the project and will be available to meet with and respond to
any questions from either jurisdiction; Tom Worthington and Susan Tebo bring to
this project more than 50 combined years of experience managing and preparing
CEQA documents. Because of its experience with the City and the County, Impact
Sciences understands the issues involved which will enable us to identify and craft
thresholds of significance and mitigation measures specific to each jurisdiction.
Although the OVOV EIR will be a planning document EIR, it will nonetheless
receive a great deal of scrutiny. Topical areas we assume will be challenged include
water resources (namely water supply and water quality), climate change (global
warming), air quality, biology and perhaps circulation. Impact Sciences does not shy
C. !
Mr. Jason Smisko
May 21, 2007
Page 3
away from controversial project work. We believe that environmental documents
today must be prepared by people with EIR litigation experience. With this in mind,
Tom Worthington and Susan Tebo, both of whom have prepared environmental
documents that have withstood vigorous legal challenge, will be very "hands-on"
during the preparation of this document and will be in attendance at project
meetings and hearings. Our proposed Senior Project Manager, Margaret Netto,
brings over 18 years of public planning experience to the project. Ms. Netto has
extensive experience as both a consultant and a city planner. Ms. Netto has
successfully managed the Enterprise Zone EIR for the City of Santa Clarita, as well
as many large scale planning projects. Ms. Netto is very responsive to her clients
and works effectively with lead agencies.
We appreciate this opportunity to provide professional services to the City of Santa
Clarita and the County of Los Angeles. Please feel free to contact us at 805 437-1900
should you have any questions regarding our proposal. We look forward to
speaking with you further about this very interesting and important assignment.
Thank you very much.
r
Sincerely,
�
Susan Tebo
Associate Principle
I
0
Sincerely,
Margaret Netto
Senior Project Manager
4
c
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
Table of Contents
One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
City of Santa Clarita
Section page
1. Introduction........................................................................................................................1-1
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work............................................................................................ 2-1
3. Schedule...............................................................................................................................3-1
4. Program Management....................................................................................................... 4-1
5. Costs...................................................................•................................................................5-1
6. Personnel, Equipment and Facilities............................................................................... 6-1
7. Sub-Consultant................................................................................................................... 7-1
8. Related Experience.............................................................................................................8-1
9. References............................................................................................................................9-1
10. Statement of Offer and Signature..................................................................................10-1
Appendix I. Resumes
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Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
t May 2007 1 City of Santa Clarita
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1. Introduction
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p;. IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
f( 1. Introduction
I.
Impact Sciences is pleased to submit this proposal outlining our approach for preparation of two
Program level Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) for the Joint City and County Valley -wide General
Plan for the City of Santa Clarita and County of Los Angeles. The Plan is entitled "One Valley One
Vision" (OVOV). The Santa Clarita Valley is located 35 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles in
Northern Los Angeles County. The plan area associated with the OVOV Plan consists of approximately
350 square miles including the City of Santa Clarita and the unincorporated communities of Agua Dulce,
Castaic, Fair Oaks Ranch, Stevenson Ranch, Val Verde, Westranch, and the future Newhall Ranch. The
OVOV plan area generally extends from the Interstate 5/State Route 14 interchange, north along
Interstate 5 to Castaic, northeast along State Route 14 to Agua Dulce, and west along State Route 126 to
Ventura County.
The City of Santa Clarita and the County of Los Angeles have been working together to prepare a Valley
Wide General Plan that will bring together the goals of the diverse Santa Clarita Valley communities. The
350 -square mile plan area is comprised of eight communities, all distinct, and loyal to their own "Quality
of Life." These communities represent many types of living environments from urbanized to rural.
Impact Sciences will prepare two separate program EIRs for each jurisdiction's General Plan. The City of
Santa Clarita (City) will adopt a new general plan to replace its existing General Plan, while the County of
Los Angeles (County) will adopt a new area wide plan to replace its Santa Clarita Valley Area Wide Plan.
The contents of each of the adopted plan documents may vary slightly. Both EIRs will include evaluation
of the Land Use Element and Map, and the Circulation Element and Map. The City will also evaluate the
Noise Element and Overlay Map, Open Space and Conservation Element and Overlay Map,
Safety Element and Overly Map, whereas, the County will evaluate the policies of the above elements
and maps only.
�n We understand that the OVOV planning effort is an effort to create a "Valley of Villages" in the Santa
I Clarita Valley. Existing areas within the City that can presently be considered "Villages" include the
LL4 Downtown Newhall Specific Plan area, North Newhall, Whitaker-Bermite, and Valencia Town Center.
The proposed Los Canyon area (next to the Fair Oaks development would also have its own village
concept. We understand that the villages are intended to create a sense of place and community. The
unincorporated portion of the County at the Newhall Ranch Specific Plan (Newhall Ranch) site is also
implementing the "village" concept in the planning areas of the Specific Plan with Landmark and
Mission Villages. The concept of village is also supported by the goal of providing two jobs for every one
Irl Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
ttt May 2007 1-1 City of Santa Clarita
1. Introduction
housing unit on both a micro and macro basis. Lastly, we understand that the OVOV planning effort will
add 75,000 to 80,000 additional dwelling units to the Santa Clarita Valley, with a resident population of
approximately 500,000 people.
Another major concept associated with the planning effort is the idea of a greenbelt surrounding the City
and County unincorporated areas. This concept is partially implemented by preserve areas located
generally north and south of the Santa Clarita Valley in the Los Padres and Angeles National Forests. It
should also be noted that Newhall Ranch Specific Plan involves the deeding of approximately 4,000 acres
to an open space conservation agency to preserve the high country and Santa Clara River portions of the
Specific Plan site in perpetuity. In order to consciously preserve the intent of maintaining and
establishing, where necessary, a greenbelt, another of the goals of the planning effort is to develop an
urban limit line to direct where development should take place within the Santa Clarita Valley.
Prior to preparation of an EIR, the Land Use Map must be finalized. Issues that need to be addressed
prior to release of the Map include a reexamination of the circulation plan and land use plan to determine
(1) if enough land has been set aside to accomplish the desired jobs/housing balance of 2:1; and (2) if an
adequate amount of roadway capacity can be created. Impact Sciences believes that the City and County
rshould also determine if an adequate supply of water would be available to support the land uses shown
E on the Map.
The OVOV process began in 2000 with Phase I, which involved soliciting community feedback regarding
the future of the Santa Clarita Valley. As part of Phase II, a community -inspired Vision Statement and 35
Guiding Principles were developed in order to guide development of the General Plan.
A Technical Background Report (TBR) was prepared as part of Phase III which provides a profile and
analysis of existing conditions pertaining to the Santa Clarita Valley Planning Area. Impact Sciences will
prepare an "Existing Conditions Report' as an update to the TBR as appropriate to reflect the baseline
year for each impact area to be mutually agreed upon by City and County staff and the Impact Sciences
project team. Based on our extensive experience in Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County, possible
suggestions to update the TBR may include: Water Resources, Air Resources, and Circulation.
This proposal presents our understanding of the project and proposed approach for preparing two
I thorough and legally defensible program EIRs for the City and County in a time- and cost-efficient
manner. A detailed Scope of Work and Cost Estimate are provided for your review along with a
preliminary Schedule. The staffing plan included with our proposal reflects the level of effort we propose
rfor the preparation of this EIR.
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 1-2 City of Santa Clarita
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1. Introduction
The proposal presented below has been organized into major tasks: Scope of Work, Schedule, Program
Management, Cost Estimate, Personnel, Sub -consultants, Related Experience, References, Statement of
Offer, and Signature. This Scope of Work provides for the preparation of two EIRs that will be in full
compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
STATEMENT OF EIR OBJECTIVES
The primary objectives of Impact Sciences for environmental documents prepared by the firm are defined
below.
• Information must be presented in a manner that is understandable to the general public and
decision makers yet technically sufficient to satisfy agency review requirements.
• We believe the CEQA Guidelines provide basic rules and procedural requirements for
environmental document preparation and review. However, we believe the guidelines provide
substantial latitude. More than simply focusing the scope of the technical analysis, we believe
any environmental document must be tailored in style and in form to meet the individual needs
of a project and its reviewing audience.
• It is important to define and understand a project's potential for large and small scale impacts
prior to preparation of an EIR. Given this information, agency and public concerns can be
evaluated early in the process and more meaningful mitigation measures and alternatives can be
considered.
• Given that any environmental document must accurately reflect a broad range of information,
the City and County will be consulted throughout the process. We understand the need for
independent review; however, if a project is to be accurately described and mitigation measures
properly evaluated, all parties must be involved.
In addition to understanding the process, a consulting firm must maintain the ability to provide the
product and service the client. These abilities are achieved through the participation of principal staff,
our technical expertise, and responsiveness to the needs of client.
In keeping with these policy objectives, we have developed a report format and evaluation procedures
that focus on early environmental review and public participation. Our experience tells us that these
procedures are not always required nor are they appropriate in all cases; however, they are the
cornerstones of Impact Sciences Inc.'s environmental objectives and philosophy.
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 1-3 City of Santa Clarita
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
1.'
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
This Scope of Work has been prepared based on Impact Sciences staff's familiarity with assessing impacts
associated with similar EIR projects, our experience in providing sufficient information on the potential
environmental impacts of the proposed Santa Clarita Valley General Plan and the Area Wide Plan to
allow the City and the County to make informed decision regarding approval of the project, and the
substantial collective experience of the firm's staff on projects with similar technical issues in the Santa
Clarita Valley. Impact Sciences has prepared a Scope of Work that reflects input from the TBR and
technical subconsultant(s) that we believe are necessary to address the City and the County's requests, as
well as provide a technically sound and legally adequate EIR.
The Program EIR will address the scope of a series of actions and approvals which may be considered as
one large project, and are related either geographically or as logical parts in the chain of contemplated
actions. The Program EIR will be used to evaluate development within the Santa Clarita Valley in
accordance with the proposed General Plan. Use of a Program EIR provides the City and County (as
Lead Agencies) with the opportunity to consider broad policy alternatives and program -wide mitigation
measures and provides the City and County with greater flexibility to address project -specific and
cumulative environmental issues on a comprehensive basis. The Program EIR for both the City and
G i County will be prepared simultaneously.
The Scope of Work presented below has been organized into major tasks, subtasks, and outputs.
TASK 1- REVIEW OF THE RESPECTIVE AGENCY PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Impact Sciences will review the TBR, the Vision Statement, and Guiding Principles, to ensure that specific
content has been adequately discussed and provide feedback on the reports.
OUTPUT: One (1) memo to each agency (City and County) providing feedback on the reports.
F11,
TASK 2- PREPARE AN EXISITNG CONDITIONS REPORT
Impact Sciences will prepare an Existing Conditions Report as an update to the TBR where appropriate to
reflect the baseline year for each impact area to be mutually agreed upon by the Project Team. Based on
our experience in the City and County possible suggestions to updates to the TBR may include: Water
Resources, Air Resources, and Circulation.
OUTPUT: One (1) Existing Conditions Report for each agency.
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 2-1 City of Santa Clatita
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
TASK 3 - DEVELOPMENT OF MITIGATION MEASURES/POLICIES
Once the technical documents and Elements become available for preparation of the Draft EIRs, Impact
Sciences will assist in development of appropriate mitigation measures/policies that can be incorporated
into each of the two agency plan documents as polices, as well as the incorporation of policies into the
EIRs as mitigation measures. Mitigation measures/policies for each significant impact will be identified
and their effectiveness described. If a mitigation measure/policy could result in environmental impacts,
the impacts of the mitigation measures will be analyzed at a qualitative level of detail. If quantitative
analysis of a measure is requested, adjustment to our scope may be required.
OUTPUT: One (1) set of Mitigation Measures/Policies for each CEQA section of the EIR for each
agency to be submitted with the Draft EIR.
TASK 4 - PROVIDE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Impact Sciences will include a qualitative discussion of global climate change in the General Plan EIR. To
facilitate the inclusion of such discussions in the EIRs, Impact Sciences has prepare a general discussion of
the greenhouse effect; the types and sources of greenhouse gases; the global, national, and state emission
inventories; the contribution to climate change, the primary effects of climate change; and the regulatory
programs at international, federal, and state levels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We will
incorporate this discussion into the OVOV EIR. At the present time, there is controversy regarding the
need for, the extent of, and the format (e.g., qualitative or quantitative) of impact discussions in EIRs. As
directed in the RFP, we will include a qualitative discussion of the contributions and potential impacts
resulting from development under the General Plan.
The extent to which global climate change should be discussed in EIRs is rapidly changing. In April 2007,
the California Attorney General filed a petition for a writ of mandate regarding the EIR for the County of
San Bernardino General Plan. In the petition, the Attorney General alleged that the County had failed to
estimate the emissions of greenhouse gases associated with future growth under the General Plan,
discuss the impact on global warming, draw conclusions regarding the significance of such impacts, or
include mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Other lawsuits have been filed on EIRs
(both program level and project level) with respect to greenhouse gases and global warming issues. It is
anticipated that additional lawsuits will be filed and comment letters will be submitted requesting a
quantitative approach. While it is generally recognized that no significance thresholds have been
restablished for greenhouse gas emissions, many believe that the emissions should be quantified because
full disclosure under CEQA is required. We would discuss the need for quantification of greenhouse gas
emissions and assessment of their impacts in light of continuing development regarding this issue and
4.;
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2. Plan of StudylScope of Work
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assist in the development of an appropriate strategy to reduce the City's and County's potential legal
Fexposure. If the City and County choose to proceed with a more quantitative approach, Impact Sciences
would prepare a scope of work and budget for such an assessment.
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OUTPUT: The analysis will be incorporated throughout the EIR, including the Air Quality Section.
TASK 5 - FILING OF THE NOTICE OF PREPARATION AND SCOPING
MEETINGS
Impact Sciences will file the Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the EIR. The NOP will be prepared by the
City of Santa Clarita and the County of Los Angeles and will fully meet the content and format
requirements contained in the CEQA Guidelines. Impact Sciences will send out the NOP based on the
distribution list prepared by the City and the County. The NOP will be mailed (by Impact Sciences via
certified mail) to all parties on the approved mailing list provided by the City and the County.
Impact Sciences will also attend one EIR scoping meeting for each jurisdiction, Assembly Bill 1532
requires a lead agency to conduct an EIR scoping meeting for any project of statewide, regional, or area
wide significance (these are large projects or environmentally -sensitive projects defined in CEQA
Guidelines Section 15206). Scoping meetings for these projects held in the past were sometimes
voluntarily, but are now required. Because the proposed project involves preparation of a General Plan
and Area Wide Plan, the project is of area wide importance.
OUTPUT: One (1) Notice of Preparation; and Attendance at one (1) Scoping Meeting for each
agency.
TASK 6- PREPARATION OF PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
The Project Description of any EIR forms the basis of the environmental analysis, and as such, an accurate
and detailed project description must be completed at the outset of any environmental review process to
ensure the completeness and legality of the EIR. Once the Land Use Map is finalized, we will prepare
two Project Descriptions (one each) for the City of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County, for preliminary
review and feedback prior to preparation of the complete EIRs.
The Project Descriptions will include discussion outlining the Santa Clarita Valley General Plan and Area
Wide Plan backgrounds and characteristics. Details regarding the General Plan elements and land use, as
well as physical development under the proposed General Plan will be discussed. The Project
Description will be prepared in full accordance with Section 15124 of the CEQA Guidelines, as amended,
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
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2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
and will include an identification of the project's precise location and boundaries, as well as a general
description of the projects technical, economic, and environmental characteristics.
We believe definition of the project objectives is also very important to the integrity of the EIR, as the
alternatives will be analyzed for their ability to meet the objectives of the project. If any alternatives that
are considered to be environmentally superior are to be rejected for their inability to meet the project
objectives, these objectives must be properly identified and drafted.
OUTPUT: One (1) Project Description section for each agency.
TASK 7— PREPARATION OF THRESHOLDS OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR EACH EIR
The thresholds of significance for each topic in the environmental setting and analysis chapters will be
prepared using Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines, in addition to relevant thresholds provided by the
City of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County. Impact Sciences will submit thresholds of significance for
each technical topic to the City and County for review prior to subsequent impact analysis for the
proposed project.
OUTPUT: One (1) list of Thresholds of Significance for each agency.
TASK 8 — PREPARATION OF THE DRAFT EIRs
This section of the Scope of Work presents the topical areas to be addressed, the type of technical analysis
to be used for each topic, and the known issues associated with each environmental topic. For each
topical section we will fully document existing conditions, conduct impact evaluations (including
b cumulative impacts), and devise mitigation measures as needed.
Subtask 8.1 Introduction
A brief introduction to the EIR will be prepared in order to describe to the reader the purpose of the EIR
and its role in the City of Santa Clarita's and the County of Los Angeles' planning processes. This
introduction will include a discussion of the intent of CEQA, the nature of the project proposals, the EIR
preparation and review process, and the organization and content of the EIR. We propose to address
cumulative impacts within the sections on each environmental topic. Cumulative impact analysis will
incorporate the Santa Clarita Valley Build -Out Scenarios, as appropriate.
Subtask 8.2 Executive Summary
The executive summary will provide the reader an opportunity to review a description of the proposed
project modifications, the conclusions of the impact analyses, findings with regard to alternatives, and the
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
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2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
mitigation measures,/policies recommended in the EIR. The summary will consist of a summary table
along with text that presents an explanation of the significance thresholds used, the unavoidable
significant impacts anticipated from implementation of the project, the comparative merits of the
alternatives examined, and a description of issues to be resolved.
Subtask 8.3 Project Description
We will revise the Project Description to reflect comments from the City and County. The technical
analyses in subsequent sections will be based on the project description, as confirmed from these
jurisdictions.
Subtask 8.4 Environmental Setting
Section 15125 of the CEQA Guidelines requires that an EIR include a discussion of the physical
environmental conditions in the vicinity of the project site, as it exists at the time the notice of preparation
is published, from both a local and regional perspective to facilitate a better understanding of the impacts
of the project and the alternatives. The environmental setting will provide a set of baseline physical
conditions that serve as a tool from which the City and County may determine the significance of
environmental impacts resulting from the proposed project.
Subtask 8.5 Aesthetics
We will review the Scenic Resources/ Viewsheds chapter of the TBR and will describe potential impacts
from buildout of the proposed project on the visual character of the area. We will characterize the
aesthetic resources of the Planning Area and will identify its visual resources, scenic vistas and the visual
character. These resources will be objectively evaluated in terms of their importance, alternation of the
existing visual setting, and the sensitivity of receptors that view them in both built and natural
landscapes.
Subtask 8.6 Agricultural Resources
Some of the land to be affected by the proposed project is inactive agricultural production and contains
soils designated as Prime Farmland and of Statewide Importance. Development of this land would result
in the conversion of agricultural land to urban uses. As such, this EIR section will address the acreage in
active agricultural production within the planning area and immediate surroundings that could be
affected by the development of the property in accordance with the analysis guidelines developed by the
State Department of Conservation. Included within the analysis will be a discussion of agricultural
productivity as identified by soil types, number of acres in active production, and types and yields of
crops grown within the project bounds and the economic value of these crops. Finally, this section will
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2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
address the type and amount of farmland conversion that would result from the implementation of the
plan, including the proportion of County farmland this conversion would represent. Information from
the 3.1.2, Agriculture and Mineral Resources section of the TBR will be incorporated into the EIR.
Subtask 8.7 Air Quality
rThe air quality section of the DEIR will summarize baseline air quality information, including area
L topography and meteorology and their influence on air quality within the South Coast Air Basin. The
relevant state and federal ambient air quality standard (AAQS) will be presented, along with a discussion
of the health effects of the criteria pollutants, ambient monitoring data from the closest monitoring
station(s) to the Santa Clarita Valley for the past five years, and the attainment status with respect to state
and federal AAQS. The regulatory setting will discuss the SCAQMD's plans to achieve the state and
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federal AAQS. Most of this material will be obtained from the TBR as updated in the Existing Conditions
Report.
The air quality impacts section will describe the significance criteria for evaluating air quality impacts
from the SCAQMD's CEQA Air Quality Handbook, including both numerical thresholds (e.g., mass
emissions due to construction and operational emissions) and qualitative thresholds (e.g., conflicts with
implementation of the air quality plan, proximity to sources of odors and toxic air contaminants).
We will compare the level of air emissions associated with development under the revisions to the
General Plan to the level of air emissions resulting from the current level of development. The mobile
source emissions associated with the actual level of development and the level under the proposed
General Plan will be estimated by multiplying the vehicle miles traveled associated with the land uses
and development densities under the General Plan by motor vehicle emission factors developed from the
California Air Resources Board's EMFAC2OO7 motor vehicle emissions inventory model for the South
Coast Air Basin portion of Los Angeles County. Area source emissions associated with residential,
commercial, and institutional development will be estimated using the emission calculation approach in
the URBEMIS2OO2 (URBan EMISsions) computer program. Area source emissions associated with other
land uses will be estimated using the appropriate CARB area source methodologies used to prepare
regional emission inventories. Industrial stationary source emissions will be estimated using data
obtained from the SCAQMD and standard emission estimation methods for such sources (e.g., the U.S.
EPA's Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors). The difference between these results (i.e., net
emission increase) will be compared to the SCAQMD's numerical thresholds of significance.
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2. Plan of StudylScope of Work
In addition to this numerical assessment, the air quality section will also address the following
significance thresholds:
• Conflicts with or obstructs implementation of the air quality plan;
• Exposes sensitive receptors to substantial pollutant concentrations; and
• Creates objectionable odors affecting a substantial number of people.
We will also evaluate the consistency of the General Plan and its policies to the air quality management
plans that have been prepared for the South Coast Air Basin, including SCAQMD's 2003 and 2007 Air
Quality Management Plans.
If the net emission increase exceeds the SCAQMD's numerical thresholds of significance or the other
thresholds listed above, appropriate mitigation measures will be recommended. These measures will be
in the form of additional goals, policies, and objectives to be included in relevant elements of the General
Plan as discussed on the Mitigation Measures task above.
Subtask 8.8 Biological Resources
Impact Sciences will review and summarize the biological resources sections of those environmental
documents available, such as Newhall Ranch Specific Plan, West Creek, Riverpark, and Golden Valley
Ranch, in addition to the TBR, Los Angeles County Significant Ecological Area Update Study 2000, and
Shaping the Future 2025 documents. An inventory of all recorded flora, fauna, and plant communities
will be compiled. The section will include discussions on methodology, environmental setting, resources
present or potentially occurring, wildlife movement corridors, regulatory programs, and biologically
sensitive species and other resources. The rich biological diversity of the Santa Clara River and its
tributaries and the known special -status species such as unarmored threespine stickleback, arroyo toad,
least Bell's vireo, slender -horned and San Fernando Valley spineflowers, will be highlighted as
contributing to the over all natural historical wealth of the planning area. The importance of the habitats
and resources contained within the County designated Significant Ecological Areas will receive particular
emphasis as well as the areas proximity to the natural forests. This EIR section will analyze the
environmental impacts of the proposed land uses and policies, and recommend appropriate mitigation
measures for the reduction of these impacts. An assessment of the potential cumulative impacts from
plan build out will be presented.
�M Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
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2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
Subtask 8.9 Cultural Resources
This section of the EIR will address the potential for the project to impact cultural resources based on
available information. Under this task, Impact Sciences will conduct historic research of the Planning
Area and surrounding area for the project regarding its history and important historical events. We will
compile information provided in section 3.6, Cultural Resources of the TBR and from the California State
University Fullerton -South Central Coast Information Center. Historic information will include maps
research, and data compiled from previous studies in the Planning Area. This information will be used to
describe the cultural context for the preliminary evaluation of any resources that may be located within
the Planning Area. Based this information, we will assess historic district eligibility of sites, that could be
revitalized for both identified and unidentified cultural resources.
Subtask 8.10 Geology, Soils and Seismicity
This section will identify potential geologic, seismic and soils impacts/constraints, which may affect the
proposed project, based on information related to geology, soils and seismicity in the 3.1.1 Geology
section prepared for the TBR Other sources information will include the California Division of Mines
and Geology (CDMG), United States Geologic Survey (USGS), Southern California Earthquake Center
(SCED), and published technical journals. The geology, soils, and seismicity analysis will contain
descriptions of the general geotechnical aspects and geology of the area, show existing or potential
hazards on the site, describe any effects that the proposed development will have on the stability of the
site and adjacent property, and recommend any proposed mitigation measures deemed necessary to
prove the feasibility of development. The analysis will include review of the potential for expansive and
compressible soils in the Planning Area, the potential for liquefiable soils, and other impacts related to
strong seismic ground shaking. Impact Sciences will also outline any deficiencies detected in the existing
geotechnical information and provide appropriate recommendations to rectify the deficiencies, paying
close attention to issues surrounding future residential development on steeper topography and slopes.
Subtask 8.11 Hazards and Hazardous Materials
The section will identify safety hazards within the Planning Area, including safety hazards, including
environmental hazards associated with fire, emergency preparedness, and hazardous waste disposal.
Under this task, we will include information provided in the TBR pertaining to hazards and hazardous
materials, from sections 6.1, Soils and Geologic Hazards, 6.3 Hazardous Materials and Waste, and 6.4,
Emergency Services and Wildland Fire Protection. We will conduct a records search of the Planning
F Area in federal, state, and local hazardous waste and materials databases, and summarize database
rrreview, information from the TBR and other previous environmental reports prepared for the Planning
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2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
Area. Impact Sciences will also outline any deficiencies detected in the existing geotechnical information
and provide appropriate recommendations to rectify the deficiencies, paying close attention to the
increased potential for hazards associated with future development on emergency access, erosion,
subsidence, and liquefaction.
The analysis will include a discussion of potential impacts related to the creation of significant hazards to
the public or environment through the routine transport, or through reasonable foreseeable accident
conditions associated with the project. We will determine if sites in the Planning Area are included on
the list of hazardous materials sites compiled pursuant to Government Code Section 65962.5. If it is
determined that sites are listed, the potential for significant hazards to the public or the environment will
be evaluated.
Subtask 8.12 Hydrology and Water Quality
The section will discuss the potential impacts to hydrology and water quality based on the available
information provided in Chapter 3.2, Water Resources of the TBR. As part of this task, we will review
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood zone maps of the area and evaluate storm
drainage and 100 -year floodplain impacts. The section will examine the proposed project land uses and
determine the potential of non -point source pollutants to impact the water quality of receiving waters,
especially with respect to local National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and Total
Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) criteria and regulations.
The EIR will address the hydrologic impacts associated with buildout of the General Plan. The analysis
will include discussion of the existing characteristics, and the potential effects of the proposed project on
groundwater and surface water. Distribution and circulation of water, both on land and underground
will be discussed, in addition to the quality of surface and groundwater. Incorporation of the General
Plan policies will be considered as part of the impact analysis for the EIRs, and will be incorporated as
mitigation measures where necessary. The EIR will address hydrology and water quality issues in the
region, including the environmental impacts associated with possible new stormwater infrastructure and
water supply capabilities associated with future development.
r Subtask 8.13 Land Use
This section will be based on the finalized Land Use Elements and Land Use Map prepared for the City
and County. The proposed Goals will be evaluated to determine their consistency with other relevant
sections of the proposed General Plan and Zoning Code Update. In addition, compatibility of the
proposed land use changes with the existing land uses in the surrounding area will be discussed in this
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2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
section The proposed General Plan will also evaluated for consistency with SCAG's Regional
Comprehensive Plan and Guide
The impact analysis will examine the impact of future development patterns in light of current and
planned public service and utility infrastructure capacity (schools, water, sewer, etc.), as well as the level
of supporting commercial retail establishments, recreational facilities, and jobs. It will also evaluate the
extent to which buildout of the General Plan would convert the Planning Area from a rural to urban
condition through extension of infrastructure to presently undeveloped lands. This section will also
evaluate the land use compatibility of future land uses with existing land uses. Where necessary,
mitigation in the form of General Plan goals, objectives, and policies will be identified.
Subtask 8.14 Mineral Resources
The section addresses project impacts resulting from the loss of availability of a known mineral resource.
i, Information from the 3.1.2, Agriculture and Mineral Resources section of the TBR delineates mineral
resources found in the Planning Area, and this information will be incorporated into the existing
conditions of the EIR. The EIR analysis will consider the proposed General Plan policies for the impact
analysis and incorporate these policies as mitigation measures where necessary. We will pay close
attention to the proposed land uses in the vicinity of existing mining extraction areas in the EIR analysis.
Subtask 8.15 Noise
The section addresses project impacts from roadway and stationary noise sources around the Planning
Area with implementation of the project. Implementation of the General Plan policies changes and their
potential to change the existing noise environment of the City will be evaluated in the section.
Specifically, Impact Sciences will summarize results from the Noise Analysis provided for the City and
County by Mestre Greve Associates. Based on information provided by in this analysis, Impact Sciences
will asses the significant changes and address potential noise impact of roadway noise. In addition to
motor vehicle noise, this section will identify significant noise sources and sensitive receptor locations.
The FHWA traffic noise prediction model will be used to generate CNEL noise levels along major roads
based on traffic volume information from Traffic Impact Analysis prepared for the project.
Subtask 8.16 Population and Housing
This section will address the consistency of the proposed Land Use Element and Land Use Map with the
f" latest SCAG forecasts. Impact Sciences will review the Housing Element and updated demographic
G study information provided in sections 2.2, Population and Demographics, 2.3, Urban Form, 2.5,
Housing, and 2.6, Economic Development of the TBR. We will examine the potential socioeconomic
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2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
implications of the proposed project, including changes in population, employment, and demand for
housing, particularly housing cost/rent ranges defined as "affordable." The relationship of the proposed
project to the regional planning policies of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)
and the current Housing Element will also be discussed.
This section of the EIR will discuss the expected consequences to local population as a result of adoption
and implementation of the General Plan. This section will address the amount of residential land
available to the City and County to accommodate projected growth and the impact of the planned land
use changes on the City's and County's residential land use inventory. Further, as a result of project
implementation, the characteristics of the existing employment environment will be altered. The impact
on employment forecasts will also be assessed based on the designation of additional commercial and
industrial land in the Planning Area. As such, this section will identify existing and future employment
opportunities and economic development and revitalization potentials of the City and County.
Subtask 8:17 Public Services
The proposed land use policies will have a direct impact on public services and infrastructure. Policies
and implementation programs related to the provision of public services and utilities will be identified in
relation to the proposed General Plan. Implementation of the proposed land use plan may impact fire,
police, schools, and libraries services.
Impact Sciences will coordinate with City and County staff and affected public service providers to assess
the potential impacts of the proposed project on the following services and facilities:
• Fire Services;
• Police Services;
• School Services; and
• Library Services
Each service provider will be contacted by telephone or letter to gather information on existing
conditions, the impact of the proposed project, and appropriate mitigation measures.
Subtask 8.18 Recreation
The proposed land use policies will have a direct impact on recreation facilities. Policies and
G.' implementation programs related to the provision of parks and recreation will be identified in relation to
the proposed General Plan
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2. Plan of StudyIScope of Work
We will use this information from Chapter 5.2, Parks and Recreation of the TBR to evaluate the proposed
project for its potential impacts on recreational facilities located within the City and County. The
potential for adverse impacts on these recreational facilities, as well as impacts created due to the
construction of additional recreational facilities will be evaluated based on current facilities and use of
existing recreational facilities within the City and County. In addition to the TBR, the analysis from the
Parks and Recreation Master Plan will be incorporated into the impact analysis for the EIRs. Impact
Sciences will coordinate with the City and County staff in order to assess potential impacts of project
buildout in terms of demand for service, ability to provide service, and the possible need for construction
of additional facilities. Based on County park standards, we will calculate the park acreage and in -lieu
fee that would be required for the proposed project. We will also determine whether existing and
planned parks in the County, including those planned as part of the plan, would be adequate to cover the
proposed project and County -wide demand, and document mitigation measures proposed as part of the
project or recommended by the service providers.
Subtask 8.19 Transportation and Circulation
Crain and Associates
Crain & Associates will work with the City of Santa Clarita and the County of Los Angeles transportation
analysis team and will perform a Peer Review of the OVOV traffic study and recommended circulation
element The improvements are anticipated to include both capacity increases for the traffic system and
enhancements to alternative transportation modes. The review will be a multi -step process. First, a
review the model results and interpretation will be performed. Crain & Associates will review the traffic
study to be certain that it adequately and accurately describes the procedures used and the anticipated
land -use and cumulative transportation impacts. They will also review the proposed transportation
improvements/roadway facility designations to determine their adequacy. The Circulation Element to be
developed by City and County staff is anticipated to not only address the traffic system, but the other
j� transportation elements as well. Crain & Associates will recommend changes to the element as
mitigation measures, if appropriate. They will also review both the draft and final EIR documents
including the presentation of study procedures, assumptions, results, and recommendations. This will
include up to 8 meetings with the technical staff preparing the analysis, and up to 4 technical memoranda
commenting on the above aspects of the Transportation Study.
Impact Sciences
Impact Sciences will summarize the information presented in the TBR, the Circulation Elements, and the
Peer Review prepared by Crain and Associates. The EIR analysis will be conducted of traffic conditions
t at buildout of the Planning Area. This will include roadway link level of service analysis and
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 2-12 City of Santa Claeita
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
_i
determination of any mitigation measures required to accommodate the future traffic volumes in
accordance with City and County standards. The EIR report will include text and graphics required.
Subtask 8.20 Utilities and Service Systems
The proposed land use policies will have a direct impact on utilities and infrastructure. Policies and
implementation programs related to the provision of public services and utilities will be identified in
relation to the proposed General Plan
Impact Sciences will evaluate impacts on utilities and service systems based on information provided by
the services providers concerning current service levels and the ability of service providers to
accommodate the increased demand created by the proposed project. We will base the analysis on
information provided in the TBR, the Water Analysis prepared for the EIR, and information from various
public service agencies serving the City and County. Section 4.1, Water Infrastructure, 4.2, Solid Waste,
and 4.3, Conservation -Utilities of the TBR will be reviewed for background information. It is important
to note that Impact Sciences has already been retained under a separate agreement with the City to
prepare the Water Analysis for the EIR, including preparation of the water supply portion of the EIR.
Impacts sciences will use information collected to identify the current water distribution system, the
current system deficiencies, and recommended system improvements. The section will discuss the
potential demand for water use resulting from development of the proposed project and evaluate the
capacity of the projected water supply commitments to provide water to the Planning Area. Based on
readily available consumption and generation factors, we will calculate estimated wastewater and solid
waste generation for the proposed project and will determine the infrastructure (for water supply and
wastewater generation) that would be required to serve the project. In addition, using information
provided by service providers, we will determine whether existing wastewater treatment capacity,
wastewater infrastructure, and landfill capacity could adequately accommodate the project, and discuss
potential impacts. The evaluation of water supply, solid waste, and wastewater treatment will also
include a summary of the project's contribution of global greenhouse gases.
The EIR will also address the potential for increased sewer and septic system infrastructure, water supply
infrastructure and capacity, and landfill space associated with future development in the Planning Area.
Subtask 8.21 Cumulative Impacts
The EIR will include an analysis of cumulative impacts from the project that would occur after General
Plan Buildout, in the long term.
r,
r Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
ttt May 2007 2-13 City of Santa Clarila
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
The CEQA Guidelines (Section 15130 (b)(1)) state that the information utilized in an analysis of cumulative
impacts should come from one of two sources, either.
1. A list of past, present and probable future projects producing related cumulative impacts,
including, if necessary, those projects outside the control of the agency; or
2. A summary of projections contained in an adopted general plan or related planning document
designed to evaluate regional or area -wide conditions.
The cumulative impact analyses contained in the EIR will use the second method as described above.
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has adopted growth forecasts for each
Subregion within the SCAG region through the year 2030. The cumulative impact analysis will utilizes
the regional growth projections contained in the most recent projections for the North Los Angeles
County Subregion within SCAG.
Subtask 8.22 Alternatives
rImpact Sciences intends to provide comparative analysis of up to four (4) alternatives to the proposed
project, suggestions include the following: (1) the No Project Alternative, (2) a Reduced Project Area
Alternative, (3) a Reduced Development Alternative, and 4) Alternative Land Use Alternative. These
t i alternatives (except for No Project) will be defined or redefined in coordination with City and County
rill
+ staff. Impact Sciences will work with the City and County in the definition of the alternatives to ensure
jthat the analysis meets the requirement of CEQA to focus on alternatives that could reduce the significant
impacts of the proposed project. In addition, we will review possible alternative sites with City and
County staff to determine if any meet the project objectives.
Each alternative will be described and comparatively analyzed on a topic -by -topic basis with the
proposed project. A matrix comparing the impacts of the alternatives to the proposed project will be
prepared to provide a visual summary of this topical analysis. A brief written summary will also be
provided that identifies the environmentally superior alternative, as required by the CEQA Guidelines,
111 and discusses the reason for preferring the proposed project to the alternatives.
Subtask 8.23 Impacts Found Not to be Significant
I
Any impacts found not to be 'significant in will be discussed in this section of the EIR. To substantiate
why specific areas of impact were found not to be significant, this section will rely on project information
submitted as part of the application process, including technical reports and letters from affected City and
County departments.
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 2-14 City of Santa Clarita
I
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
rill
Subtask 8.24 Significant Irreversible Environmental Changes
This section of the EIR will include a discussion of non-renewable resources used in future development
as well as an analysis of the potential for increased or decreased consumption of fossil fuels as a result of
project implementation. Section 15126 (f) of the CEQA Guidelines requires that an EIR describe any
significant irreversible environmental changes which would be involved in the proposed action should it
be implemented. In the case of the proposed project, implementation of the proposed General Plan
would allow for additional residential, commercial, and office development consistent with the adopted
Land Use Element. The EIR will address the environmental changes associated with these changes,
including the commitment of vacant parcels of land or redevelopment of existing developed land,
construction activities that will entail the commitment of non-renewable and/or slowly renewable energy
resources, human resources, and natural resources, and an increased commitment of social services and
public maintenance services.
I Subtask 8.25 Growth Inducing Impacts
This section of the EIR will analyze ways in which the proposed project could foster economic or
population growth, or construction of additional projects, which could adversely affect the environment.
Impediments to growth that would be removed as a result of the proposed project will also be discussed.
Subtask 8.26 Preliminary Screencheck Draft EIR
The above -noted environmental topical sections will be prepared and submitted to the City and County
for review.
OUTPUT: Fifteen (15) copies of the preliminary (Screencheck) Draft EIR for staff review for each
agency; and
Three (3) copies of the Appendices for the preliminary Draft EIR for staff review for each
agency.
TASK 9: — DRAFT EIRs
This task will focus on responding to City and County comments on the Screencheck Draft EIRs and
Submittal, and the preparation of the Public Draft EIRs.
OUTPUT: Thirty-five (35) copies plus two digital copies on a CD-ROM for each EIR
ii
Thirty (30) copies of the appendices for the Draft EIR for public review for each EIR; and
Two (2) copies of the Notice of Availability and Notice of Completion (includes
distribution via certified mail) for each EIR.
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 2-15 City of Santa Clarita
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
TASK 10 — PREPARATION OF SCREENCHECK FINAL EIRs
Pursuant to CEQA and City and County requirements for implementation of CEQA, Impact Sciences
would prepare draft written responses to all comments received during the public review period.
This would include responses to all verbal comments obtained through the minutes of the public
hearings pertaining to the adequacy of this EIR, and written comments received by the City and County.
The draft Response to Comments will be provided to the City and County for review, corrected per staff's
direction, and published within the Final EIR The budget presented assumes that Impact Sciences will
respond to up to 100 comments and that no new analysis will be needed to address these comments.
Once we have reviewed the comments, we will determine, in consultation with the City and County, if
additional budget would be necessary to cover the work needed to prepare responses.
OUTPUT: Fifteen (15) copies of the Preliminary Final EIR and review mitigation monitoring
reporting program for City staff.
Fifteen (15) copies of the Preliminary Final EIR and review mitigation monitoring
reporting program for County staff.
TASK 11— PREPARATION OF FINAL EIR
This task involves the preparation of the Final EIR subsequent to changes and input from City and
County staff review.
OUTPUT: Thirty-five (35) copies of each FEIR and two (2) digital copies on CD-ROM for each EIR
TASK 12— ATTENDANCE OF MEETINGS AND HEARINGS
Impact Sciences has budgeted time for attendance at the following meetings and hearings:
• Project kick-off meeting with OVOV project team
• Public Scoping Meeting
• Attendance at 6 monthly coordination meetings with the project team and consultants
• Attendance at meetings with consultants and subconsultants:
— Traffic Staff (2 meetings)
— Water Consultant (1 meeting)
r— Noise Consultant (1meeting)
LY
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
y9i May 2007 2-16 City of Santa CJarita
2. Plan of Study/Scope of Work
- Graphics Consultant (1 meeting)
- Demographics Consultant (1 meeting)
• City Parks, Recreation and Community Service Commission (2 meetings)
• City Planning Commission (4 meetings)
• City Council (4 meetings)
• Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission (4 meetings)
• Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (4 meetings)
OUTPUT: Attendance at 32 meetings by Senior and/or technical staff as determined by the Project
Schedule.
TASK 13 - PREPARATION OF DRAFT FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF
OVERRIDING CONSIDERATIONS
This task involves the preparation of the draft Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations to be
submitted with the Final EIR.
OUTPUT: Thirty-five (35) copies and two (2) digital copies on CD-ROM for each EIR
TASK 14 - FILE NOTICE OF DETERMINATION
OUTPUT: Filing the Notice for each EIR (includes distribution)
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 2-17 City of Santa Clarita
ri
i
3. Schedule
0
�i
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
3. Schedule
The project schedule will be determined by mutual agreement with the project team, and will depend on
the completion of studies being prepared for the City and County. We will prepare the background
information upon completion of the Noise Analysis, Traffic Study/Traffic Modeling, and Water Analysis
that are currently in progress and will include information required to update the TBR. According to the
proposal, these items are expected to be completed in December 2007.
Contingent on completion of all elements for the Valley Wide General Plan EIR, we will finalize the
project description with the City and County, as described in Task 6, and will prepare draft sections for
Task 8 contingent on the completion of each element.
The following list shows the amount of time required for the completion of each task. The schedule is
based on the assumption that all studies prepared for the TBR update will be completed by October 2007,
and assumes all elements (except for the Housing Element) for the Valley Wide General Plan will be
completed by January 2008.
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 31 City of Santa Clarita
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4. Program Management
A
5
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
4. Program Management
Application of Previous Project Experience with Specific Plans and Master Plans in the Santa Clarita
Valley. Impact Sciences and the project team have prepared numerous EIRs and environmental
documents for the City of Santa Clarita, and the County of Los Angeles. The Impact Sciences project
team has direct experience with the project issues including interagency consultation; development of
hillside residential land uses; potential impacts to environmentally sensitive habitats; and impacts
associated with water, air quality, and traffic.
Thorough and Factual Analysis. Impact Sciences' approach is to provide a level of analysis that assures
a comprehensive and legally defensible EIR. Our intent is to prepare an EIR that contains substantial
factual evidence for its conclusions regarding the significance of impacts and the effectiveness of
mitigation. We will take a thorough and proactive approach when preparing the One Valley One Vision
EIRs.
I Clear Presentation. Our objective is always to clearly communicate the technical information in an EIR,
so that it aids decision -makers in determining a course of action. Through the use of clear graphics and
i. clear writing, Impact Sciences will ensure technical information is understandable by the general public
and decision makers, which will increase the utility and value of the Initial Study to the lead agency.
Impact Sciences regularly receives positive feedback from decision -makers about the clarity and
usefulness of its environmental documents.
r.
Responsiveness. Impact Sciences has a longstanding reputation for working closely and effectively with
lead agencies to resolve issues and problems, and we will apply that approach to this project as well. We
pride ourselves on being able to maintain quick turnaround of work products without sacrificing quality
and accuracy. With our office location in Camarillo and nearly two decades of experience in the project
area, we are uniquely qualified to address the environmental issues specific to projects in the Santa
Clarita Valley. Our firm is large enough to handle controversial projects involving issues of great
complexity, but small enough to ensure our clients the personalized attention of senior, experienced staff.
For a more detailed description of staff, please refer to Chapter 6, Personnel, Equipment, Facilities in
this proposal.
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 4-1 City of Santa Clarita
s. Costs
`- IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
S. Costs
Please refer to the table on the following page for a description of costs associated with the project.
Impact Sciences, Inc.
May 2007
JI
One Valley Oce Vision PIR Proposal
City of Santa Clarita
COST SCHEDULE
May 21, 2007
Impar Srim.. /ae. Oar Val1w One Vision £IR Proposal
blav 2007 5-2 Ciry wsaam Clartia
TASK , ,. CoaVHour Total Noun
'Tolial Cost,
_ 2
Prepare Estshng Conditions Report _
_S100,
40
—
$4,000
_5 _
Notipe of Preparation _.. .. . -
$100 .. - ..._.
_
8,..
_._.
-. - $000
;Subtotal
$4,800
�ataCtlGlfeCR biaR �1�• v ,fi e
l .. ,.,
t .
x
<i ,
8.1 (Introduction_
$100
12.
_ . _.
$1,200
8.2
Enecutive Summary... _
_ 5100 ,
45{
$4,500
-. 9.3
ProjectPescription ___.. ....._....__..._$100
80
56,000
Environmental Setting
$100 _
$2.400
-_..8.4
_-8.6
_
AestheticsNisual Resources.___.$100
_
_- ._-24..
45
_.__.
_.._.$4,500
_
8.6
Agricultural Resources
32
$3,200_
8.7 _qu
-_ -
Quell ty _ _
-$100
$100
$4l
, ,
_
58,400-
8.8 - _:Biological
Resources.. _ _.. _. ...-.
$100
_. 80j
$8,000
8.9
Cultural Resources
__$100
601
$6,000
_.8.10
Geology, Solis. and Seismicity _.._ -. _ ._...
$100 _
, ._18,
_....
-.$1,860
8.11
Hazards and Hamrdous Materials
SIN
18
..
$1,800_
.8.12
!Hyrology and Water Quality
._3100
60,
.$6,000
__8.13
iLand_Use and Planning _
_$100
_28
_ __$2,800.
6,14
'Mineral Resources -------
$100
—_161
_-51.800_
8.16
Noise _ _
$100
-__16
8.16 -
1Population and Housing _ _
_ $100
40
-54,000.
817
(Public Sernces
_$100
_ 604
__56,000_
8.18
Recreation
5100
24
$2,400
8.19 iTransportation
_
and Circulation
__$100
_
. .. 32
_.53,200
8.20 .
_
Utilities enAce Systems _,
d S -
_ $100
60
.....
-$6,000.
8,21
Cumulative Impacts-__.
3100
40
$4,000-
__8,22_
Itematives,
$100
80
$6,000-
_.8,23,
Impacts Found Not to 9e Significant __ ........__5100,..
8
_
S800
8.24,
Significant Irreversible Env Changes_
$1001__.
6
$600
_8.25
Growth Inducing Impacts _ _
$100
8
Organisations/Persons Consulted
_$90
8
_
_ $540
References _._ ,
$90
-_ 16
_
$1,440_
826
Document Review/Quality Control
$220
46
$10120_
--
— -_— --
$170 i
s0
$8.500
$145
234
$33,930
Subconaultants
_
Craln$Associates .(Transportation 4; -Circulation)
Subtotal
_.._
_
528,750-
$177,080
_
Response to CltylCounty, Comments—_
$220
16
..$3,520
$170
32
$5,440
60
$8,700
$100
60
$e,000
Subtotal
$25,660
pp.41 s
/ 3
__10
Responso to PublicCommonts•'
_ $220 ______.16�
_
$3,520
40
-528,040
$5,800
_$18,000
- _—
_ $100 ....160
—_-____— __-_�
Subtotal
t eneral AdtlilydetrativR
1_3
Public Hearings and Meetings
$13200-
_-
_$220
..__601
00
$17000.
186
;26,970
_ - Subtotal
�
____
$57,170
-----
— ---
-$too -
- --1---$6,400
Notice of Determinayon
$100.1.______$8()O
Project Management ..
$220 _
161
$3.520
__$10,200.,,
.___
.11.12
_-__
Dopument Production_- - , _
-------
.590
_-_ 18011t_
._.1@OI
_§28100
_
514,400
ethnical Editing _
--
CledcaVAdmmistrative _
_ $65 _
$8450
GraphgslGlS _ _
$95
140
313 300
Document Reproduction _
=130
$20 000
Expenses 110% of total costsZ _ _
Subtotal___5211,262-
_
$4%622_
_—
'The above rime and 2ost.910mate assumes Met euppXed technical_repp-gs ere
__—accaptebb,
m 4bta mE accurste to Iha City and
tlat h pact Sciences les b
__
hrcorporata euctt raporls_Into�IR lomretoNy arca.
lfgddltiorel drefq tithe technl_cal
rem areprovidetl afterthe OR section has beenprepered or B1M_Prgact Resc�on
is revised or arrprMed.tuch addidpnal vork squid requl_ralGQntrsft arnandmeM_
_
•• Ifior_�gltbLre-r#%Lre9.19S �egAk Ntdiriffi
a_rns, Is at.
_
Reprotluc6on coati are difficult to sadme_tegiven the uNutoxn size of the anal tlocumems___
onsequen_ty, reproduction costs for the Preliminary Screencheck Oran EIR, Draft EIR,
Preliminary Final EIR and Final EIR MX be billed as a direct cost end ere an eadmete.
Impar Srim.. /ae. Oar Val1w One Vision £IR Proposal
blav 2007 5-2 Ciry wsaam Clartia
I
r
I
6. Personnel, Equipment and facilities
r
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
6. Personnel, Equipment and Facilities
This section presents the key individuals that will participate in the preparation of the One Valley One
Vision EIR. Resumes for all individuals assigned to this project are found in Appendix I.
Led by Tom Worthington and Susan Tebo the Impact Sciences staff is well versed in the issues unique to
the City of Santa Clarita and unincorporated Los Angeles County. Due to the number of projects Impact
Sciences staff has worked on throughout the Santa Clarita Valley and the surrounding areas, their
knowledge of the issues facing the area is unparalled.
One such issue is the availability of water. No one understands this issue in the Santa Clarita Valley,
north Los Angeles County and the Central Valley better then Impact Sciences staff. For this reason
Impact Sciences was selected by the City of Santa Clarita to prepare the water analysis for the One Valley
One Vision project. This critical analysis will serve as the technical study for the EIR.
Thomas Worthington, Principal In Charge
Mr. Worthington is one of two founding Principals of Impact Sciences. He serves as President of Impact
Sciences, oversees the firm's general management and provides environmental consulting services for
key clients of the firm. Mr. Worthington has extensive experience in providing senior technical oversight
to projects in the Santa Clarity Valley and throughout Los Angeles County. This includes the water
analysis study and needs analysis for the One Valley One Vision project. The availability of water has
become a very critical issue in this, and other, regional issues. Mr. Worthington is one of the leading
experts on water supply assessment and planning in the state. He will provide senior technical oversight
for the preparation of the document.
Susan Tebo, Project Director
Ms. Tebo serves as an Associate Principal with over 25 years of professional experience in environmental
review, resource management, and land use planning. Ms. Tebo brings significant technical expertise as
well as experience working on high profile and controversial projects. She also brings significant project
experience within the Santa Clarita Valley. Ms. Tebo recently served as the Project Director for the City of
Santa Clarita Enterprise Zone EIR. Other projects that Ms. Tebo has managed, or is currently managing,
include the Riverpark EIR prepared for the City of Santa Clarita assessing the potential impacts
associated with the development of 695.4 acres of land for single- and multi -family uses and commercial
uses; the Mission Village EIR to develop 1,252.27 acres of property located within the northeastern corner
of the Newhall Ranch Specific Plan; the North Valencia Annexation EIR which requires the annexation of
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 6-1 City of Santa Clarita
I
6. Personnel, Equipment and Facilities
r, 872 acres of land into the City of Santa Clarita; the North Valencia No. 2 EIR for the City of Santa Clarita
assessing the potential environmental impacts associated with the annexation of 596.2 acres of land; and
the 292.6 -acre Landmark Village tract map site located in the first phase of the Rivenvood Village within
the boundary of the approved Newhall Ranch Specific Plan.
As the Project Director for this project she will work closely with the Project Manager to provide technical
review and to ensure the document is prepared to the level of quality the City has come to expect from
Impact Sciences staff. She will also be available for client meetings, presentations and testimony.
Margaret Netto, Project Manager
Ms. Netto brings 18 years of strong planning and environmental report writing to this project. Her
balance of experience and in-depth knowledge of land use and policy planning will add to the ability to
produce a strong and practical document for the City. Ms. Netto recently served as Project Manager for
rthe Enterprise Zone EIR Focused on Land Use and Planning for the City. She has also served other local
agencies managing the annexation of controversial projects and the subsequent environmental
documents.
Ms. Netto brings with her a dedication to producing thorough, well scoped documents as well as those
that will stand up to legal review and challenge. As the Project Manager for this project her primary
responsibilities include: environmental document preparation, agency consultation, project scheduling,
budget supervision and control, subconsultant coordination, client contacts, presentation and testimony
before public agencies and private groups. Ms. Netto is very adept at providing an extra level of
attention to detail, technical quality of documents, and adherence to budget and schedule constraints.
Rosemarie Mamaghani, Noise Analysis
Ms. Mamaghani has 24 years of experience preparing technical studies for inclusion in environmental
documents. She prepares noise impact analyses using the FHWA-approved Caltrans model
SOUND32/2000 and the FHWXs Traffic Noise Model (TNM). She has prepared technical studies for the
Landmark Village and Mission Village components of the Newhall Ranch development and the
C' Riverpark and Valencia EMS in Santa Garita.
Daryl Koutnik, Ph.D., Biological Resources Task Leader
Dr. Koutnik has over 25 years of experience in the Los Angeles county area. He has an exceptional
knowledge of the southern California flora and was an active participant to the drafting of the West
Mojave Plan for multi -species habitat conservation. Dr. Koutnik managed the preparation of an EIR for a
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Propual
May 2007 6-2 City of Santa Clarila
6. Personnel, Equipment and Facilities
13,000 -acre Specific Plan area involving oak resource management per County of Los Angeles
requirements and SEA stewardship for both the Santa Clara River and the Santa Susanna Mountains.
He also managed and coordinated the Significant Ecological Areas Technical Advisory Committee of Los
Angeles County in implementing designated Significant Ecological Areas (SEAS).
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Dave Deckman, Air Quality Task Leader
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Mr. Deckman has 24 years of experience in air quality analysis, including the preparation of air quality
technical analyses for environmental documents. He has prepared this analysis for numerous large scale
development projects in Southern California and the Central Valley. In addition, he is responsible for air
quality permit applications and dispersion modeling throughout the state. Mr. Deckman is certified as a
Qualified Environmental Professional by the Institute of Professional Environmental Practice.
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Prolwsal
May 2007 6-3 City of Santa Clarita
7. Sub-Consultant
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IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
T. Sub -Consultant
This section presents the sub -consultant that will participate in the preparation of the One Valley One
Vision EIR. Impact Sciences will work with the following subconsultant:
Crain & Associates of Southern California
Crain & Associates of Southern California offers traffic engineering and transportation planning services
to a wide variety of clients with many types of projects. Their staff has completed consulting services for
numerous public sector clients and private developers throughout California. Crain & Associates have
completed comprehensive transportation and parking studies for local cities and jurisdictions. Their firm
is more than 20 years old and has stabilized in size with some 20 -plus employees along with a
considerable network of consulting associates. Having served Southern California as well as other areas
of the State since 1981, their solution -oriented staff members bring a specialized knowledge to projects in
order to solve traffic, transportation and parking and environmental problems.
From extensive experience, Crain & Associates staff has established a unique ability to work with local
transportation agencies as well as regional, state and federal level agencies, on multi -jurisdictional
projects. Many of their projects are multi -modal in addressing a complete range of transportation
alternatives and involve extensive participation in community outreach programs, environmental
assessment and monitoring of ground access systems, as well as the analysis of urban land use. As a part
of their services, they assist clients in preparing for planning commission and local city council meetings,
and frequently represent clients and participate in these meetings as well.
Crain & Associates has also been responsible for preparing the traffic and transportation element of
numerous master plans and environmental impact reviews. These have included city-wide analyses,
area -wide specific plans, housing developments, industrial developments, office developments,
university expansion programs such as the Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) for UCLA, shopping
centers such as The Grove at Fanners Market, and movie industry studio expansions such as Fox Studios.
C Crain and Associates have assisted numerous universities and other campus environments such as
Amgen and Warner Bros. Studios in addressing the programmatic needs of expansion as well as
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assessing the environmental constraints of their unique settings. Crain and Associates are extremely
familiar with CEQA, NEPA and other environmental rules governing EIS/EIR preparation and other
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relevant regulations of the local, state and federal governments.
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May 2007 7-1 City of Santa Clarita
7. sub -Consultant
Their in-house engineers are skilled at assisting clients in designing and implementing transportation
related improvement programs. From analysis to design to assisting in construction management
services, they have prepared numerous striping, parking, access and circulation, street lighting and signal
designs to the specifications of local jurisdictions. These plans have included restriping and/or widening
C . roadways, development of parking lot and structure layouts, installation of new signals, modifications to
existing signals, and construction of new roadway segments. Their work also includes developing
Transportation Demand Management (TDM) programs.
The only work they often subcontract is data collection (e.g., traffic volume counts). For this activity,
Crain and Associates reserve the right to use their various data collection subcontractors whom have
shown their ability to cost effectively produce accurate data.
Crain & Associates Qualifications
Crain & Associates of Southern California is an innovative Transportation Planning and Traffic
Engineering firm headquartered on the west side of Los Angeles. Their firm addresses the full range of
transportation modes needed to meet land -use development requirements. Their West Los Angeles staff
offers a comprehensive range of services in traffic engineering and transportation planning, specializing
in the following areas:
• Access and Circulation Studies
• Environmental Impact Reporting and Related Analysis
• Street/Highway Design
• Geometric Design (Striping and Signing)
• Design of Traffic Signals and Control Systems
• Transit Planning
• Parking Management and Studies/Parking Layouts
• Pedestrian, Bikeway and Goods Movement Planning
• Ridesharing/High-Occupancy Vehicle Planning
• Site Planning/Economic Analysis
• Preparation of Tract Maps and Other Project Submittals
• Transportation Improvement Assessment District Analysis
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR proposal
May 2007 7-2 City of Santa Clarita
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• Traffic and Highway Engineering
7. Sub -Consultant
• Traffic and Transportation Modeling
• Traffic Counts and Transportation Surveys
• Transportation Facility Planning
• Transportation Planning and Forecasting
• Transportation Systems Evaluation
• Jobs/Housing, Commute Shed Analysis
• Neighborhood Traffic Intrusion Planning
• Congestion Management Program Planning
Their firm was founded in 1980 and has stabilized in size with some 20 -plus employees along with a
considerable network of consulting associates.
Crain & Associates has completed consulting services for numerous public sector clients and private
developers throughout California. Crain and Associates have also completed comprehensive
transportation studies for local cities and jurisdictions. From the experience gained from the numerous
transportation planning and engineering activities conducted by Crain & Associates, they have
established a unique ability to work with local transportation agencies, as well as regional, state and
federal level agencies, on multi -jurisdictional projects. Most of these projects were multi -modal in
addressing the complete range of transportation alternatives and involved extensive participation in
community outreach programs, environmental assessment and monitoring of ground access systems, as
well as the design of transportation improvements. These studies used state-of-the-art analysis
techniques, such as focused computerized transportation models, where appropriate. Among these
projects are:
• Oxnard Riverpark — This Specific Plan was for developed for an expansion of the City of Oxnard.
In this case, it was an annexation allowing for over 2,700 housing units, two and one-half million
square feet of commercial space, and various school and other public use sites. Crain and
Associates utilized the City's model to prepare a study analyzing the traffic implications of this
project and developed a multi -modal set of transportation improvement recommendations. The
project was approved using an EIR incorporating their analysis and they are currently working
with Caltrans to implement a number of the transportation solutions.
• Porter Ranch Specific Plan — The transportation impacts and needs of the long-range mixed-use
" development of this portion of the Northwest San Fernando Valley were studied as part of a
General Plan update process. A total development of over 3,400 dwelling units and six million
square feet of commercial development were approved based on this project EIR. A model was
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 7-3 City of Santa Clarita
7. Sub -Consultant
developed for this analysis to project the impact of this development, including the addition of
numerous roadways to the area network. Following adoption of the County CMP, an additional
study was prepared, based on the EIR analysis, which demonstrated project compliance with the
applicable requirements. This study was used as an example by the City of Los Angeles and
Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The transportation improvement included the detailed
design of a roadway and bicycle facility network. A set of standards was developed and multi-
modal rights-of-way were designed and approved. The model has been revised and updated for
the analysis of particular tract maps within the Specific Plan. They have remained involved in
this project for more than twenty years and are currently processing the final tracts as well as
plans for the transportation improvements.
4 • Lytle Creek North and Ranch — Crain and Associates have prepared traffic analyses of the two
4 San Bernardino County project which, combined, will provide 11,000 housing units as well as
educational, industrial and commercial development. These analyses proposed not only
mitigation to address project impacts but mitigation for cumulative impacts, as well.
• Fagan Canyon Specific Plan — For the City of Santa Paula, Crain and Associates conducted a
study of this project which will, if approved, increase the size of the City by one-third. This
project was initiated by conducting an extensive data collection program involving all signalized
and many STOP -sign controlled intersections throughout the City. They constructed a
computerized model and have reviewed several development alternatives. A traffic study,
including appropriate mitigation, was developed for inclusion in the EIR.
• Douglas Park — For this major Long Beach redevelopment, Crain and Associates prepared a
traffic analysis for inclusion in the Certified EIR. This analysis was based on a computer
transportation model they developed specifically for the project. They examined the
transportation impacts of a number of both land -use alternatives and roadway configurations,
The recommended and adopted transportation improvements contain a coordinated mix of new
roadways, roadway widenings and restriping, traffic signal system upgrades, and transit and
other Transportation Demand Management measures.
• Ambassador College Site — Crain & Associates produced a long-term analysis for the
transportation implications of the proposed mixed-use redevelopment of this major West
Pasadena site. A model was prepared to assist in this analysis. A wide variety of participants
were included in this analysis, such as the surrounding neighborhood community, City staff and
Caltrans. The potential improvement measures explored included a complete range of
transportation improvements from those involving the 1710 to transit system improvements.
• Van Nuys Airport Master Plan — This project was designed to determine the long-term land -use
patterns for the airport site. The program included both the aviation uses of the facilities and
non -aviation uses of peripheral portions of the site. A wide variety of alternatives were
investigated through a study process which included an extensive community outreach program.
Crain & Associates was responsible for developing and implementing an EMME/2 transportation
model and other analysis techniques, designing the surface transportation interface and
evaluating project impacts and system constraints. This included transit system analysis and
design, as well as evaluation of and enhancements to other alternatives to drive -alone
automobiles. Included in their tasks was an evaluation of existing traffic and parking conditions,
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Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
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7. Sub -Consultant
projection of future "baseline conditions" and evaluation of the relative impacts of various site
... development alternatives.
Harbor Gateway Center Master Plan — Crain and Associates have recently completed a
computerized analysis of the traffic impacts of this over 3 million square foot mixed-use (retail,
hotel, office and industrial) project to redevelop a former aircraft assembly site. This analysis
addressed all modes, including transit and other alternative modes, as well as parking needs.
Presentations were also made at community meetings to discuss potential traffic intrusion issues.
They have also completed detailed improvement plans for the development. These
improvements were coordinated with several cities, the County of Los Angeles, two transit
agencies and Caltrans.
• Amgen Center Specific Plan — A comprehensive near-term and long-term transportation
analysis has been developed for this employment center utilizing a refined, computerized
transportation model. This analysis determined the transportation needs and impacts of an over
6,000 -employee expansion of this world headquarters facility in Thousand Oaks. Crain &
Associates prepared EIR sections which addressed the traffic, parking, transit, TDM, bicycle,
access, circulation and pedestrian impacts and needs of the project. Specific mitigation measures
were developed to meet all CEQA, Air Quality District, Caltrans and CMP requirements. This
analysis forms the basis for the immediate approval of several already -designed buildings and
parking structures, and the parameters to guide design of future expansion proposals. Crain &
Associates has had integral involvement in the design of these parking structures and the other
building access elements. They have also produced numerous detailed designs for on site
roadway improvements.
• Sony Studios and Culver Studios — Crain & Associates serves as the "on-call" transportation
consultant to these two major studios. Projects completed include analysis of the traffic parking
Fill and transit impacts of the over 1.1 million square foot expansion of the Sony Studios facility.
Work conducted for this study included a survey of the existing traffic, transit, and parking
demand, projection of future demands using computerized model projections, preparation of
feasible transportation improvement programs, cost estimation of these improvements, and
development of on-site and off-site construction plans. Crain & Associates has also developed
detailed parking, shuttle access and roadway plans for portions of the Sony Studios Campus.
These plans address the needs of the various Studios users and the need to better balance the
locations of parking supply and demand. Crain & Associates has prepared parking demand
studies, access designs and roadway improvement plans for the recently constructed Television
Office complex at Culver Studios. In addition, Crain and Associates have prepared street
lighting, traffic signal and striping and signing plans for roadway improvements at both sites.
They conduct annual monitoring of Sony Studios parking and traffic generation. They are also
currently working on the approvals for two additional buildings at the Sony Studios.
• Burbank City -Wide Transportation Improvement Funding Program — As part of the City's
long-range infrastructure funding program, Crain & Associates led a study of the needed
transportation improvements, the resulting costs and the available funding stheirces for the City
of Burbank. This study was used to develop a funding program for improvements including a
l_�, light-rail extension, a shuttle program, HOV lanes, bicycle facilities and other TDM programs, in
addition to a series of mixed -flow roadway improvements. Based on this study, a City-wide
rtransportation impact fee was adopted by Burbank.
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 7-5 City of Santa Clarita
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7. Sub -Consultant
• Santa Monica Downtown Transit Mall — Crain & Associates designed traffic and transit
improvement plans for the transit mall recently installed in the downtown area of Santa Monica.
This project included revisions to Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway to provide greater
pedestrian and transit facilities, with a reduced emphasis on automobiles. The project was
designed to spread the revitalization successes from the Third Street Promenade to the adjacent
areas of downtown. To also enctheirage the use of transit, separate transit lanes have been
provided in a loop configuration. Crain & Associates was responsible for the design of the
roadways, including lane layouts, traffic signals, and the rerouting of transit lines.
• UCLA Campus Planning and Design — Crain & Associates serves as UCLA's transportation
consultant on an "on-call" basis. One major study for UCLA was a complete analysis of the
transportation impacts of a 15 -year development plan utilizing a specially developed
computerized transportation model. This transportation study was conducted as part of the
environmental review process and was prepared in coordination with the City of Los Angeles
Department of Transportation, as well as other State, regional and local agencies. A series of
agreements between the University and the City of Los Angeles providing guarantees of TDM
program success at the Campus were developed based on the results of the study. Based on this
long-range plan and other studies, Crain & Associates has prepared numerous transit
improvement, striping, parking, street lighting and signal designs for the University. They have
prepared layouts for the Central Campus Transit Terminal as well as other campus transit
facilities. Their plans have also included restriping and/or widening of on- and off -campus
roadways, development of parking structures and lots, installation of new signals, modifications
to existing signals, and construction of new roadway segments. Additionally, their efforts have
included consulting during the bidding and construction of these improvements. They have also
conducted detailed traffic and parking demand analyses and developed improvement programs
for over twenty development projects on the UCLA Campus as well as numerous additional off -
campus facilities.
As a review of the above projects demonstrates, Crain & Associates has a history of establishing long-
term working relationships with cities and major institutions. They are well -versed in evaluating the
evolving clients' needs as a project moves from a concept through the planning stages to actual
construction. Crain and Associates are able to tailor their products so that they can be produced in a cost
efficient manner, yet provide a solid base for future efforts. Crain and Associates bring these abilities to
every project, whether it is a single building or an entire city.
Impact Sciences, Inc. - One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 7-6 City of Santa Clarita
7. Sub -Consultant
F KEY PERSONNEL
Crain & Associates will use the most experienced staff members from its West Los Angeles office to assist
the City of Pasadena in conducting transportation studies. If we are selected for this important role, the
following Crain & Associates staff will participate in the assigned tasks:
George Rhyner, Senior Transportation Engineer, has considerable experience in transportation
forecasting and design. Mr. Rhyner is a skilled transportation engineer and analyst with over twenty
years of project experience with Crain & Associates. He was responsible for the day-to-day management
of the Santa Monica Transit Mall design, UCLA Long Range Development Plan Transportation Study, as
well as subsequent UCLA studies and roadway designs, development of the San Bernardino SuperBlock
transportation analyses, and the preparation of the CSUN Parking Survey and Trip Generation Report.
He has also recently completed analyses for Majestic Spectrum Market Place, Sony Pictures Studios
Comprehensive Plan, Warner Bros. Studios Master Plan, Burbank Citywide Transportation Study, and
City of Santa Monica City -Wide Study. He has worked on the design of many roadways and parking
areas including preparing standards and detailed design of the Porter Ranch Specific Plan roadways,
design of the central UCLA transit terminal, and design of roadway and parking improvements for the
Culver Studio and Sony Pictures Studios projects. Mr. Rhyner will be responsible for the day-to-day
contact with the City and the overall management of assigned tasks.
Helen Shi, Senior Transportation Planner, has been with Crain & Associates for over three years and
has demonstrated excellent analytical skills and computer expertise. She is skilled at data assimilation
and traffic and parking analyses, utilizing software such as TP+, Synchro, Viper, HCS 2000, SPSS,
ArcView and AutoCAD. She has worked on numerous analyses that have required organizing data
collection, performing transit research, conducting trip generation, assignment and distribution,
forecasting project impacts; and documenting analyses results. Ms. Shi has utilized her modeling skills to
analyze regional transportation systems and area -wide improvements, which have involved coordination
with local and regional agencies. Her projects have included a variety of uses, such as several Los
Angeles Unified School District sites, AMGEN, Desmonds Tower Legacy, Lowe's Pacoima and Almond
Tree Village.
These key staff members will be assisted by numerous other members of Crain & Associates' large and
varied staff in performing the required tasks.
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GEORGE RHYNER
Senior Transportation Engineer
RESUME
SPECIALIZED PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE
7. Sub -Consultant
Crain & Associates of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
• Over the past twenty years, Mr. Rhyner has prepared a wide variety of traffic engineering,
transportation planning, and transit plans and studies for both the public and private sectors.
Additionally, he has extensive experience in multi -disciplinary long range planning studies
conducted as joint public/private sector cooperative efforts. His work has involved extensive
preparation of technical plans, analyses, reports, and drawings as well as presentations of study
results to clients, public agency technical staff, and members of the community at large.
RECENT WORK EXPERIENCE
• Prepared transportation impact analyses for educational, institutional, commercial, residential,
retail and mixed-use projects throughout the Southern California area. These impact analyses
included the recommendation and design of roadway improvements, ridesharing programs, transit
enhancements and other transportation mitigation.
• Participated in numerous long-term subregional transportation planning studies for areas located
throughout California. These studies involved extensive use of transportation modeling demand
forecasting models implemented on a variety of software packages including software such as TP+
and UTPS, MINUTP, and EMME/2. An integral portion of each plan was the formulation and
testing of alternative freeway, arterial, transit, transportation demand management, and/or
transportation systems management improvements. Additionally, various land use scenarios were
analyzed for each of these studies. Subregions analyzed include the City of Santa Monica, the
Redwood Peninsula area of Redwood City, the East Area Corridor of Sacramento County, the
Porter Ranch and Warner Center areas of the San Fernando Valley, the Stockton/Pleasanton
Transportation Corridor, the UCLA/Westwood/West Los Angeles area, and the City of Burbank
and surrounding Media District.
• Supervised preparation of numerous striping, signing, street lighting and signal construction
improvement plans for jurisdictions throughout California, including Los Angeles, El Dorado
County, Oxnard, Santa Monica, Burbank, Culver City and Caltrans.
• Developed numerous specifically tailored Transportation Demand Management plans for private
sector developments in Southern California.
• Prepared transportation sections of Environmental Impact Reports/Statements as part of zone
change, specific plan amendment, building permit processes, or other entitlements.
• Prepared parking Master Plans for numerous institutions such as California Lutheran University,
Orthopaedic Hospital, University of California at Santa Cruz, and the Sunset and Vine
Redevelopment project.
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May 2007 7-8 City of Santa Clarita
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7. Sub -Consultant
• Participated in the preparation of multiple MRS, other transportation studies and improvement
plans for the University of California at Los Angeles. These included development of a long range
Transportation Systems and Demand Management Plan for University of California at Los
Angeles. These plans included extensive detail on implementation, monitoring, and updating of
specific programs. Also served a similar role as an on-call transportation consultant to Sony
Studios, UC -Santa Cruz, the Pacific Design Center and Porter Ranch.
• Conducted the technical traffic/transportation studies for the Caltrans Headquarters office building
in San Bernardino.
Developed and analyzed programs to reduce the level of through traffic in residential
neighborhoods within the Cities of Santa Monica, Burbank and Los Angeles. The Santa Monica
work involved development of a standard set of intrusion reduction measures and criteria for
implementation.
Led project to evaluate preferential parking/shuttle bus operations demonstrations in Santa Cruz
666 and Hermosa Beach, California. Included collection and analysis of data and writing of an UMTA-
published final report.
Led evaluation of an UMTA sponsored demonstration of a conversion to full accessibility for the
elderly and handicapped of the Champaign -Urbana, Illinois transit system.
• Participated in the evaluation of numerous other UMTA-sponsored demonstration projects
including: computerization of the Orange County Transit District's Dial -a -Ride dispatch system;
operation of a busway in Pittsburgh, Pa; self-service fare collection on the San Diego Trolley; and
implementation of a midday transit ridership promotion in Spokane, WA.
• Surveyed West Coast cities to determine existing and proposed regulations reducing parking space
requirements in new developments in exchange for implementation of TDM measures.
• Developed financial models for use in Short Range Transit Plans for the Napa, Santa Rosa, and
Union City transit districts.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
• B.S. in Civil Engineering (Transportation), Marquette University (1981)
• M.S. in Civil Engineering (Infrastructure Planning and Management), Stanford University (1982)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
• State of California - Registered Professional Civil Engineer Number 47763
Registered Professional Traffic Engineer Number 2143
• Member Institute of Transportation Engineers
Member EMME/2 Users Group of Southern California
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Prolmsal
May 2007 7-9 City of Santa Clarita
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RESUME
HELEN SHI
Transportation Planner
SPECIALIZED PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE
7. Sub -Consultant
Crain & Associates
Los Angeles, California
• Ms. Shi has been with Crain & Associates for over three years. She is skilled at data assimilation for
traffic and parking analyses, utilizing software such as TP+, Viper, HCS 2000, Synchro and FREQ12.
Additionally, she has prepared traffic simulation models to analyze regional transportation
systems and area -wide improvements. Her work has involved the preparation of transportation
impact reports and shared parking studies.
RECENT WORK EXPERIENCE
• Participated in the development of numerous long-term transportation forecasting models
implemented on software package TP+. Evaluation of these models includes the development of
alternative land use scenarios and the formulation and testing of alternative infrastructure, transit,
transportation demand management, and/or transportation systems management improvements.
• Participated in the development of freeway corridor simulation model using FREQ12, an advanced
macroscopic traffic simulation program. Analyzed traffic flow conditions on both the mainline and
collector/distributor roadways along major freeways in the Los Angeles area. The evaluation
determined geometric design improvements to increase traffic flow, reduce delay, and enhance
safety based on measure of effectiveness such as queue lengths and bottlenecks.
• Developed microscopic traffic simulation models for Marina Del Rey TCR project using Synchro.
Conducted traffic signal timing optimization, coordination, and capacity analysis along major
arterials and key intersections. Also examined queuing at study driveways and evaluated various
alternative improvement scenarios.
f • Prepared transportation impact analyses for institutional, commercial and residential projects
throughout the Southern California area. These impact analyses included evaluation of project trip
p. generations, traffic distributions, analysis of existing and future traffic conditions, identification of
Il potential impacts, and recommendation of transportation mitigation measures.
• Prepared numerous parking utilization and demand analyses for commercial mixed-use projects
i throughout the region. Many of the projects involved use of the shared -parking methodology to
l account for reductions in parking demands for mixed-use projects.
• Prepared Transportation Demand Management Plan which includes extensive detail on
implementation, monitoring, and updating of specific programs.
,. ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
r
M.S. in Planning (Concentration: Transportation), University of Southern California, May 2002
M.S. in Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, August 2003
• Certificate of Geographic Information Systems, University of Southern California, August 2003
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Protosal
May 2007 7-10 City of Santa Clarita
S. Related Experience
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IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
�+ Section S. Related Experience
Impact Sciences is recognized as a leading provider of environmental and planning services throughout
Los Angeles County. Impact Sciences employs full service capabilities that enable the firm to prepare a
variety of environmental and planning documents. The firm's primary services are the preparation of
EIRs, EISs, biological studies, air quality analysis, noise assessments, and geographical information
system (GIS) services.
Impact Sciences has an extensive background in the preparation of environmental documents for projects
in the Santa Clarita Valley, and specifically in the City of Santa Clarita. These projects include the
ongoing Water Analysis for the One Valley One Vision project, the recent City of Santa Clarita
Enterprise Zone EIR, as well as the Riverpark EIR, North Valencia Annexation EIR, North Valencia No. 2
Specific Plan EIR, Calgrove Street/Valley Boulevard GPA EIR, the Sand Canyon Joint Venture EIR, and
the original Porta Bella Specific Plan EIR. Impact Sciences has also been involved with the preparation
of several other EIRS for proposed projects in the unincorporated portions of Santa Clarita Valley,
including the Newhall Ranch Specific Plan, Westridge, Landmark Village, and Mission Village EIRs.
Listed below are short descriptions of Impact Sciences related experience within the City of Santa Clarita
and surrounding areas.
Project: Gate -King Additional Analysis (Water Supply)
Description: The City of Santa Clarita retained Impact Sciences to prepare the Additional Analysis for
the Gate -King Industrial Park. The work completed by Impact Sciences consisted of the preparation of a
revised comprehensive water supply analysis for the proposed Project, including a draft Water Supply
Assessment. While Impact Sciences has prepared several comprehensive water supply analyses in the
Santa Clarita Valley for the City, County, and local water companies (all of which have withstood legal
challenge), this project represents our most recent analysis prepared directly for the City. We believe it
best demonstrates Impact Sciences' substantial understanding of water resources planning and its
relationship with CEQA. Impact Sciences has already been retained to prepare the water analysis for the
OVOV Plan.
Date Completed: 2006
IS Project Mgr. Thomas Worthington
Project: City of Santa Clarita Enterprise Zone EIR
Description: The City of Santa Clarita has applied to the State of California Business, Transportation, and
Housing Agency, and Department of Housing and Community Development for an Enterprise Zone,
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 8-1 City of Santa Clarita
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8. Related Experience
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including community development of approximately 13.5 square miles of primarily commercial and
industrial areas. This zone would not change the existing underlying land use designation of the parcels
to be included in the zone. The Enterprise Zone will promote economic revitalization in the City. Based
r. on the Initial Study review, this EIR focused on a single issue -Land Use and Planning.
Date Completed Ongoing
IS Project Mgr: Margaret Netto
Project: Riverpark EIR
Description This project assessed the potential impacts associated with the development of 695.4 acres
of land for single- and multi -family uses and commercial uses. The project consisted of 1,183 dwelling
units, a maximum of 40,000 square feet of commercial uses, a trail system (Santa Clara River Trail,
Newhall Ranch Road and Santa Clarita Parkway Class I trails, and trail connections from the interior
planning areas), and a 29 -acre active/passive park along the Santa Clara River. The project provided for
utility easements (electric, water, wastewater, etc.), public street rights-of-way, and roughly 442 acres of
open space area. Buildout of the project necessitated the extension of Newhall Ranch Road, (full grading,
4-6 lanes) including the Newhall Ranch Road/Golden Valley Road Bridge over the Santa Clara River, to
the Golden Valley Road/Soledad Canyon Road flyover.
Date Completed 2006
IS Project Manager. Susan Tebo
Project: North Valencia Annexation EIR
Description The project applicant requested the approval of the annexation of 872 acres of land into the
City of Santa Clarita and the entitlement to develop the undeveloped portion of the annexation area. The
applicant also requested approval of a Specific Plan, Vesting Tentative Tract Map (VTTM) 51931, a
General Plan Amendment, a Development Agreement, and an Oak Tree Permit, which govern a series of
development activities on the project site. Many technical studies were completed as part of the EIR
including: a traffic and access study, a master geotechnical/soils analysis, a noise and air quality modeling
analysis, a biological analysis, and a master drainage analysis. Particular effort was expended studying
the issues of floodplain management, biological resource management and conservation, population and
housing, and vehicular traffic access.
Date Completed 2002,
IS Project Manager: Susan Tebo
Project: North Valencia No. 2 EIR
l Description This project assessed the potential environmental impacts associated with the annexation of
596.2 acres of land and the entitlement to develop the undeveloped portion of the annexation area (391.2
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 8-2 City of Santa Clarita
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8. Related Experience
acres). The proposed project included development of 1,900 dwelling units, 210,000 square feet of
commercial uses, a 15.9 -acre community park site, a 20 -acre school site., 4.1 acres of private neighborhood
parks, 93.4 acres of natural open space and over 9 miles of trails This project is located adjacent to San
Francisquito Creek and portions of the project site are within Los Angeles Significant Ecological Area 19.
Date Completed: 2004
IS Project Manager: Susan Tebo
Newhall Ranch "New Town" Specific Plan EIR - Los Angeles County
This project involved preparation of a program Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Newhall
Ranch Specific Plan (along with other related entitlements) to allow the development of the Newhall
Ranch "new -town." Approval of the Specific Plan entitlements will result in the ultimate development of
approximately 22,000 homes and over 5 million square feet of commercial and industrial space over a 25 -
to 30 -year buildout period. Approximately 57,000 people will reside on the Specific Plan site. The
Specific Plan site is approximately 12,000 acres in size and is located in northwest Los Angeles County,
west of the City of Santa Clarita. The site contains two Los Angeles County -designated Significant
Ecological Areas (SEAS): one along the Santa Clara River corridor; the other in the Santa Susana
Mountains. The site also supports several endangered plant and animal species, including the least Bell's
vireo bird, the unarmored threespine stickleback fish, and the San Fernando Valley spineflower. The
EIRs were prepared under the direction of the County of Los Angeles Department of Regional Planning.
The County also supervised the preparation of a document entitled, "The Newhall Ranch Specific Plan
Additional Analysis." As expected for a project of this magnitude, it received a substantial amount of
scrutiny and legal challenge. Topics of interest included impacts to sensitive plants and animals,
floodplain management, geology, air quality, and consistency with County and regional plans and
policies. The Specific Plan included a conservation easement for the protection of the endangered
spineflower. Water supply was a topic that also received great interest. In this case, the applicant
ultimately secured independent water supplies in addition to the use of local groundwater. The Specific
Plan was originally approved by the County of Los Angeles in March 1999, and after considering
additional environmental information, approved the Specific Plan again in May 2003.
Date Completed: 2003
IS Principal: Thomas Worthington
Landmark Village EIR - Newhall Land and Farming
Impact Sciences prepared an EIR for a 291 acre site bordering the Santa Clara River, the Castaic Creek,
rand State Route 126. The project involved improvements within the River Corridor SMA/SEA 23,
1
including Long Canyon Road Bridge, trails, water quality basins, bank stabilization, utility crossings,
storm drain outlets, and potential riparian mitigation sites. Significant issues requiring mitigation
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 8-3 City of Santa Clarita
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8. Related Experience
included water quality, air quality, biota, cultural resources, traffic impacts, agricultural resources, and
visual aesthetics.
Date Completed 2004
IS Project Manager: Susan Tebo
Westridge EIR — County of Los Angeles
Impact Sciences prepared the Draft EIR for the County of Los Angeles assessing the potential
environmental impacts associated with the development of 798 acres in the unincorporated area of the
Santa Clarita Valley. The proposed project included development of 1,714 dwelling units, 18 -hole golf
course, 41,000 square feet of commercial retail uses, an elementary school site, and 226 acres of open
j� space. This EIR was focused to address specific environmental issues, including: biota, visual qualities,
g traffic, air quality, water resources, solid waste, education public services, geotechnical hazards, flood,
and parks, trails and recreation. Impact Sciences was responsible for EIR project management, writing all
EIR section, coordination of technical studies conducted by subconsultants, and preparation of biological,
noise and air quality studies. A portion of this project is located within Los Angeles Significant
Ecological Area 64 (Valley Oak Savannah). This project was litigated and the Superior Court in Kern
County ruled in favor of the County of Los Angeles and the EIR on all issues.
Date Completed 2000
IS Project Manager: Thomas Worthington
Gateway Specific Plan EIR— City of Bakersfield
Impact Sciences is preparing an EIR for a project proposed on approximately 4,000 acres of land located
in an unincorporated portion of Kern County, 12 miles southwest of the center of Bakersfield. The
majority of the Project site is subject to ongoing agricultural activity including cultivation of irrigated and
dry crops as well as a confined animal facility (dairy). The northwest portion of the Project site is largely
undisturbed, relatively flat, and is dominated by upland plant communities including alkali sink scrub,
r+ saltbush scrub, and non-native grassland.
Date Completed Ongoing
IS Principal: Thomas Worthington
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Impact Sciences, Inc. One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
1. May 2007 &-4 City of Santa Clarita
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9. References
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IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
Section 9. References
1. Contact: Jeff Hogan, Senior Planner
City of Santa Clarita
23920 Valencia Boulevard
Suite 300
Santa Clarita, CA 91355-2196
(661)255-4995
Project: Enterprise Zone EIR
IS Project Mgr: Margaret Netto
Project: Riverpark
IS Project Mgr: Susan Tebo
Project: North Valencia No. 2 EIR
IS Project Mgr: Susan Tebo
2. Contact: Glenn Adamick
Newhall Land and Farming
23823 Valencia Boulevard
Valencia, Ca 91355
(661)255-4003
Project: Riverpark EIR
IS Project Mgr. Susan Tebo
3. Contact: Daniel Fierros
Los Angeles County Planning Department
320 West Temple Street, 13th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90012-3225
(213)974-6461
Project: Landmark Village EIR
IS Project Mgr: Susan Tebo
Impact Sciences, Inc. One Vatley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 9-1 City of Santa Clarita
10. Statement of Offer and Signature
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
Section 10. Statement of Offer and Signature
Impact Sciences proposes to prepare the One Valley One Vision EIR for a not to exceed price of $446,842.
This offer is good for 60 days following the submittal date of May 21st, 2007.
Thomas Worth n, President
Impact Sciences
Impact 5ciences, Inc. --- One Valley One Vision EIR Proposal
May 2007 10-1 City of Santa Clarita
Appendix In Resumes
I
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Physical Geography
and Ecosystem Studies, University of
California, Los Angeles, 1984
Master of Business Administration,
Pepperdine University, 1989
Professional Affiliations
Association of Environmental
Professionals
Urban Land Institute
American Management Association
American Planning Association
`- IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
Thomas Worthington
President
Mr. Worthington is one of two founding Principals of Impact
Sciences, Inc., an environmental and land planning consulting
firm created in 1988. He serves as President of Impact Sciences
and oversees the firm's general management. He also provides
environmental consulting services for key clients of the firm.
Since 1983, Mr. Worthington has been responsible for the
preparation of environmental reports and supporting
documentation for large, regionally prominent projects
proposed throughout the state. This broad array of
environmental experience, combined with his business
experience and management abilities, allows Mr. Worthington
to develop and apply workable environmental principals that
address the needs of the key parties involved in the
environmental review process.
Mr. Worthington has particular expertise in the environmental
review of master planned communities and new towns. Most
recently, he was responsible for the preparation of the Newhall
Ranch Specific Plan and Water Reclamation Plant EIR, a
12,000 -acre, 21,000 -home, new town proposed in northern Los
Angeles County. He has also the environmental impacts
associated with many commercial projects including regional
malls, power centers, factory outlet centers, auto malls, and
office and hotel centers. Due to the regional significance of
these projects, all were subject to a very high level of scrutiny
and potential legal challenge. Consequently, Mr. Worthington
has developed solid experience assisting with the defense of
environmental documents in highly charged Court settings. This
broad array of experience gives Mr. Worthington a unique
understanding of the important role environmental consulting
and planning plays in the review and design of major projects.
The availability of water has become a very critical issue
requiring assessment in environmental documents. Through
direct project experience, Mr. Worthington has become one of
the leading experts on water supply assessment and planning in
the state. This experience has proven to be valuable to public
and private sector clients because they address the many
questions posed as a result of limited water resources. Mr.
Worthington also maintains a wide variety of experience
studying a project's impact on sensitive plant and animal species
and their habitats.
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r,
Representative Project Experience
+ Mr. Worthington served as the Principal -in -Charge and Project
Manager for the EIR prepared for the 12,000 -acre, 21,000 -
dwelling unit Newhall Ranch Specific Plan and Water
Reclamation Plant proposed by Lennar's Newhall Land and
Farming Company (NLF) division in Los Angeles County. One
of the most frequently identified issues is the conversion of a
large open area to urban and suburban land uses, and the
impacts that might result. Most of the specific environmental
issues raised concerned the potential Specific Plan impacts on
biological resources, traffic and circulation, public services
including water availability, and air quality. Approval of the
Specific Plan established the zoning necessary for the Ranch to
be developed with 21,000 residential units on 4,493 acres, 91
acres of commercial uses, 256 acres of business park uses, 37
acres of visitor -serving uses, 1,089 acres of open area, 4,763
acres in Special Management Areas (permanent open area),
and other uses such as fire stations, a library, school sites, a
public trails system, a 15 -acre lake, associated community
facilities (roads, bridges, etc.), and a 6.9 -million gallon per day
water reclamation plant.
• Mr. Worthington is the Principal -in -Charge for the subsequent
environmental documents being prepared for the phases of
Newhall Ranch development. The Newhall Ranch Specific
Plan will require approval by the County of the various
subdivision and/or parcel maps, conditional use permits,
and/or oak tree permits necessary to implement the Specific
Plan, and that specific plan implementation activity will
require subsequent project -level environmental review.
+ Mr. Worthington served as the Principal -in -charge for the
North Valencia Annexation and Specific Plan I and II EIRs,
City of Santa Clarita. The project applicant requested the
approval of the annexation of 872 acres of land into the City of
Santa Clarita and the entitlement to develop the undeveloped
portion of the annexation area. Approximately 153 acres of
this area was already developed. The development of the
undeveloped portion of the project (approximately 706.6 acres)
will be guided by the North Valencia Specific Plan. The
applicant also requested approval of a Vesting Tentative Tract
Map (VTTM) 51931, a General Plan Amendment, a
Development Agreement, and an Oak Tree Permit, which
govern a series of development activities on the project site.
Major components of the development include 2,000 dwelling
units, 636,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, 167,000
square feet of industrial/business park space, a 15 -acre lake,
�- IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
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Representative Project Experience
+ Mr. Worthington served as the Principal -in -Charge and Project
Manager for the EIR prepared for the 12,000 -acre, 21,000 -
dwelling unit Newhall Ranch Specific Plan and Water
Reclamation Plant proposed by Lennar's Newhall Land and
Farming Company (NLF) division in Los Angeles County. One
of the most frequently identified issues is the conversion of a
large open area to urban and suburban land uses, and the
impacts that might result. Most of the specific environmental
issues raised concerned the potential Specific Plan impacts on
biological resources, traffic and circulation, public services
including water availability, and air quality. Approval of the
Specific Plan established the zoning necessary for the Ranch to
be developed with 21,000 residential units on 4,493 acres, 91
acres of commercial uses, 256 acres of business park uses, 37
acres of visitor -serving uses, 1,089 acres of open area, 4,763
acres in Special Management Areas (permanent open area),
and other uses such as fire stations, a library, school sites, a
public trails system, a 15 -acre lake, associated community
facilities (roads, bridges, etc.), and a 6.9 -million gallon per day
water reclamation plant.
• Mr. Worthington is the Principal -in -Charge for the subsequent
environmental documents being prepared for the phases of
Newhall Ranch development. The Newhall Ranch Specific
Plan will require approval by the County of the various
subdivision and/or parcel maps, conditional use permits,
and/or oak tree permits necessary to implement the Specific
Plan, and that specific plan implementation activity will
require subsequent project -level environmental review.
+ Mr. Worthington served as the Principal -in -charge for the
North Valencia Annexation and Specific Plan I and II EIRs,
City of Santa Clarita. The project applicant requested the
approval of the annexation of 872 acres of land into the City of
Santa Clarita and the entitlement to develop the undeveloped
portion of the annexation area. Approximately 153 acres of
this area was already developed. The development of the
undeveloped portion of the project (approximately 706.6 acres)
will be guided by the North Valencia Specific Plan. The
applicant also requested approval of a Vesting Tentative Tract
Map (VTTM) 51931, a General Plan Amendment, a
Development Agreement, and an Oak Tree Permit, which
govern a series of development activities on the project site.
Major components of the development include 2,000 dwelling
units, 636,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, 167,000
square feet of industrial/business park space, a 15 -acre lake,
and 348 acres of river/creek-related open space. Many
technical studies were completed as part of the EIR including a
traffic and access study, a master geotechnical/soils analysis, a
noise and air quality modeling analysis, a biological analysis,
and a master drainage analysis. Particular effort was
expended studying the issues of floodplain management,
biological resource management and conservation, population
and housing, and vehicular traffic access. Clearly the most
Cimportant issue was the project's potential effects on the Santa
Clara River and San Francisquito Creek, both of which are
designated Significant Ecological Areas.
• Mr. Worthington served as the Principal -in -Charge for a
USFWS Section 7 Consultation and Mitigation Agreement for
a proposed Petro Stopping Center and Travel Plaza, Kern
County, California. Primary issues focused on direct and
indirect biological impacts associated with the proposed
project including those associated with a package wastewater
j
treatment plant.
• Mr. Worthington served as the Project Manager for the La
Canada Village EIR proposed by Sports Chalet, Inc. in the
City of La Canada-Flintridge. The La Canada Village Project,
which was proposed on the same site as the currently
proposed Sports Chalet project, involved the construction and
operation of a commercial retail and office development.
Overall, the project would have been constructed in three
phases and would have consisted of a total of 117,625 square
feet of retail commercial space, 61,284 square feet of office
space, an 8,500 -square -foot restaurant, a 13,350 -square -foot
multi-plex cinema, and a 2,500 -square -foot day care center.
Key concerns for the project included traffic, noise, visual
effects, and the compatibility of the commercial project with
surrounding residential areas.
• Served as Principal -in -Charge for the Draft and Final EIR for
Decoro Highlands, proposed in the County of Los Angeles.
This project involves the development of 460 residential units
on 70 acres in the unincorporated area of San Francisquito
Canyon. This EIR was focused to address specific
environmental issues, including geotechnical, flooding,
biological resources, traffic, air quality, education, and public
services. Impact Sciences was responsible for EIR project
management, writing all EIR sections, coordination of
technical studies conducted by subconsultants, and
�'--
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC. preparation of biological and air quality studies.
• Mr. Worthington served as the Principal -in -Charge for
Westridge at Valencia, proposed in the County of Los
Angeles. Impact Sciences prepared the EIR for the County of
Los Angeles to assess the potential environmental impacts
associated with the development of 798 acres in the
unincorporated area of the Santa Clarita Valley. The proposed
project includes development of 1,714 dwelling units, an 18 -
hole golf course, 41,000 square feet of commercial retail uses,
an elementary school site, and 226 acres of open space. This
EIR was focused to address specific environmental issues
including biota, visual qualities, traffic, air quality, water
resources, solid waste, education public services, geotechnical
hazards, flood, and parks, trails and recreation. Impact
Sciences was responsible for EIR project management,
preparation of all EIR sections, and preparation of biological,
noise, and air quality studies. A portion of this project is
located within Los Angeles Significant Ecological Area 64
(Valley Oak Savannah). Unique to the project is a PGA
Tournament Players Championship golf course, designed by
touring professional Mark O Mera.
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`- IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
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Education
Master of Public Administration,
California State University, Long Beach
Bachelor of Science, Environmental
Studies (emphasis Urban Planning), San
Jose State University
Professional Affiliations
American Planning Association
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
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Susan Tebo
Associate Principal
Ms. Tebo serves as Associate Principal with Impact Sciences.
Her primary responsibilities include: environmental document
preparation, agency consultation, project scheduling, budget
supervision and control, subconsultant coordination, client
contacts, presentation and testimony before public agencies and
private groups. Ms. Tebo has over 25 years of professional
experience in environmental review, resource management, and
land use planning. She has managed and prepared
environmental documents in compliance with the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Representative Project Experience
+ Managed the Riverpark EIR prepared for the City of Santa
Clarita assessing the potential impacts associated with the
development of 695.4 acres of land for single- and multi -family
uses and commercial uses. The project consists of
1,183 dwelling units (439 single-family and 744 multi -family
units), a maximum of 40,000 square feet of commercial uses, a
trail system (Santa Clara River Trail, Newhall Ranch Road and
Santa Clarita Parkway Class I trails, and trail connections from
the interior planning areas), and a 29 -acre active/passive park
along the Santa Clara River. The project would also provide
for utility easements (electric, water, wastewater, etc.), public
street rights-of-way, and roughly 442 acres of open space area,
which includes most of the Santa Clara River. Buildout of the
project necessitates the extension of Newhall Ranch Road,
(full grading, 4-6 lanes) including the Newhall Ranch
Road/Golden Valley Road Bridge over the Santa Clara River, to
the Golden Valley Road/Soledad Canyon Road flyover.
• Managed the North Valencia No. 2 EIR project for the City of
Santa Clarita assessing the potential environmental impacts
associated with the annexation of 596.2 acres of land and the
entitlement to develop the undeveloped portion of the
annexation area (391.2 acres). The proposed project includes
development of 1,900 dwelling units, 210,000 square feet of
commercial uses, a 15.9 -acre community park site, a 20 -acre
school site, 4.1 acres of private neighborhood parks, 93.4 acres
of natural open space and over 9 miles of trails and paseos.
This project is located adjacent to San Francisquito Creek and
portions of the project site are within Los Angeles Significant
Ecological Area 19.
W..IMPACT
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SCIENCES, INC.
• Serves a Project Manager for the 292.6 -acre Landmark Village
tract map site located in the first phase of the Riverwood
Village within the boundary of the approved Newhall Ranch
Specific Plan. To facilitate development of the Landmark
Village tract map site, several off-site project -related
components would be developed on an additional 750.9 acres
of land that, for the most part, is within the approved Specific
Plan boundary. For purposes of this EIR the "tract map site"
refers to the proposed location of the Landmark Village
development site itself, and the "project site" generally
includes the tract map site, and the Adobe Canyon borrow site,
the Chiquito Canyon grading site, the utility corridor, the
water tank sites, the Long Canyon Road Bridge, bank
stabilization, drainage improvements and related haul routes.
The entire project site comprises approximately 1,044 gross
acres.
• Serves as Project Manager for the Mission Village EIR to
develop 1,252.27 acres of property located within the
northeastern corner of Newhall Ranch in western
unincorporated Los Angeles County, south of the Santa Clara
River and State Route 126 (SR -126), and west of Interstate 5 (I-
5). The project requests approval of 5,331 residences (291
single-family homes, and 5,040 multi -family units ), 1.299
million square feet of commercial/mixed-uses, an 8.97 -acre
elementary school, 46.98 acres of parks, public and private
recreational facilities, trails, and road improvements would be
permitted within the Mission Village site within the boundary
of the approved Newhall Ranch Specific Plan.
• Managed the Valley Street/Calgrove Boulevard Amendment
to the Circulation Element of the General Plan ANDCul-de-
Sac Project which consisted amending the Circulation Element
of the General Plan to remove the secondary highway
designation from a portion of Calgrove Boulevard and Valley
Street between Creekside Drive and Maple Street. The project
will formalize the existing barricade condition with the
installation of two terminus -abutting cul-de-sacs'—to be
located approximately between the existing barricades. The
barricades would be removed and no vehicular access to the
Hidden Valley private gate would be permitted. The proposed
project was extremely controversial and public emotions ran
high at most, if not all, of the public hearings on the project.
• Managed the North Valencia Annexation EIR. The project
applicant requested the approval of the annexation of 872 acres
of land into the City of Santa Clarita and the entitlement to
develop the undeveloped portion of the annexation area. The
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IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
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applicant also requested approval of a Specific Plan, Vesting
Tentative Tract Map (VTTM) 51931, a General Plan
Amendment, a Development Agreement, and an Oak Tree
Permit, which govern a series of development activities on the
project site. Many technical studies were completed as part of
the EIR including: a traffic and access study, a master
geotechnical/soils analysis, a noise and air quality modeling
analysis, a biological analysis, and a master drainage analysis.
Particular effort was expended studying the issues of
floodplain management, biological resource management and
conservation, population and housing, and vehicular traffic
access.
• Serves a Project Director for the Robinson's -May EIR located
in the City of Beverly Hills. The project as proposed involves
the redevelopment of the property located at 9900 Wilshire
Boulevard. The existing Robinsons -May department store
building and associated parking structure would be replaced
with 252 luxury condominium residences in four separate
buildings, approximately 19,856 square feet of commercial
space fronting Santa Monica Boulevard, a two-level
subterranean parking garage containing a total of 949 parking
spaces, and landscaped gardens and other open space
throughout the project site. The landscaped gardens would
cover the majority of the project site and include an
approximately one -half -acre entry garden with public access
fronting Wilshire Boulevard. The project would incorporate
environmentally sensitive and sustainable design features such
that the project would potentially qualify for the LEED Gold
certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
• Serves as Project Director for the proposed Beverly Hilton
Oasis project would redevelop and reconfigure the Beverly
Hilton property through the introduction of 104 new
condominium -hotel units, 96 new condominium units, 96 new
hotel rooms, new hotel retail and office facilities, a conference
center, a restaurant, and outdoor landscaped areas. Project
implementation would remove 181 existing Palm/Oasis Court
hotel rooms and 36 existing Lanai Rooms. The three -winged
Wilshire Tower containing 352 guestrooms would remain.
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Margaret Netto
PR Senior Project Manager
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science,
University California, Los Angeles
Master of Public Administration, San
Francisco State University
Professional Affiliations
American Planning Association
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
d
Ms. Netto has 18 years of professional experience as a land use
planner within the public and private sectors. She has extensive
experience in land use and policy planning, entitlement
management of development projects; environmental analysis
and report preparation. Ms. Netto has provided contract
planning services for the City of San Carlos where she provided
consultation services on special projects such as the Railroad
Land Use Advisory Committee, Retail Task Force Committee,
annexation applications, lot line adjustments and legislative
amendments for the City of San Carlos. As a planner for the City
of San Carlos. Ms. Netto prepared staff reports and presented
recommendations to the Planning Commission and City Council
for subdivision, annexations, multi -family and commercial
applications. Ms. Netto has also provided contract planning
services for other Bay Area communities.
Representative Project Experience
• Project Manager for the City of Santa Clarita Enterprise Zone
EIR. The City of Santa Clarita has applied to the State of
California Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency, and
Department of Housing and Community Development for an
Enterprise Zone, including community development of
approximately 13.5 square miles of primarily commercial and
industrial areas. This zone would not change the existing
underlying land use designation of the parcels to be included
in the zone. The Enterprise Zone will promote economic
revitalization in the City. Based on the Initial Study review,
this EIR focused on a single issue -Land Use and Planning.
• Managed sections of an EIR for the Neptune Marina
Apartments and Anchorage/Woodfin Suite Hotel and
Timeshare Resort. The proposed project is located in the
western portion of the Marina del Rey small -craft harbor.
Specifically, the project site totals 13.031andside acres and 4.58
waterside . or submerged acres. The project involves
development of 526 residential dwelling units, a 19 -story
building with 288 hotel and timeshare suites, 174 private boat
spaces, 11 public boat spaces, a public promenade, and a
restored public park consisting of restored wetland and an
upland area. The project would require amendments to the
Local Coastal Program (Marina del Rey Land Use Plan and
Marina del Rey Specific Plan); Coastal Development Permits;
Conditional Use Permits; Variances; a Tentative Map approval;
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IMPACT SCIENCES,
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and a Parking Permit. Key issues studied in the EIR Land Use
and Planning, Solid Waste, Air Quality, Traffic, and Population
and Housing environments.
• Managed the preparation of certification of the final EIR,
findings and mitigation monitoring plan for the Neptune
Marina Project EIR. The project proposed the replacement of
existing apartments and boat anchorages with higher density
residential and recreational uses in Marina Del Rey. The EIR
involved a complex structure designed to allow the project
applicant to submit independent or combined development
applications for distinct phases of the project.
• Prepared sections for the King City Silva Specific Plan EIR.
The project is development of 600 acres directly north of the
King City Airport in Monterey County. The project proposes
the development of a new Planned Community comprised of
single-family detached residential units, multi -family
residential dwelling units, commercial uses, parks and open
space uses, agricultural buffer, and other facilities and
amenities. Associated actions required for implementing the
project, including annexation of the Specific Plan Area into the
King City's Sphere of Influence, amending the General Plan
land use designations to reflect the Specific Plan, rezoning the
site from Agriculture to Planned Development and a
Development Agreement. Key issues studied Agriculture
Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources (potential impacts
to special status species), Hazards (proximity to the King City
Airport), Traffic (inadequate emergency access), Public
Services (the need for an increase in police, fire, school,
libraries). Responsibilities included preparation of the
Hydrology/Water Section, Public Utilities Section and the
Land Use and Planning Section of the EIR.
• Managed Land Use Section for Downtown Addition Specific
Plan EIR. The project proposes to convert a largely
agricultural area of land into a mixed-use urban
neighborhood. The 107.5 -acre project site is located within the
city limits of King City in Monterey County. Proposed land
uses include single and multi -family residential units, live -
work and work -live units, commercial office and retail space,
and public open space and recreation areas. Associated
actions required for implementing the project include General
Plan Amendment, rezoning the site from Agricultural,
Primary Floodplain, Light Industrial, and General Commercial
to Planned Development, and adoption of the Specific Plan by
the City Council. Key issues included Agriculture Resources
(conversion of prime farmland), Traffic, Public Services (the
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IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
need for an increase in police, fire, school, libraries), and
Utilities and Service Systems (the need for increased water
supply infrastructure and waste water services).
Responsibilities included preparation of the Land Use and
Planning Section.
• Managed the preparation of public utilities section for the
Pelandale/McHenry Specific Plan EIR. This highly
controversial project would develop residential, commercial,
and open space land use designations on a partially developed
82 -acre site in the City of Modesto. Major CEQA issues
associated with the project include circulation (site access),
noise associated with the construction of a future expressway
adjacent to the site, impacts to the existing visual character of
the neighborhood, drainage, and feasibility of utility
infrastructure.
• As a contract planner for the City of San Carlos, managed
controversial annexation project. The project proposed
prezoning to single family residential and annexation to the
City of San Carlos. Subsequent to approval of the Initial
Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration new information
regarding presence of a California species became available.
With the new information available and the sensitivity of the
biological sources of the site, the City prepared an EIR.
• As a contract planner for the "City of San Carlos managed a
large mixed use project on EI Camino Real. The proposed
project involved removing existing buildings and constructing
a 94,432 -square -foot mixed use project. The project includes
104 residential units, 8,500 square feet of retail/office space
within a four story building at grade with one level of
underground parking. Ms. Netto prepared the Initial Study
and Mitigated Negative Declaration and coordinated
aesthesis, traffic and water quality sections with
environmental consultants.
• Managed preparation of a master plan and civil engineering
site improvements for Bay Meadows Development in San
Mateo. At project build -out, this 175 -acre site will combine
offices, residential single family units, apartment, commercial
and hotels in a village style community at Bay Meadows. As
part of the approval process for the project, Ms. Netto was
responsible for compliance with mitigation measures adopted
as part of the Final Environmental Impact Report as specified
in the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program.
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Education
Bachelor of Arts, College of Arts and
Sciences, Ohio State University
Masters in City and Regional Planning,
College of Engineering, Ohio State
University
Professional Affiliations
Association of Environmental
Professionals
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INC.
Rosemarie Mamaghani
Senior Air/Noise Quality Analyst
Ms. Mamaghani is a senior project manager with 24 years of
experience in preparing Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs),
Negative Declarations, Initial Studies, Categorical Exemptions,
and required CEQA noticing for political jurisdictions
throughout California. She prepares air quality impact
analyses using URBEMIS2002 and noise impact analyses using
the FHWA-approved Caltrans model SOUND32/2000 and the
FHWA's Traffic Noise Model (TNM), in addition to assessing
impacts associated with many environmental topics. Ms.
Mamaghani has prepared a number of noise studies adjacent to
busy Southern California freeways, including the heavily
traveled Interstate 5 (I-5).
Representative Project Experience
• Riverpark EIR for the Valencia Company, City of Santa
Clarita, Los Angeles County. Ms. Mamaghani prepared a
number of technical studies for the project, which is comprised
of 744 multi -family and 439 single-family residences, and
40,000 square feet of commercial retail uses. Much of the
project site is along a busy major arterial, and two arterials are
proposed through the site, making traffic noise impacts on the
future residences a key issue. Ms. Mamaghani conducted the
complex noise impact analysis with both SOUND32/2000 and
the FHWA's TNM, and she specified mitigation to reduce the
traffic noise impacts to the extent feasible.
• Pelandale/McHenry Specific Plan Noise Impact Analysis,
Stanislaus County for the City of Modesto. Using the FHWA's
TNM, project future noise contours on an 85 -acre site located
at the southwest corner of a major arterial and a future
elevated expressway. Existing noise measurements were taken
at six on-site locations for model calibration.
• Newhall Ranch EIR/EIS Noise Contour Study, Los Angeles
County for the Newhall Land & Farming Company. Future
roadway noise contours for SR -126 and 10 future on-site major
arterials within Newhall Ranch were calculated for six
development scenarios for the Newhall Ranch EIR/EIS. Noise
levels were predicted for traffic conditions at Santa Clarita
Valley buildout using the FHWA's TNM.
• Westview
Estates for Centura
Investments, Inc.,
N- IMPACT SCIENCES,
Lancaster,
Los Angeles County.
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prepared
INC.
Rosemarie Mamaghani
Senior Air/Noise Quality Analyst
Ms. Mamaghani is a senior project manager with 24 years of
experience in preparing Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs),
Negative Declarations, Initial Studies, Categorical Exemptions,
and required CEQA noticing for political jurisdictions
throughout California. She prepares air quality impact
analyses using URBEMIS2002 and noise impact analyses using
the FHWA-approved Caltrans model SOUND32/2000 and the
FHWA's Traffic Noise Model (TNM), in addition to assessing
impacts associated with many environmental topics. Ms.
Mamaghani has prepared a number of noise studies adjacent to
busy Southern California freeways, including the heavily
traveled Interstate 5 (I-5).
Representative Project Experience
• Riverpark EIR for the Valencia Company, City of Santa
Clarita, Los Angeles County. Ms. Mamaghani prepared a
number of technical studies for the project, which is comprised
of 744 multi -family and 439 single-family residences, and
40,000 square feet of commercial retail uses. Much of the
project site is along a busy major arterial, and two arterials are
proposed through the site, making traffic noise impacts on the
future residences a key issue. Ms. Mamaghani conducted the
complex noise impact analysis with both SOUND32/2000 and
the FHWA's TNM, and she specified mitigation to reduce the
traffic noise impacts to the extent feasible.
• Pelandale/McHenry Specific Plan Noise Impact Analysis,
Stanislaus County for the City of Modesto. Using the FHWA's
TNM, project future noise contours on an 85 -acre site located
at the southwest corner of a major arterial and a future
elevated expressway. Existing noise measurements were taken
at six on-site locations for model calibration.
• Newhall Ranch EIR/EIS Noise Contour Study, Los Angeles
County for the Newhall Land & Farming Company. Future
roadway noise contours for SR -126 and 10 future on-site major
arterials within Newhall Ranch were calculated for six
development scenarios for the Newhall Ranch EIR/EIS. Noise
levels were predicted for traffic conditions at Santa Clarita
Valley buildout using the FHWA's TNM.
• Westview
Estates for Centura
Investments, Inc.,
City of
Lancaster,
Los Angeles County.
Ms. Mamaghani
prepared
both the
Specific Plan and
the EIR for this
120 -acre
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development project of 425 single-family residences. The
project site lies outside the urban core of the City of Lancaster
and required extension of sewer and water infrastructure to
the site. The development proposal was assessed for its
environmental impacts on agricultural, geotechnical,
biological, cultural resources, air quality, noise, the local
transportation system, and public services and facilities. The
project was eventually assessed as a residential planned
development rather than as a specific plan.
• Landmark Village and Mission Village components of
Newhall Ranch for NLF, Los Angeles County. Ms.
Mamaghani prepared the air quality and noise impact
analyses for both of these components of Newhall Ranch.
Detailed construction air emissions were calculated using a
model designed by Ms. Mamaghani based on URBEMIS2002,
South Coast Air Quality Management District guidelines and
recommendations, and EMFAC2002 data for specific pieces of
construction equipment. The noise impact analyses and
mitigation specifications were based on the FHWA's TNM.
• Westridge at Valencia EIR for Valencia Company, Los Angeles
County. Ms. Mamaghani prepared sections of the EIR for the
798 -acre development in an unincorporated area of the Santa
Clarita Valley. The project included 1,714 dwelling units, an
18 -hole golf course, 41,000 square feet of commercial retail
uses, an elementary school site, and 226 acres of open space.
The focus of the EIR was air quality, biota, visual qualities,
traffic, water resources, solid waste, education, and public
services sections of the EIR.
• Westcreek Development Project for the Valencia Company,
Los Angeles County. Ms. Mamaghani prepared the air quality
and noise sections for this 572 -acre development project for
2,400 dwelling units and an 18 -hole golf course.
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Daryl Koutnik
Managing Principal, Biology Group
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Education
Dr. Koutnik has over 25 years of experience in biology and
Bachelor of Arts, Mathematics and
project management. He has directed, managed, or conducted a
Biology, California State University,
broad range of plant and wildlife studies, biological resource
Northridge
inventories, sensitive species surveys, environmental impact
Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy,
assessments, biological constraints analyses, habitat restoration
University of California, Davis
plans, and mitigation monitoring plans for a variety of private
and public sector clients throughout southern California.
Dr. Koutnik has a thorough understanding of the California
Environmental Quality Act, having worked and managed the
environmental review section of the Los Angeles County
Department of Regional Planning for more than fourteen years.
He has managed more than 30 environmental impact reports
within Los Angeles County, ranging from residential, industrial
and educational developments.
Dr. Koutnik has broad knowledge of both State and Federal
Endangered Species Acts, and state and federal regulations
involving biological resources. His biological expertise includes
knowledge of a wide range of biological and ecological
relationships, with particular emphasis on habitat impact
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analysis, special -status plant species, and wildlife movement
corridors. He has an exceptional knowledge of the southern
California flora and was an active participant to the drafting of
the West Mojave Plan for multi -species habitat conservation.
Dr. Koutnik is a contributor to the Jepson Manual of California
of Flowering Plants as well as the Desert Manual. He is
recognized internationally as an expert on prostrate spurges and
other members of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). He is co-
author on the book Tylecodon and Cotyledon published in 2004.
Representative Professional Experience
• Managed the preparation and certification of the EIR for a
13,000 -acre Specific Plan area located near Magic Mountain
Entertainment Center in Valencia, California. Environmental
factors analyzed included: oak resource management per
County of Los Angeles requirements, SEA stewardship for
both the Santa Clara River and the Santa Susanna Mountains,
and detailed water resource analysis in completing re-
certification of the EIR. Coordinated all subsequent
environmental reports through 2006, including individual
residential and wastewater treatment development located
IMPACT SCIENCES, iNC.
within the Specific Plan area.
t
• Managed and coordinated the Significant Ecological Areas
Technical Advisory Committee of Los Angeles County in
implementing that jurisdiction's General Plan designated
Significant Ecological Areas (SEAS).
• Initiated and managed the Los Angeles County Environmental
Review Board (ERB) for development proposed with the
Coastal Zone of the Santa Monica Mountains.
• Managed for the County of Los Angeles the preparation and
certification of the EIR for the Cemex Surface Mining project
in Soledad Canyon.
• Managed the preparation and certification of the Athens
Waste Disposal materials recovery facility near the City of
Industry.
• Managed the preparation and certification of the EIR for the
replacement conditional use permit of the Sunshine Canyon
Landfill near the City of Los Angeles.
• Managed the preparation of the 3,600 -unit Northlake
residential project in the community of Castaic.
IMPACT SCIENCES, .INC.
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Education
Master of Science, Ecology, University
of California at Davis
Bachelor of Science, Engineering,
University of California at Los Angeles
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IMPACTSCIENCES
INC.
David J. Deckman, QEP
Senior Air Quality Analyst
Mr. Deckman is an environmental engineer with 30 years of
environmental compliance experience, including 24 years in the
air quality field. He is certified as a Qualified Environmental
Professional by the Institute of Professional Environmental
Practice.
Mr. Deckman's has managed and prepared air quality technical
analyses for Environmental Impact Reports and Statements and
Initial Studies for numerous facilities including a petroleum bulk
terminal, hazardous waste treatment and storage facilities, a
fiberglass manufacturing plant, internodal freight and trucking
facilities, a regional composting facility, a military base closure,
manufacturing facilities, and a regional landfill.
Representative Project Experience
• Sun City Tehama EIR for County of Tehama. Managed
preparation of an air quality assessment for an active adult
community in northern Tehama County. Project included
3,700 single-family residential units, commercial and retail
uses, a golf course, and a wastewater treatment plant.
• 100 Mayfield EIR for Cities of Mountain View and Palo
Alto. Managed preparation of an air quality assessment for
a residential development consisting of 578 single-family
units and condominiums. The residential units would
replace an existing office complex.
• Shores EIR for County of Los Angeles. Managed
preparation of an air quality assessment for a proposed 544 -
unit, multi -family, residential complex in Marina del Rey.
The assessment included estimates of construction
emissions, including demolition of existing buildings, motor
vehicle emissions, and area source emissions. The
assessment also included a dispersion modeling analysis of
the ambient air quality impacts during construction to
satisfy the South Coast localized significance threshold
procedures. Prepared air quality elements of Initial Study.
• Neptune Marina Apartments and Anchorage EIR for
County of Los Angeles. Managed preparation of an air
quality assessment for a proposed 526 -unit, multi -family,
residential complex in Marina del Rey. The assessment
included estimates of construction emissions, including
demolition of existing buildings, motor vehicle emissions,
and area source emissions.
The assessment also included a dispersion modeling analysis
of the ambient air quality impacts during construction to
satisfy the South Coast localized significance threshold
procedures.
• Riverwalk EIR for City of Rio Vista. Managed preparation
of an air quality assessment for a combination of single- and
multi -family residential, commercial, and open space
development in the City of Rio Vista in Solano County.
IMPACT SCIENCES.. INC.
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Education
B.A., Environmental Studies,
University
of California at Santa Barbara
Professional Affiliations
American Planning Association - Los
Angeles Section
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Minta Schaefer
Project Planner
Ms. Schaefer is a project planner with diverse experience in
environmental impact analysis and urban planning in both the
public and private sector. She has prepared environmental
documents, including Initial Studies, Environmental. Impact
Reports (EIRs), Supplemental EIRs, Addendums, and Mitigation
Monitoring Reports. She has prepared a wide variety of
technical sections, including aesthetics, air quality, cultural
resources, geology and soils, hazards and hazardous materials,
hydrology and water quality, land use and planning, noise,
population and housing, public services, transportation/traffic,
and utilities. Additionally, Ms. Schaefer has specific technical
expertise in the assessment of air quality and noise impacts and
is a member of the Impact Sciences Air Quality Group.
Representative Professional Experience
• Landmark Village EIR - Performed environmental analysis
and assisted in preparation of CEQA documentation for an
EIR for the first subdivision map filed within the Newhall
Ranch Specific Plan. The proposed project consists of 1,444
residential units, along with 1 million square feet of
commercial and mixed-use space, a 9 -acre elementary school,
a 16 -acre community park, private trails, and road
improvements.
• Mission Village EIR - Performed environmental analysis and
assisted in preparation of CEQA documentation for a project -
level EIR for a 1,252- acre Specific Plan component of the
Newhall Ranch Specific Plan. The proposed project consists of
5,331 residences, 1,299 million square feet of
commercial/mixed-uses, an 8.97 -acre elementary school, and
47 acres of parks, public and private recreational facilities and
trails.
• The Shores EIR - Contributed to the environmental analysis
for a proposed 544 -unit, multi -family, residential complex in
Marina del Rey. Impact analyses prepared by Ms. Schaefer
included the noise and solid waste sections of the EIR. Ms.
Schaefer also conducted noise monitoring required to
complete the noise impact analysis and managed the
development of all graphics included in the EIR.
• Neptune Marina Apartments and Anchorage EIR -
Contributed to the environmental analysis for a proposed
development consisting of 526 residential dwelling units, 161
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
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boat slips, and 1,167 parking spaces in Marina del Rey. Impact
analyses prepared by Ms. Schaefer included the noise,
hydrology and drainage, water service, solid waste, and sewer
service sections of the EIR.
• California State University, Northridge Master Plan EIR —
Performed environmental analysis and assisted in preparation
of CEQA documentation for an EIR for the thirty-year
California State University, Northridge Master Plan. A key
Master Plan objective was to comply with a California State
University mandate to plan for the anticipated growth of
10,000 additional enrolled students. Issues of greatest
importance were traffic and parking.
• Lake Nuevo Village Supplemental EIR — Performed
environmental analysis and assisted in preparation of CEQA
documentation for the Supplemental EIR. The Supplemental
EIR involved the request to reconfigure the design plan
approved in the Final EIR for a residential development in
unincorporated Riverside County. An issue of importance was
the conversion of agricultural land.
• University Gateway EIR — Performed environmental analysis
and assisted in preparation of CEQA documentation for an
EIR for the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency
with respect to a proposed student housing and
retail/commercial project adjacent to the University of
Southern California. Parking, aesthetics, historic resources,
and consistency with applicable land -use plans are key issues
being assessed in this EIR.
• Sun City Shadow Hills Project Master Plan Final EIR
Addendum — Performed environmental analysis and assisted
in preparation of CEQA documentation for the Addendum to
the Final EIR. The proposed project involved the addition of
305 acres and 971 single-family residential units to the 771 -
acre, 3,102 residential unit project site. Critical issues were the
conversion of agricultural land and noise and air quality
impacts during construction.
Sara Morton
Staff Planner
Education
Ms. Morton is a staff planner with experience in environmental
Bachelor of Science,
research, planning and analysis. She has assisted in the preparation
Molecular Environmental Biology,
of environmental documents pursuant to CEQA including Initial
University of California, Berkeley
Studies, and Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs). She has
prepared a variety of sections for EIR's including agriculture, air
quality, cultural resources, geology and soils, public services,
recreation, traffic and utilities impact analyses. She has previous
experience with federal environmental regulations and compliance
with the Department of the Interior, Office of Environmental Policy
and Compliance.
Representative Professional Experience
• Staff Planner for the City of Santa Clarita Enterprise Zone EIR. If
approved, the project would provide tax incentives for
commercial and industrial businesses within the proposed
Enterprise Overlay Zone. The major issue associated with the
project is consistency with land use policies. Responsibilities
included preparation of the alternatives, growth -inducing
impacts, and other CEQA sections.
• Staff Planner for the Neptune Marina Apartments and
Anchorage/ Woodfin Suites Hotel and Timeshare Resort Project,
for the City of Marina Del Rey. The controversial project includes
development of apartments, hotel and timeshare resort, restored
wetland and upland park, and public anchorage. Ms. Morton is
assisting with the preparation of all EIR sections.
• Staff Planner for the North Park Commercial Air Quality Study.
The proposed project would construct a commercial center in the
City of Pittsburg, including a gas dispensing facility with a
convenience store and car wash, an automobile repair center, a
drive-thru restaurant, and a retail center. Ms. Morton was
responsible preparing the technical study, and determining project
impacts associated with area, vehicular and stationary source
emissions.
• Staff Planner for the 494 Forbes EIR. The proposed project would
develop two office/ research and development buildings in the
City of South San Francisco. Ms. Morton was responsible for
preparation of aesthetics, air.quality, and utilities sections.
• Staff Planner for the Hercules Multimodal Transit System EIR.
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IMPACT S c 1 E N C E S, INC, This proposed project would develop ferry terminal, train and bus
station in the City of Hercules' historic waterfront. Major issues
associated with the project include transportation, biological
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resources, aesthetics, and cultural resources. Ms. Morton is
assisting as Deputy Project Manager and is preparing the project
description, air quality, cultural resources, public services,
recreation, and aesthetics sections.
• Staff Planner for the Civic Tower Air Quality Study. The project
would include construction of a restaurant and office tower,
including a public library and commercial retail space, in the City
of Pittsburg. Ms. Morton was responsible for preparing the study,
utilizing URBEMIS 8.7 to calculate project emissions.
• Staff Planner for the Young Nak Retreat Center EIR. The project
would improve and expand an existing camp and retreat center,
including construction and operation of a parking area, an office
building, a dormitory, a cafeteria, a swimming pool, an outdoor
amphitheater, a chapel retreat center, and meeting rooms in Los
Angeles County, CA. Ms. Morton assisted in the preparation of
the EIR, including preparation of the sewer services section.
• Staff Planner for the Silva Project EIR. The project includes a
maximum of 2,400 residential units of various types, commercial
space, two potential school sites, parks, and open space in King
City, CA. Prior to development, the project site would be annexed
to the City of King. Important CEQA issues in this EIR will
include agricultural conversion, the required expansion of
infrastructure and public services, traffic and related air quality
impacts, and population and housing growth. Ms. Morton is
prepared the public services and recreation, and traffic sections.
+ Staff Planner for Downtown Addition EIR in King City, CA. This
project is a mixed-use urban neighborhood with a live -work focus
immediately adjacent to the existing downtown. Key issues in the
EIR will include agricultural conversion, population and housing
growth, traffic and related air quality issues, noise impacts from
an adjacent railway, and infrastructure expansion. Ms. Morton is
preparing the cultural resources, public services and recreation,
traffic, and utilities sections.
• Staff Planner for Grosvenor Court Project EIR in County of Los
Angeles. The project would develop a 218 -unit apartment
complex of two buildings with associated parking and
landscaping, and pedestrian and automobile access and
circulation routes. Issues of concern for the project include
transportation, air quality, and noise from the increased traffic, as
well as geology due to the seismic activity. Ms. Morton assisted in
preparation of technical sections.
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• Staff Planner for the Pelandale/McHenry Specific Plan EIR. This
highly controversial project would development residential,
commercial, and open space land use designations on a partially
developed 82 -acre site in City of Modesto. Key CEQA issues such
as noise levels and water quality stemmed from the many right-of-
ways on site including an irrigation canal, and a future overpass.
Other key issues included hazards from pesticide levels in the soil
and loss of habitat for special -status bird species. Ms. Morton
conducted a peer review of the applicant's Land Evaluation and
Site Assessment (LESA) Model, and prepared a LESA for the
project site. She also assisted in the preparation and production of
technical sections for the EIR.
• Staff Planner for Riverwalk Project EIR in the City of Rio Vista,
CA. The proposed project involves creation of a master -planned
community, including a combination of single- and multi -family
residential, commercial, and open space development. Ms.
Morton assisted in preparing the EIR, including preparation of
technical sections.
• Staff Planner for the Flying J EIR. Ms. Morton assisted with the
preparation of the Final EIR for the installation of a Flying J gas
station and travel plaza in Dixon, CA. The proposed project
includes a 17,638 -square -foot travel plaza with a 24-hour
convenient store, restaurant, fast food court, driver lounges,
laundry and shower facilities, as well as fueling services for diesel
and automobile vehicles. The main issues in this EIR included air
quality impacts from idling vehicles, traffic impacts, agricultural
conversion, and hazards associated with underground storage
tanks.
• Staff Planner for the 75 Willow Road EIR and 321 Middlefield
Road EIR for the City of Menlo Park. The 75 Willow Project
would convert a former commercial site to residential uses. The
321 Middlefield project would renovate an existing office use for
future medical offices. Ms. Morton assisted with preparation of
the Final EIR for both projects.
Christopher Graham
Staff Planner
Education
Mr. Graham is a staff planner with experience in environmental
California State University, Channel Islands.
analysis for a variety of development projects. He has assisted
B.S. Degree: Environmental Science &
in the preparation of environmental documents pursuant to
Resource Management, December 2006
CEQA including Initial Studies and Environmental Impact
Reports (EIRs). Mr. Graham has prepared a variety of sections
for EIRs for residential, mixed use and commercial projects.
Representative Professional Experience
• Landmark Village - Assisted in the preparation of response
to comments for Landmark Village, a portion of the Newhall
Ranch Specific Plan. The project applicant proposes to
develop the 292.6 -acre Landmark Village tract map site. The
land uses proposed as part of the Landmark Village tract map
site are consistent with the approved Newhall Ranch Specific
Plan. The Specific Plan's approved Land Use Plan designates
the tract map site for single- and multi -family residential,
mixed-use, and commercial land uses. The Landmark Village
tract map site proposes construction of 1,444 residential
dwelling units (308 single-family units, 1136 multi -family
units), 1,033,000 square feet of mixed use/commercial uses, a
9 -acre elementary school, a 16 -acre community park, public
and private recreational facilities, trails, and road
improvements.
• Preparing an Initial Study for the City of Gardena. The
project proposal consists of a request to construct a 4,700 -
square -foot commercial building that will house a
Washington Mutual Bank branch.
• Preparing a Traffic Section for the Amargosa Creek Specific
Plan Program EIR. The project consists of a 152 -acre site in
the City of Lancaster. Permitted uses on the site would
include retail and office uses, a hotel, and a medical facility.
• Preparing a Public Services Section and Utilities Section for
the River Ranch Project located in the City of Barstow. The
project consists of a 150.5 -acre area of land that is proposing
the development of 301 residential lots.
• Assisting in the preparation of a Water Supply Assessment
section and Agricultural Resources Section for the East Area 1
project located in the City of Santa Paula. The project consists
IMPACT SCIENCES, INC.
of converting agricultural land to a residential development
of 1,500 single-family and multi -family residences.
• Preparing a Traffic Section, Public Services Section and
Utilities Section for the Wilshire/La Brea Apartment
Development. The project consists of a mixed-use
development consisting of 645 apartment units and 42,500
square feet of retail space.
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