HomeMy WebLinkAbout02160029_Sec01-00_IntroductionWest Ming Specific Plan - Draft EIR Introduction
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SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 - Purpose of the EIR
1.1.1 - Authority and Purpose
The City of Bakersfield (City), as lead agency pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA), Public Resources Code Section 21000, et seq., prepared this draft environmental impact
report (Draft EIR) to identify and evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with
implementation of the annexation, general plan amendments, specific plan, zone changes,
development agreement, Federal Emergency Management Agency letter of map revisions, and related
approvals proposed for the West Ming Project. This document is a Program EIR and has been
prepared in conformance with CEQA; the CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title
14, Section 15000 et seq.); and the rules, regulations, and procedures for implementing CEQA as
adopted by the City of Bakersfield. The proposed project will result in the establishment of a new
community that will be developed in accordance with the provisions and regulations outlined in the
West Ming Project. The Specific Plan includes a maximum of 7,450 residential units, 478,880 square
feet of commercial, 331,200 square feet of town center commercial and mixed use, 1,135,000 square
feet of special uses (light industrial, mineral and petroleum, public facilities, open space, parks, public
transportation, office and other uses as permitted by the Specific Plan).
CEQA requires that all state and local government agencies consider the environmental consequences
of projects over which they have discretionary authority before taking action on them. The purpose
of this Draft EIR is to inform agencies and the public of significant environmental effects associated
with the proposed project, describe and evaluate reasonable alternatives to the project, and propose
mitigation measures that would avoid or reduce the project’s significant effects.
In accordance with Section 15121(a) of the CEQA Guidelines, the purpose of an EIR is to serve as an
informational document that will inform public agency decision-makers and the public generally of
the significant environmental effect of a project, identify possible ways to minimize the significant
effects, and describe reasonable alternatives to the project.
The proposed project requires discretionary approvals from the City as well as other public agencies
as outlined in Section 3.6; therefore, it is subject to the requirements of CEQA.
This Draft EIR evaluates the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the proposed project and
alternatives in a comprehensive single environmental document, in accordance with the provisions set
forth in CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines. It will be used to address potentially significant
environmental issues and to recommend adequate and feasible mitigation measures, where possible,
that could reduce or eliminate significant environmental impacts. To that end, the Draft EIR will
serve as the primary reference document for the formulation and implementation of a mitigation
monitoring or reporting program for the proposed project.
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This EIR will also be used to determine whether subsequent environmental documentation will be
required. Subsequent actions on the project site may include, but are not limited to, the consideration
of parcel maps, vesting tentative and final tract maps, conditional use permits, oil well abandonment
permits, oil drilling permits, remedial operations of oil well permits, etc. The lead agency for a
specific action can approve subsequent actions without additional environmental documentation
unless as otherwise required by Public Resources Code Section 21166 (subsequent and supplemental
EIRs), and the state CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 (subsequent EIRs and Negative Declarations),
15163 (Supplement to an EIR), and 15164 (Addendum to an EIR or Negative Declaration).
1.1.2 - Program EIR
The City has elected to prepare a program environmental impact report (Program EIR) for the
proposed project. The West Ming Project is considered a Program because it includes a series of
actions that can be characterized as one large project. Codified in Section 15168, et seq., of the State
CEQA Guidelines, the series of actions can be related either:
• Geographically;
• A logical parts in the chain of contemplated actions;
• In connection with issuance of rules, regulations, plans, or other general criteria to govern the
conduct of a continuing program; or
• As individual activities carried out under the same authorizing statutory or regulatory authority
and having generally similar environmental effects which can be mitigated in similar ways.
• Use of a Program EIR can provide the following advantages. The Program EIR can:
• Provide an occasion for a more exhaustive consideration of effects and alternatives than would
be practical in an EIR on an individual action;
• Ensure consideration of cumulative impacts that might be slighted in a case-by-case analysis;
• Avoid duplicative reconsideration of basic policy considerations;
• Allow the Lead Agency to consider broad policy alternatives and program-wide mitigation
measures at an early time when the agency has greater flexibility to deal with basic problems or
cumulative impacts; and
• Allow reduction in paperwork.
• Subsequent activities in the Program must be examined in the light of the Program EIR to
determine whether an additional environmental document must be prepared according to the
following criteria.
• If a later activity would have effects that were not examined in the Program EIR, a new Initial
Study would need to be prepared leading to either an EIR or a Negative Declaration.
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• If the agency finds that pursuant to Section 15162, no new effects could occur or no new
mitigation measures would be required, the agency can approve the activity as being within the
scope of the project covered by the Program EIR, and no new environmental document would
be required.
• An agency shall incorporate feasible mitigation measures and alternatives developed in the
Program EIR into subsequent actions in the Program.
• Where the subsequent activities involve site specific operations, the agency should use a
written checklist or similar device to document the evaluation of the site and the activity to
determine whether the environmental effects of the operation were covered in the Program
EIR.
• A Program EIR will be most helpful in dealing with subsequent activities if it deals with the
effects of the Program as specifically and comprehensively as possible. With a good and
detailed analysis of the Program, many subsequent activities could be found to be within the
scope of the project described in the Program EIR, and no further environmental documents
would be required.
1.1.3 - Residential Projects Pursuant to Specific Plan
If the City finds that a residential project is undertaken pursuant to and in conformity to the West
Ming Specific Plan and meets the requirements of Section 15182 of the State CEQA Guidelines, no
EIR or negative declaration need be prepared for that project.
1.1.4 - Lead Agency
Section 15367 of the State CEQA Guidelines defines the Lead Agency as “… the public agency,
which has the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a project.” Criteria considered in
identifying the Lead Agency include whether the agency: 1) has the greatest responsibility for
supervising or approving the project as a whole; 2) is an agency with the general governmental
powers; and 3) will act first on the project in question (State CEQA Guidelines §15051). As
previously stated, the Lead Agency for this Draft EIR is the City. In this capacity, the City is
responsible for review of the environmental documentation through certification of a Final EIR, and
subsequent implementation of the proposed project. This Draft EIR reflects the independent
judgment and analysis of the City as required by the State CEQA Guidelines.
In accordance with Section 15091 of the State CEQA Guidelines, the Lead Agency would be required
to make findings for each significant environmental impact of the project. If a lead agency approves
the project, and it has significant impacts that are not substantially mitigated (i.e., significant
unavoidable impacts), the lead agency shall adopt a written statement specifying the reasons for
approving the project, based on the final CEQA document and any other information in the public
record for the project. This is termed, per Section 15093 of the State CEQA Guidelines. “a statement
of overriding considerations.”
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1.1.5 - Responsible Agencies
Section 15381 of the State CEQA Guidelines defines the Responsible Agency as “a public agency
which proposes to carry out or approve a project, for which a Lead Agency is preparing or has
prepared an EIR or Negative Declaration.” A Responsible Agency includes all public agencies other
than the Lead Agency which have discretionary approval power over the project. The known
Responsible Agencies associated with the West Ming Project include County of Kern Local Agency
Formation Commission, Federal Emergency Management Agency, California Department of
Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, and Panama-Buena Vista Union
School District.
1.2 - Scope of the EIR
1.2.1 - Scope and Content of This EIR
This DEIR has been prepared primarily by Michael Brandman Associates (MBA) under direct
contract to the City, and has been independently reviewed by City staff. Technical studies have been
prepared by other consultants; however, reviewed for CEQA adequacy by MBA. Section 10 of this
DEIR includes a Report Preparation Personnel list.
Scope
The scope of the DEIR includes issues identified by the City of Bakersfield during the preparation of
the Initial Study (IS) and Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the proposed project, and issues raised by
agencies and the general public in response to the IS/NOP, as described below. More specifically, the
following issues have been determined to be potentially significant and are therefore evaluated in this
DEIR. The scope of this DEIR is based on issues identified by the City during the preparation of the
West Ming Project IS/NOP, written comments received from public agencies and the general public
in response to the Notice of Preparation (NOP), and a public scoping meeting.
This DEIR has been prepared as a Program EIR with the intent to be used for future environmental
analysis of subsequent activities. In order to focus the preparation of this DEIR, the City prepared an
Initial Study. Section 15063(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines identifies the following purposes
for preparing an Initial Study when the requirement to prepare an EIR has been previously
established:
• Focus the EIR on the effects determined to be significant;
• Identify the effects determined not to be significant;
• Explain the reasons for determining that potentially significant effects would not be significant;
and
• Identify whether a Program EIR, tiering, or another appropriate process can be used for
analysis of the project’s environmental effects.
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The City circulated a NOP for public review and comment from May 11, 2005 to June 10, 2005,
which included the Initial Study. Written comments were received from the following public
agencies and individuals. Copies of these letters are contained in Appendix A:
• Arthur D. Unger
• Berrenda Mesa Water District
• City of Bakersfield, Water Resources Department
• Kern County Water Agency
• Kern County Waste Management Department
• North of the River Recreation and Park District
• San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
• State of California, Department of Conservation
• State of California, Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, State Clearinghouse
• State of California, Public Utilities Commission
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Environmental Issues Determined To Be Not Significant
The environmental issues that are determined not to be significantly affected by the implementation
of the West Ming Project and do not require further analysis in this DEIR are briefly described here.
For the complete discussion of each environmental issue, refer to the Initial Study contained in
Appendix A.
Aesthetics
The project site and surrounding environment, particularly south and east of the project site, contains
visual resource elements that may be considered by some individuals as aesthetically unappealing.
These elements include agricultural operations, oil wells, an irrigation canal, and a branch railroad.
The development of the project site would result in the elimination of some of these elements, while
creating a unique urban visual character in conformance with the West Ming Project design
guidelines. The project site does not contain any scenic vistas nor is the site located within or
adjacent to a State-designated scenic highway.
Although the recreational lake included in the West Ming Project would allow for water-related
recreational activities and provide views of the lake from select buildings, they would also reflect
sunlight and artificial lighting during the daytime and nighttime. Although light would be reflected
from the surface of the recreational lake, it is not anticipated to result in substantial glare. Moreover,
the recreational lake is deemed to be a beneficial amenity of the proposed project. Development of
the project site will introduce new sources of light and glare through the construction of new homes
and commercial uses, which are expected to be in the form of street lights and other low-level
lighting, such as security lighting, signage, and landscape lighting. The proposed development would
be required to comply with the mandatory obligations related to lighting and glare contained in the
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City’s municipal code. Therefore, implementation of the proposed project would result in less than
significant impacts related to visual resources, light, and glare.
Mineral Resources
The project site contains active, producing oil wells and wells that are no longer active. A Natural
Resources Impact Report was prepared for the proposed project, which determined that depending on
market pricing for oil, the estimated remaining supply would be exhausted in approximately 10 years
(see Appendix H). The proposed project includes a Special Use District that would allow continued
oil well production. In addition, existing and future wells located outside of the Special Use District
could be accommodated in the land use plan by the designation of single lots as drilling islands that
would be used for the production of oil and other related uses. According to the West Ming Specific
Plan Compatibility & Safety Assessment prepared by Claude D. Fiddler in December 2004 (see
Appendix N), the implementation of the proposed project would not diminish the oil recovery from
the reservoirs in the project development area. Although the project would not affect the ability to
recover oil resources, the operation of the oil facilities could affect future land uses on the project site.
To ensure compatibility between the future land uses on the project site and the existing and future oil
production activities on the project site, the following mitigation measure is recommended.
• Prior to approval of a tentative tract/parcel map, the project applicant shall submit a petroleum
integration plan that shows how all existing petroleum-related facilities will be protected and
integrated into the proposed development and provides documentation of compliance with
Section 17.46.010 and Section 15.66 of the City Municipal Code.
With the approval of the above mitigation measure, potential compatibility impacts associated with
onsite oil production activities would be less than significant.
Potentially Significant Environmental Issues
Based on the foregoing and West Ming Project Initial Study, the environmental issues that could
result in potentially significant impacts to the environment that are described and evaluated in the
DEIR are listed in Table 1-1 along with the corresponding sections of the DEIR in which they are
discussed.
Table 1-1: Potentially Significant Environmental Issues
Environmental Issue DEIR Document Section
Agriculture Resources Section 5.1
Air Quality Section 5.2
Biological Resources Section 5.3
Cultural Resources Section 5.4
Geology and Soils Section 5.5
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Table 1-1 (Cont.): Potentially Significant Environmental Issues
Environmental Issue DEIR Document Section
Hazards and Hazardous Materials Section 5.6
Hydrology and Water Quality Section 5.7
Noise Section 5.8
Public Services Section 5.9
Recreation Section 5.10
Transportation and Traffic Section 5.11
Utilities and Service Systems Section 5.12
Population and Housing Section 5.13
Organization of the Document
In addition to this introduction section, the remainder of the DEIR is organized into the following
main sections:
Section 2: Executive Summary
This section includes a summary of the West Ming Project and summary of the alternatives to the
proposed project addressed in the DEIR. Also included are brief descriptions of the areas of
controversy and issues to be resolved, and a table that summarizes the project and cumulative
impacts, mitigation measures, and level of significance after mitigation.
Section 3: Project Description
This section includes a detailed description of the proposed West Ming Project, including its location,
background, site development constraints, and technical, economic, and environmental
characteristics. A discussion of the project objectives and intended uses of the DEIR, which includes
the approvals that are required for the West Ming Project is also provided.
Section 4: General Description of Environmental Setting
This section includes an overview of the general setting of the environment in the vicinity of the
project site.
Section 5: Project Impacts
The analysis of each environmental issue category, previously identified in Table 1-1, is organized
into the following sub-sections: Introduction; Environmental Setting; Thresholds of Significance; and
Project Impacts and Mitigation Measures. Each of these is briefly explained below.
• Introduction - identifies the primary documents used in the preparation of the section and any
other pertinent information.
• Environmental Setting - identifies and describes the physical environmental conditions that
exist at the time of publication of the NOP, and which constitute the baseline physical
conditions that assist in determining whether an impact is significant.
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• Thresholds of Significance - identifies applicable thresholds from Appendix G of the State
CEQA Guidelines or other published documentation that assists in a determination of whether
an impact is significant. Unless specifically identified within each environmental issue section
of this document, the thresholds of significance used are those contained in Appendix G of the
State CEQA Guidelines.
• Project Impacts and Mitigation Measures - describes environmental changes to the existing
physical conditions that may occur if the proposed project is implemented, and evaluate these
changes with respect to the thresholds of significance. If impacts are found to be significant,
mitigation measures are recommended to reduce impacts. The level of significance after
mitigation is determined after mitigation measures are implemented.
Section 6: Cumulative Impacts
This section describes the potential changes in environmental conditions that result from the
incremental impact of the proposed project added to other closely related past, present, and probable
future projects or considered as part of projections contained in an adopted related planning document
to evaluate regional or area-wide conditions.
Section 7: Other CEQA Considerations
This section identifies significant unavoidable impacts associated with the project as well as growth-
inducing impacts and irreversible and irretrievable commitment to resources.
Section 8: Alternatives to the Proposed Project
This section compares the impacts of the proposed West Ming Project with two alternatives, the
mandated No Project Alternative and Reduced Development Alternative. The environmentally
superior alternative is identified.
Section 9: Organizations and Persons Consulted
This section lists the various organizations and persons consulted during the preparation of the DEIR.
Section 10: Report Preparation Personnel
This section lists the various individuals who contributed to the preparation of the DEIR.
Section 11: References
This section lists the references cited in the body of the DEIR.
1.3 - Lead Agency and Contact Persons
The City is the Lead Agency in the review and certification of the DEIR. The project applicant is
Castle & Cooke California, Inc. Michael Brandman Associates is the environmental consultant under
contract to the City for the preparation of this Draft EIR and the Final EIR.
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Preparers of this Draft EIR are identified in Section 10 of this document. Key contact persons are:
Lead Agency..........................City of Bakersfield
Development Services Department
Planning Division
Jennie Eng, Principal Planner
1715 Chester Avenue
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: 661.326.3733
Project Applicant...................Castle & Cooke California, Inc.
Scott Blunck, Land Development
10000 Stockdale Highway, Suite 300
Bakersfield, CA 93311
Environmental Consultant.....Michael Brandman Associates
Michael E. Houlihan, AICP, Project Director
220 Commerce, Suite 200
Irvine, CA 92602
Phone: 714.508.4100
1.4 - Review of the Draft EIR
This Draft EIR has been distributed to public agencies, other affected agencies, adjacent cities and
counties, members of the public, and any parties who have submitted a written request for a copy of
the Draft EIR. The Notice of Completion of the Draft EIR has also been distributed as required by
the State CEQA Guidelines. During the 45-day public review period, the Draft EIR, which includes
the technical appendices, is available for public review at the City Planning Department at the address
shown below during regular business hours.
Written comments on the Draft EIR must be addressed to:
City of Bakersfield
Development Services Department
Planning Division
Jennie Eng, Principal Planner
1715 Chester Avenue
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: 661.326.3733