Date: June 30, 2017 CITY OF CITRUS HEIGHTS COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, PLANNING DIVISION 6360 Fountain Square Drive, Citrus Heights, CA 95621 (916) 727-4740 NOTICE OF PREPARATION To: Subject: Project Title/ File Number: NOP Comment Period: Project Location: State Clearinghouse Responsible Agencies Trustee Agencies Interested Parties Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Mitchell Farms Project File numbers: GPA 16-01, DRP 16-06, RZ 16-01,TT 16-01, TP 16-40 Written comments are due no later than July 31, 2017, by 5:00 p.m. North of Arcadia Drive between Fair Oaks Boulevard on the east and Sunrise Boulevard on the west APN: 243-0070-030; 243-0082-001, 002, 019, 021, 023, 028; 243-0480-013, 014, 015, 016, 019, 020, 021, 025, 033 Project Applicant: Property Owners: Lead Agency and Contact Person: Watt Communities Mitchell/Sippola Limited Partnership, Brian/Wendy Lee Family Trust, Citrus Heights Water District, Sacramento Municipal Utility District Casey Kempenaar, Senior Planner Planning Division 6360 Fountain Square Drive Citrus Heights, California 95621 916.727.4740 Email: ckempenaar@citrusheights.net Website: www.citrusheights.net INTRODUCTION The (City) is the lead agency for the Mitchell Farms Project (proposed project). Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), upon deciding to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), the City, as lead agency, must issue a Notice of Preparation (NOP) to inform trustee and responsible agencies, and the public, of the decision to undertake Notice of Preparation 1 June 30, 2017
preparation of an EIR. The purpose of the NOP is to provide information describing the proposed project and its potential environmental effects to those who may wish to comment regarding the scope and content of the information to be considered in the EIR. Agencies should comment on such information as it relates to their statutory responsibilities in connection with the proposed project. Agencies and the public are invited to provide comments on the scope of the environmental review, potential mitigation strategies, and alternative project designs. The project description, location, and environmental issue areas that may be affected by development of the proposed project are described below. The EIR will evaluate the projectspecific and cumulative impacts, identify feasible mitigation measures to reduce or avoid significant project impacts, and identify a reasonable range of alternatives to the proposed project and their comparative environmental effects. SUBMITTING COMMENTS Comments regarding the appropriate scope of analysis in the EIR are invited from all interested parties. Please submit comments to the City no later than 5 p.m. on July 31, 2017. Please include the contact person s full name and address and provide written comments to: SCOPING MEETING Casey Kempenaar, Senior Planner 6360 Fountain Square Drive, Citrus Heights, California 95621 Email: ckempenaar@citrusheights.net A public scoping meeting will be held on July 25, 2017, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Citrus Heights City Hall Community Room located at 6360 Fountain Square Drive. Trustee and responsible agencies, as well as members of the public, are invited to attend to learn more about the proposed project and to provide written input on the scope of the EIR. Written comments regarding relevant issues may be submitted at the meeting. PROJECT LOCATION The approximately 55-acre project site is generally located north of Arcadia Drive and Greenback Lane between Fair Oaks Boulevard on the east and Sunrise Boulevard on the west in Citrus Heights. The assessor s parcel numbers (APNs) for the project site include 243-0070-030; 243-0082-001, 002, 019, 021, 023, 028; 243-0480-013, 014, 015, 016, 019, 020, 021, 025, 033. Figure 1 shows the project location. PROJECT DESCRIPTION Project History and Setting The project site has historically supported a variety of agricultural and farming uses. Since the mid-1970s, the site has been developed and operated as a nine-hole public golf course with Notice of Preparation 2 June 30, 2017
both traditional golf and disc golf (Sunrise Golf and Disc Golf Course). In addition to typical golf tees, greens, and fairways, other uses on the site include a restaurant/clubhouse, pro shop, portable office building, driving range, disc golf course, one residence, and a seasonal fruit stand. These uses are clustered along the western side of the property. A Citrus Heights Water District Well and associated infrastructure, abandoned batting cages, and an abandoned miniature golf course occupy a portion of the site along the north side of Arcadia Drive. There is also an existing cellular telephone tower located in the southern portion of the site. An existing Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) access road parallels the northern portion of the site providing access to an existing SMUD substation. A majority of the project site is covered in manicured turf associated with the golf course and native oak trees. An unnamed tributary of Arcade Creek and its associated floodplain bisects the property in an east-to-west direction, providing the primary drainage for the site. The creek and adjacent woodland is highly disturbed as a result of the previous site development. Surrounding land uses include retail, office, and residential uses to the west along Sunrise Boulevard, strip commercial uses adjacent to Arcadia Drive and Greenback Lane to the south, a small commercial center and residential uses to the east along Fair Oaks Boulevard, and residential uses and an electrical substation to the north. Existing Land Use Designations and Zoning The project site is currently designated in the City s General Plan for Open Space, High Density Residential, and General Commercial. The project site is zoned Commercial Recreation (CR), Limited Commercial (LC), Shopping Center (SC), and High Density Residential (RD30). Project Components Watt Communities (the project applicant) is proposing to develop the site as a master-planned residential community that includes a total of 261 single-family residential units located on approximately 32 acres. The residential development would be organized in five villages around the periphery of the site, as shown in Figure 2. Three housing types are proposed, including 111 alley-loaded units, 72 cluster units, and 78 traditional housing units. In addition, alleys and paseos (sidewalks) within the development would be private lots owned and maintained by the Homeowners Association that would be established for the proposed project. The proposed design of the residential units reflects contemporary architectural styles with some elements of the Craftsman style. The 76 traditional single-family housing units would be constructed on lots ranging from 4,500 to 9,000 square feet in Villages 1 and 3 of the proposed project. Vehicular access would be provided from a mixture of public and private roadways at the front of each unit. The 72 cluster units would be constructed on lots ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 square feet in the Villages 2 and 4 component of the proposed project. The lots would be arranged in clusters of 2 to 8 units, with vehicular access provided from alleys that extend off of public streets within the neighborhood. A portion of these units would be constructed as paseo units, which would have paseo access to the front doors. Notice of Preparation 3 June 30, 2017
The alley-loaded units would be constructed on lots ranging from 2,000 to 2,900 square feet in Village 5 of the proposed project. Vehicular access would be provided from alleys at the rear of the units while paseos would provide pedestrian access to the front of the units. The alleys would be private roadways maintained by the Homeowners Association. The remaining approximately 23 acres of the site, including the creek corridor that runs through the center of the site, would be devoted to recreational and open space uses. The proposed project would also include an extensive recreational trail system, which would be integrated into the City s Creek Corridor Trails Project. In addition to the trail, the proposed project would include one public park and one private recreation area. The proposed project s circulation plan is designed to integrate into the surrounding community and would include two vehicular access points on Arcadia Drive, as well as an additional access point from Fair Oaks Boulevard. A traffic circle is proposed along Arcadia Drive where the road bends to the south to connect to Greenback Lane. A future vehicular access point is also proposed on Sunrise Boulevard via an existing easement located on the proposed project s northern boundary. Residential streets would be two lanes, ranging from 32 to 34 feet wide with 6-foot-wide separated sidewalks on one side of the street. REQUESTED PROJECT APPROVALS The project applicant is requesting the following entitlements and discretionary project approvals from the City: General Plan Amendment to change the existing General Plan land use designations to a combination of Medium Density Residential (MDR) and Open Space (OS) for the creek corridor Rezone to a Special Planning Area (SPA) designation to allow site-specific development standards and design requirements Tentative subdivision map Design review Tree permit Demolition permit Lot line adjustment Review of the proposed project by the City s Planning Commission would be conducted as a part of the EIR review and entitlement process. The Planning Commission may recommend specific action on the proposed project to the City Council, and the project entitlements would ultimately require approval by the City Council. Notice of Preparation 4 June 30, 2017
PROBABLE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS AND SCOPE OF THE EIR Topics that the City has preliminarily determined would be discussed in the EIR for the proposed project include the following: Land Use and Planning Noise Aesthetics and Visual Resources Population, Employment, and Housing Air Quality Public Services and Utilities Greenhouse Gas Emissions Tribal Cultural Resources Biological Resources Hydrology and Water Quality Hazards and Hazardous Materials Transportation/Traffic Topics that will not be discussed include agricultural and forestry resources, cultural resources, geology and soils, and mineral resources, as discussed in detail below. The project site has been largely developed as a golf course, does not contain substantial timber resources, and is not used as, or zoned for, agricultural uses. The project site is not subject to a Williamson Act contract, nor is it listed in the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program database as Prime Farmland, Unique Farmland, Farmland of Statewide Importance, or Farmland of Local Importance. Therefore, the proposed project would not result in any impacts to agricultural and forestry resources and potential impacts in these resource areas will not be analyzed in the EIR. In September 2016, ECORP completed a Cultural Resources Inventory Report. No cultural resources were identified at the project site through the records search or field survey. It is possible that ground-disturbing activities will expose previously unrecorded cultural resources. Thus no impacts to cultural resources are anticipated to occur with development of the proposed project, and such impacts will not be evaluated in the EIR. State law prescribes protective measure that must be taken in the event that any subsurface cultural items or human remains are discovered. Compliance with state and federal law would ensure that no adverse impacts occur to any cultural resources that may be discovered on site. According to the U.S. Geological Survey Web Soil Survey, the project site has soils from the Fiddyment-Orangevale Complex (2% 8% slopes) and the Urban Land-Xerarents- Fiddyment Complex (0% 8% slopes). The former has a slight to moderate erosion hazard and a moderate shrink/swell potential while the latter has a slight erosion hazard and a moderate shrink/swell potential. Because these soils may expand when wet and contract when dry, foundation structures may experience cracking. The findings of the geotechnical report, as required by the City Building Code, would be used to engineer soil stability to prevent this occurrence. This engineering may require excavation of the expansive soils and their replacement with non-expansive materials, treatment of expansive soils by mixing them with lime, or other methods that would ensure that the risk of foundation cracking is alleviated. Therefore, compliance with the City Building Code would ensure these potential impacts would be less than significant. The project Notice of Preparation 5 June 30, 2017
site is relatively flat and therefore will be subject to limited erosion and does not carry a landslide risk. While the project site is located in the Central Valley, which is considered seismically active, Citrus Heights itself is not known to have active faults; any seismic vibrations in the region tends to come from distant, active faults. The proposed project would be built in compliance with the California Building Code, which would ensure the buildings constructed would be able to withstand seismic activity. During construction, the proposed project would be required to comply with the City s Grading Ordinance and other applicable regulations, and demonstrate the effectiveness of these best management practices in ensuring that geologic and soil impacts would remain less than significant. Therefore, the proposed project would not result in any impacts to geology and soils, and this topic will not be analyzed in the EIR. The project site does not support mineral recovery activities and is not known to contain substantial mineral resources. Furthermore, the development of the project site as the proposed project would not destroy any existing, and yet unknown, mineral resources. Therefore, the proposed project would not result in any impacts to mineral resources, and this topic will not be analyzed in the EIR. As environmental documentation for the proposed project becomes available, it will be available for review at the City s Planning Division, 6360 Fountain Square Drive, Citrus Heights, California 95621, and online at www.citrusheights.net. Notice of Preparation 6 June 30, 2017
Date: 6/22/2017 - Last saved by: rstrobridge - Path: Z:\Projects\j1028201\MAPDOC\DOCUMENT\Figure1_SiteVicinity.mxd n 0 750 1,500 Feet SOURCE: National Geographic Maps (Accessed 2017) Site Vicinity Map FIGURE 1 Sunrise Blvd Fair Oaks Blvd
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VILLAGE 3 52 LOTS VILLAGE 2 28 LOTS IMPROVEMENT REQUIREMENTS: LEGEND VILLAGE 1 26 LOTS VILLAGE 5 111 LOTS VILLAGE 4 44 LOTS SOURCE: Burrell Consulting Group, Inc. (2017) FIGURE 2 Tentative Subdivision Map
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