Draft EIR review period opens for hillside property residential development
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Published: February 13, 2013
The city has released the draft report on the environment impacts from proposed residential construction on a steep hillside on the far west of the city.
The 32.5-acre parcel, known informally as the Anderson property, is located north of Foothill Road and west of Peck Road. The property is considered part of Adams Canyon.
The public review period of the Draft Environmental Impact Report opened February 11 and will close March 28, giving the public a chance to study the 43-page document and - if they wish - prepare their comments on the plan. The proposed project is a hillside subdivision that would include 79 residential lots, a public park, and open space.
“Extensive grading,” according to the legal notice of the DEIR availability, “is proposed with virtually the entire site subject to excavation and/or fill. Each lot would have a graded pad of sufficient size for construction of a conventional 2-story home. A drainage system and interior roadways are also proposed.”
The DEIR notes the project is proposed with 74 hillside residential building lots averaging 9,685 square feet. Public streets would be built to serve the residential development according to city standards.
“Virtually all of the site would be subject to excavation or fill with additional extensive grading occurring off-site,” states the DEIR. “On-site remedial grading would involve the removal and recompaction of approximately 1.2 million cubic yards of soil, as well as 370,000 cubic yards of surface grading for the roads and home pads.”
The offsite-grading plan would include “provisions for the removal and hauling of the project’s approximately 750,000 cubic yards of cut as well as grading to stabilize on-site and surrounding slopes.” When prepped, each lot would have a graded pad of “sufficient size for construction of a conventional” one- or two-story home.
Proposed lot sizes would range from 6,499 square feet to 16,599 square feet. Although the majority of the single-family detached homes would be developer-built, some larger home lots may be reserved for custom home construction.
The DEIR notes that off-site grading will also be required at the “margins of the development site for additional stabilization of surrounding slopes,” with the majority of the off-site grading taking place directly north and west of the project site. “A total of 750,000 cubic yards of net export will be removed from the site,” and a major impact will be from the truck traffic. The DEIR notes that removing soil from the site will generate approximately 57,700 truck trips over about one year, an average of approximately 220 truck trips per day to haul the excess soil to one or more receiver sites; over an eight-hour period approximately 27.5 trips per hour.
The Draft EIR and reference materials are available for review at Santa Paula City Hall, 970 Ventura Street in Santa Paula. To download the DEIR visit the city’s website: http://www.ci.santa-paula.ca.us.
The DEIR is listed under Current Issues with the heading Revised Notice of Preparation of Draft Environmental Impact Report for Tentative Tract 5475, a 74-unit residential development at Foothill and Peck. The DEIR’s State Clearinghouse number is No. 2007071108.
Written comments will be received by the city through the review period: send them to City of Santa Paula, Attn: Stratis Perros, Deputy Planning Director, Community Development Building, 200 S. 10th St., Santa Paula, CA 93060. For more information call (805) 933-4214 or email sperros@spcity.org.
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