Agenda Item   

AGENDA STAFF REPORT

 

                                                                                                                        ASR Control  19-001005

 

MEETING DATE:

12/17/19

legal entity taking action:

Board of Supervisors

board of supervisors district(s):

3

SUBMITTING Agency/Department:

OC Community Resources   (Approved)

Department contact person(s):

Dylan Wright (714) 480-2788 

 

 

Stacy Blackwood (949) 923-3743

 

 

Subject:  2014 Irvine Ranch Open Space Interim Recreation and Resource Management Plan

 

      ceo CONCUR

County Counsel Review

Clerk of the Board

Concur

No Legal Objection

Consent Calendar

 

 

3 Votes Board Majority

 

 

 

    Budgeted: N/A

Current Year Cost: N/A

Annual Cost: N/A

 

 

 

    Staffing Impact:

No

# of Positions:

Sole Source: N/A

    Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A

  Funding Source: N/A

County Audit in last 3 years: No

 

 

    Prior Board Action: 06/11/2019 #S1B, 11/18/2014 #9, 06/29/2010 #1

 

RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):

 

 

1.

Find that Mitigated Negative Declaration No. IP 19-044, prepared for the Irvine Ranch Open Space 2014 Donation Interim Recreation and Resource Management Plan project, reflects the independent judgment of the County of Orange as lead agency and satisfies the requirements of CEQA for the proposed project. Its adoption is recommended for the proposed project, as are the making of the following additional findings:

 

 

a.

The Mitigated Negative Declaration and comments on the Mitigated Negative Declaration received during the public review process were considered and Mitigated Negative Declaration No. IP 19-044 is adequate in addressing the impacts related to the project;

 

 

b.

On the basis of the whole administrative record, there is no substantial evidence that the project, with the implementation of the recommended mitigation measures that are included in the Mitigated Negative Declaration, may have a significant effect on the environment;

 

 

c.

Pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21081.6 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15074, the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program is adopted; and

 

 

d.

Mitigated Negative Declaration No. IP 19-044 is adequate to satisfy the requirements of CEQA for the Irvine Ranch Open Space 2014 Donation Interim Recreation and Resource Management Plan project.

 

2.

Approve the Irvine Ranch Open Space 2014 Donation Interim Recreation and Resource Management Plan.

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

Approval of the Irvine Ranch Open Space 2014 Donation Interim Recreation and Resource Management Plan will identify resource management strategies to maintain the area’s Conservation Values while allowing for interim recreational and educational public access.

 

 

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

 

In recent years, several land donations were received by the County from The Irvine Company (TIC) in the northeasterly quadrant of Orange County: approximately 20,000 acres on June 29, 2010, approximately 2,300 acres on November 18, 2014, and, most recently, 29 acres on June 11, 2019. These lands are collectively referred to as the Irvine Ranch Open Space (IROS) and are managed by OC Parks on behalf of the County. The IROS lands surround Irvine Lake, which functions as a water reservoir for the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) and Serrano Water District (SWD), and has historically hosted recreation activities such as shoreline fishing. To protect the area’s natural, ecological, scenic, open space, recreational and educational values (together referred to as Conservation Values), the IROS lands are restricted by conservation easements with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Orange County Parks Foundation (OCPF) and/or are enrolled in the Natural Communities Conservation Plan/Habitat Conservation Plan (NCCP/HCP) reserve system.

 

Both the NCCP/HCP and conservation easements require the County to develop adaptive management policies for infrastructure and activities, which ensure a sustainable balance between habitat preservation and public access and enjoyment of the land. The guiding framework for the County’s adaptive management of the IROS lands is set forth in several documents: 1) a Recreation and Resource Management Plan (RRMP) and Interim Operations Plan (IOP) for the 2010 IROS donation lands and 2) the proposed Interim Recreation and Resource Management Plan (IRRMP) for the 2014 IROS donation lands. The proposed IRRMP encompasses areas known as East Orange I, East Orange II, Mountain Park and Irvine Park Addition and provides for guidelines for initial management of those lands, the identification of appropriate public uses and management options and the development of resource management strategies to maintain the area’s Conservation Values while allowing for interim recreational and educational public access.

 

The IRRMP for the 2014 IROS includes provisions for:

 

A.

Managed public access consistent with the model for other IROS areas and in compliance with existing conservation easements.

 

B.

Recreational uses including hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding, but not motorized vehicles.

 

C.

Provisional trails and trailheads that are opened on a trial basis to allow for surveying and monitoring of habitat impacts, sustainability and public response during the IRRMP period.

 

D.

Improvements such as staging areas, wayfinding/information signage and gates and fencing.

 

Management of the IROS-donated lands and costs related to development and maintenance of its trails, staging areas and other improvements are supported in part by funds from endowments or revenue-generating operations. Endowments from TIC and TNC, $2.6 million and $2 million respectively, were received by the County as part of the 2010 donation to provide funding for management, operation and stewardship of the 2010 donated lands. No endowments were received as part of the 2014 land donations; however, TIC transferred revenue-generating operations adjacent to Irvine Lake to the County in conjunction with the land donations. The operations provide funding that help offset costs to improve, maintain and manage those donated lands. The revenue-generating operations in the IROS include a lease for the Oak Canyon outdoor special events facility and a license for the Irvine Lake recreation vehicle (RV) storage facility, both operated by James Productions, Inc. Revenues to the County for the Oak Canyon facility were approximately $270,000 for 2018, and approximately $66,000 for the RV storage facility as of September 2019 since its transfer to the County on June 11, 2019. Funding considerations and future recreation opportunities will be contemplated in conjunction with maintenance and management impacts as long-term planning for the IROS continues.

 

In the near term, completion of initial improvements and opening the 2014 IROS to managed public access is anticipated in early 2020. During the IRRMP implementation period, systematic data and public feedback collection will be conducted to develop a long-term RRMP that builds off of existing planning documents, evaluates management of the County open space system as a whole and serves as a regional planning document for the entirety of the IROS.

 

Orange County Parks Commission: Orange County Parks Commission considered this item and unanimously recommended it for Board of Supervisors approval at its August 1, 2019, meeting.

 

Compliance with CEQA: Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) No. IP 19-044 (Attachment C) was prepared to study and address the potential environmental impacts of the proposed IRRMP. The document was posted for a 30-day public review period from September 9, 2019, to October 9, 2019. The IS/MND was also circulated to the California State Clearinghouse and assigned file number SCH# 2019099016. 

 

Two comment letters were received during the review period (Attachment D).  The County received one comment letter from California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and one comment letter from California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).

 

Caltrans commented that any project work proposed in the vicinity of the State Right-of-Way (ROW) would require an encroachment permit and all environmental concerns must be adequately addressed. The Project does not encroach on State ROW and all project components would occur within the Irvine Ranch Open Space; therefore, no State ROW encroachment permit would be needed.

 

CDFW provided comments and recommendations that are summarized as follows:

A.

Trails: CDFW recommended to include a figure in the IS/MND and the IRRMP for each parcel, that clearly delineates which trails are used for current managed access and which trails would need to be re-established as part of the project, and recommended that the current and future trail configurations be entirely contained within the project area, in addition to avoiding installation of trails that have the potential to facilitate unauthorized access on surrounding parcels. Standards for trail design and results of species surveys were taken into consideration for selecting which historical trails to re-establish (listed as Provisional Trails in the IRRMP). Figures 4.4, 5.3, and 6.5 in the IRRMP indicate trails that are currently in use with a red line (Existing Roads), and trails that need to be re-established within parcel boundaries in white (Provisional Trails). Trails shown connecting to other parcels (Historical Trails in blue) are not being considered at this time (Figures 4.4, 5.3 and 6.5 in the IRRMP). Currently, only the Existing Roads are being accessed on the 2014 IROS for surveillance and maintenance by OC Parks staff. Once the IRRMP is adopted, both Existing Roads and Provisional Trails will be used for managed access events. The Provisional Trails would be re-established and used for managed access events to the public. The environmental impacts noted in Table 6 were calculated by linear feet of Provisional Trails impacting sensitive and native vegetation communities multiplied by width of the trail.

 

B.

Historical Biological Information: CDFW also recommended a review of historical biological information collected from TIC, Natural Communities Coalition and others for the 2014 parcels and comprehensive protocol surveys throughout the project area to help evaluate impacts. Mitigation Measures BIO- 1, BIO-4, BIO-5 and BIO-6, will be performed prior to trail clearing and throughout the next three years of monitoring and research.

 

C.

Native Vegetation: CDFW recommended that impacts to native vegetation communities be avoided if possible. Mitigation Measure BIO-7 was included to mitigate impacts to native vegetation communities and on-site locations for mitigation will be selected prior to re-establishment of trails.  No impacts will be made to California sycamore woodlands and southern riparian scrub communities. Historical trails chosen for re-establishment (noted as Provisional Trails) were selected based on least impact to native vegetation communities. 

 

D.

East Orange I Trail: CDFW requested that a portion of the trail within East Orange I that intersects the NCCP Reserve should be removed from the Project and postponed until a RRMP is prepared and that any difference in impacts associated with the finalized trail standards as compared to what was accounted for in the IRRMP should be appropriately mitigated. Installation of the provisional and historic trails in East Orange I that intersects with NCCP Reserve is not proposed at this time. In addition, CDFW recommended to take into consideration contemporary standards for trail design and the results of recommended species surveys when selecting which historical trails are appropriate to re-establish. Lastly, CDFW recommended including NCC and the Wildlife Agencies on the development of the study design. As referenced above, data collection (including, but not limited to, additional reviews and protocol surveys collected from TIC, Natural Communities Coalition and others), selection of historical trails, coordination with Wildlife Agencies and public feedback on trail design will be conducted to develop a future long-term RRMP.

 

None of the comment letters presents substantial evidence of a fair argument that the proposed project may have a significant impact on the environment.

 

All mitigation measures for the proposed project are included in the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) (Attachment E). The MMRP is proposed for adoption through Recommended Action No. 1(c) and will be carried forward with the implementation of the project.

 

Based on the IS/MND, and the administrative record as a whole, there is no substantial evidence of a fair argument that the Project may have a significant impact on the environment. The IS/MND identifies the potential significant environmental impacts of the Project, in accordance with CEQA, and incorporates mitigation measures to reduce impacts to a level below significant. Therefore, the adoption of IS/MND No. IP 19-044 and the MMRP satisfies the requirements of CEQA for the IRRMP.

 

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

 

N/A

 

STAFFING IMPACT:

 

N/A

 

ATTACHMENT(S):

 

Attachment A – Location Map
Attachment B – Interim Recreation and Resource Management Plan
Attachment C – Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) No. IP 16-198
Attachment D – IS/MND No. IP 16-198 Comment Letters
Attachment E – Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP)
Attachment F – IS/MND Appendices A through E