Pacifica Skatepark Initial Study/Negative Declaration
Pacifica
2004

This IS/ND addressed the environmental effects of adding a skatepark to the City's Community Center. The project consists of a 14,500 square foot skate park to be located in an underused parking lot at the community center. The proposed skatepark would be consist three concrete bowls ranging in depth from 4 to 9 feet and a street course area consisting of sloped banks, ledges and grind rails. A screened portable restroom would be installed accessible only to skatepark users. An 8-foot high perimeter fence would be installed around the park. Five single family homes back up to the project site. In order to buffer the skatepark from existing homes, an earthen berm was enlarged to 30-foot wide by 6-feet high and landscaped to provide visual screening and privacy. The primary issues of concern were noise and privacy. Lead Agency/Client: City of Pacifica.

Sharp Park Beach Leash Law Initial Study
City of Pacifica, CA
2003

The City of Pacifica proposed a resolution amending its leash law to allow off leash dogs at Sharp Park Beach. The beach is used informally as an off leash area. The beach is surrounded by open public lands. Sharp Park State Beach borders the site to the north. Laguna Salada and Sharp Park Golf Course, owned and maintained by the City and County of San Francisco Recreation and Park Department (Rec-Park), borders the project site to the east. South of the project site are the coastal bluffs of Mori Point which is a federal park land maintained by Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The major issues addressed included 1) an increase in unleashed dog use presently occurring on a levee in violation of City's agreement with Rec-Park, 2) unauthorized dog use and trespass down the slopes of the levee into the Rec-Park property and increased maintenance burden of levees, 3) increased dog waste on beach not removed by dog owners, 4) conflict of unleashed dogs with other dogs or beach visitors, and 5) potential disruption of sensitive wildlife and habitat areas of the Laguna Salada marsh and seasonal shorebirds. Lead Agency: City of Pacifica

San Jose Bay Trail Master Plan Environmental Feasibility Study and IS/Mitigated Negative Declaration
San Jose
1999 to 2003
(TRA Environmental Sciences assisted first with the feasibility study in order to minimize environmental impact, then prepared the IS/MND.)

TRA was involved in this case from beginning to end, working closely with the Master Planning consultant and the City staff to ensure the proposed trail alignment minimized environmental impacts. The major issues included land use conflicts with existing and proposed industrial uses along the trail corridor, as well as with an existing residential neighborhood; traffic and railroad safety; water quality impacts from trail construction near sensitive biological resources; potential impacts to state and federal endangered species; and potential impacts to wetlands and riparian corridors. Lead Agency/Client: City of San Jose

Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Master Plan EIR
Moss Beach
2003

TRA prepared a Program Environmental Impact Report for the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Master Plan. The Master Plan consists of four programs: Natural Resource Management, Visitor Management, Uses and Facilities, and Implementation. Key elements of the Master Plan include new visitor facilities at the Reserve and Pillar Point Marsh, maintenance of trails within the Reserve, monitoring of the health of the intertidal zone, and limits to the number of visitors to reduce the impacts caused by heavy use. Issues addressed in the EIR include biological resources, geology and soils, land use and planning, recreation, and traffic and transportation.
Lead Agency/Client: San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Division

Stevens Creek Trail Study Area A Master Plan Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration
Cupertino
2002

The City of Cupertino prepared a Draft Stevens Creek Trail Feasibility Report to evaluate the Stevens Creek corridor and the adjacent open space and parklands to determine the feasibility of constructing pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian trails through these areas. Study Area A encompasses approximately 130 acres of land within and adjacent to Rancho San Antonio County Park and Open Space Preserve. The major issues addressed by the IS included biology and wetlands, including habitat for sensitive species such as California red-legged frogs, pedestrian and bicycle safety, parking and traffic, and construction-related issues on the following environmental factors: geology and soils, noise, and hydrology. Lead Agency/Client: City of Cupertino

Coyote Creek Trail Master Plan, Mitigated Negative Declaration
City of Milpitas
2000-2001

The City of Milpitas proposed to design and construct the portion of the San Francisco Bay Trail in its jurisdiction, and TRA prepared the CEQA documentation for the project. The primary issues were pedestrian and bicyclist safety at major interchanges, cultural resources within the trail alignment, wetland and riparian habitat, protection of sensitive bird species (burrowing owl, kingfisher, songbirds, breeding raptors), conformance with plans and policies, and impacts to facilities from seasonal flooding. Mitigation measures addressed construction dust, sensitive birds, protection of wetland and riparian habitat during construction and from unauthorized trail use, use of native plant species, protection of views, and best management practices to prevent significant water quality impacts. Lead Agency/Client: City of Milpitas.

Bay Trail Master Plan Environmental Feasibility Study , Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration Mitigation and Monitoring Program
City of San Jose, 1999

TRA is currently under contract with the City of San Jose to provide a Constraints Analysis, Initial Study and Mitigation Monitoring Program for the San Jose Bay Trail Master Plan. This trail is the connection link between the City of Sunnyvale at Sunnyvale Baylands Park and the City of Milpitas at Dixon Landing Road.
Major issues: biological, land use, transportation and traffic safety, public health and safety, hydrology and water quality, archaeological and historical resources, and geological impacts.

San Tomas Aquino/Saratoga Creek Trail Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration
Santa Clara County
1999

The major issues related to this master plan were pedestrian and bicyclist safety at major interchanges; cultural resources within the trail alignment, conformance with plans and policies, impacts to facilities from seasonal flooding, and noise impacts to trail users. Thomas Reid Associates assisted the trail planners at the design level in order to minimize impacts, and then prepared the CEQA documentation on the project. Lead Agency/Client: Santa Clara County Dept. of Parks and Recreation

Pacifica Bike/Pedestrian Trails
Supplemental Environmental Documents
City of Pacifica
1996

TRA provided environmental review of a proposed pedestrian/bike trail along a Caltrans easement in Pacifica. We assisted in demarcating a trail alignment that avoided habitat for the federally-listed snowy plover while complying with American Disability Act (ADA) guidelines. TRA provided a wetland delineation, biological resource assessment, and Section 4(f) analysis to show project consistency with state park policy. Lead Agency/Client: City of Pacifica

Edgewood Park Constraints Analysis
San Mateo County
1993

San Mateo County investigated potential public golf course locations on a range of undeveloped parcels. The County contracted with TRA to examine constraints to golf course development at Edgewood County Park, west of Redwood City. TRA had previously prepared constraints analyses for the County on two other potential golf course sites: the Southern Watershed parcel and the Cowell-Torrello parcel.

Portions of Edgewood County Park contain serpentine grassland which is habitat for the Bay checkerspot butterfly, a federally-listed Threatened species and six plant species of concern. The Park population is arguably the most important population in the northern portion of the butterfly's range, and TRA found that it would be unlikely that the County could obtain a federal permit to develop a golf course in this habitat. TRA identified areas outside of sensitive habitat which could be developed without a federal permit, and determined that insufficient lands of suitable quality remained to support an 18-hole golf course development. Avoiding sensitive habitat, much of the Park has steep topography which would require massive grading to achieve golf course contours. Constraints such as low soil fertility, water supply, drainage, land use compatibility, could be mitigated, overall the principal constraints of the presence of a threatened species and steep topography were found to be severe. A smaller golf course that avoids butterfly habitat would probably be sub-par and very expensive to develop.
Lead Agency/Client: San Mateo County

Cowell Torello Site Golf Course Constraints Analysis
San Mateo County
1992

Thomas Reid Associates investigated potential physical, environmental or policy constraints that would affect the development of a 475-acre parcel as a public golf course. The parcel is along the eastern side of Highway one on the San Mateo coast and consists of two flattened, spur ridges separated by San Vicente Creek. The property was being used for a horse boarding operation and one of the ridges had historically been used for dry land farming.

Some sections of the site were found to have significant constraints and were mapped as not suitable for golf course development. These were primarily areas of steep slopes or riparian and wetland habitat which is protected by the Local Coastal Plan. Analysis of the proposal for compliance with existing planning policies showed that a formal determination would be needed to assess whether the portion of the property historically used for farming was correctly classified as prime agricultural lands by the Local Coastal Plan. The golf course development would require an amendment to the Local Coastal Plan due to a lack of necessary density credits for water allocation. Under San Mateo County Measure A, any amendment to the Local Coastal Plan requires the approval of the voters in a county-wide referendum.

Moderate constraints to golf course development were also identified but these constraints were considered mitigatable. These mitigatable constraints included the need for a more exact determination of water requirements based on final design, development of a Chemical Applications Management Plan to protect onsite and downstream water quality, investigation of potential for San Francisco garter snake habitat in the riparian area, integration of native plant species into project design, survey of the site for cultural resources and development of a runoff control plan for individual golfing holes and the course as a whole.
Lead Agency/Client: San Mateo County

Gilroy Hot Springs Resort Project General Plan Amendment EIR
Santa Clara County
1992

This was a spa-resort hotel complex composed of 184 resort units on a 242-acre site. The major issues included the following: growth-inducing impacts of zoning ordinance text change, land use compatibility with adjacent State Park, development of Historic Preservation Plan for onsite cultural and religious structures, development of Public Access Plan with connecting access trails and day use areas between Henry Coe State Park and the project site, impacts to Coyote Creek from road widening and a proposed onsite treatment plant, water supply adequacy, traffic safety, impacts to biological resources, and fire safety. Mitigation was developed for exotic species control, oak management, fire use and suppression, and wild pig management to avoid conflict with State Park policies. Lead Agency/Client: Santa Clara County

Southern Watershed Golf Course Site Constraints Analysis
San Mateo County
1989

Thomas Reid Associates assessed the feasibility of developing a golf course on the southernmost 390 acres of the San Francisco Water Department watershed lands in central San Mateo County. The site was proposed by the public as an alternative to the County's proposal to develop a golf course at Edgewood County Park. Public concern stemmed from the presence of serpentine grassland habitat at Edgewood Park which supports a threatened species of butterfly and several rare plants.

Constraints for golf course development identified during the course of our analysis included steep slopes, presence of the rare serpentine grassland plant community, wetlands with potential for San Francisco Garter snake habitat, foothill woodland community, 4 sites containing cultural resources and groves of mature trees which could provide nesting habitat for raptors. Additional constraints identified for the siting of a clubhouse or other structures included the presence of a potentially active fault trace, areas of active landsliding, areas of potential landsliding and siting of the clubhouse septic system in a drainage outside of the watershed for the Crystal Springs reservoir.

The constraints analysis found that 175 acres of the site were outside of the area identified for environmental constraints. The proposed golf course could feasibly be developed on the flatter, eastern portion of the site which would avoid sensitive habitats and minimize geotechnical hazards while providing easy access by existing roads. Lead Agency/Client: San Mateo County