HomeMy Public PortalAboutCanyon Springs DEIR Public Comment #60 (Jones)February 25, 2013
To: Denyelle Nishimori
Senior Planner
Town of Truckee
10183 Truckee Airport Rd.
Truckee, CA 96161
Re: Comments on the Proposed Canyon Springs Development Draft EIR (DEIR)
Dear Denyelle,
I am writing in response to my review and apparent inadequacies of the Canyon Springs DEIR. I am an
individual responding to the DEIR as part of the public comment allowance and process. The following
are my personal observed inadequacies of the DEIR and studies referring to the DEIR at the proposed
Canyon Springs site:
1. Neither the traffic impacts upon Olympic Heights subdivision at Glenshire Drive, nor the traffic
impacts at the Glenshire Drive/ Donner Pass Road intersection are adequately addressed in the
DEIR. The listed traffic mitigation measures in the DEIR are not feasible and the implemented
traffic mitigation measures will not be successful given the current high use and dangerousness
of Glenshire Drive. The DEIR assumes that the Railyard Master Plan will have constructed the
Donner Pass extension road improvement, which is inadequate since the Railyard has no known
timeline for completion. Also the DEIR states Mitigation Measure TRANS -4 will prepare a
'Construction Traffic Management
Plan' prior to the Phase I construction
yet
there is no
information or content of this plan
in the DEIR (4.14 -71). The DEIR needs
to
be revised to
include traffic mitigation measures that are feasible and not tied to a project with an unknown
timeline, while also including the actual content of the 'Construction Traffic Management Plan ".
2. The DEIR fails to adequately analyze the projects potential safety risk at the intersections of
Donner Pass Road and Glenshire Drive. The DEIR addresses historical accident data at these
intersections (DEIR 4.14 -26), but does not provide any analysis of future potential impacts if the
project were to go forward. The traffic mitigation measure TRANS -5 states that the applicant will
fund and conduct a traffic safety study and implement the needed safety mechanisms from the
study (DEIR 4.14 -72). 1 believe that is illegal under CEQA, since the study does not state how the
safety issues will be mitigated for the project and defers the study to be completed after
approvals. The DEIR needs to be revised to include a Traffic Safety study and then re- circulated
for public comments.
3. The Canyon Springs site is a notable deer migration route and is known existing habitat for the
sensitive game species. The referenced wildlife report leading to the findings of the DEIR does
not appear adequately peer reviewed, nor was it reviewed by the responsible managing agency
for the deer herd, the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife -DFW (previously Dept. of Fish and
Game -DFG). The wildlife report and findings of no significant impact to the deer herd is grossly
inadequate and should be replaced with an adequate wildlife study focusing on the current use
of the Canyon Springs site by the Loyalton Truckee deer herd, including the current data
observed by CDFW. The DEIR states, "According to CDFG, impacts resulting from residential
development and recreational use are currently the biggest concern for the future of this deer
herd," (DEIR 4.4 -47). The DEIR states that the impacts to the deer herds would be 'less than
significant' without providing evidence or current data to validate the statement (DEIR 4.4 -49).
These statements are conflicting and therefore conclude that development at the Canyon
Springs site would have a significant negative impact on the herd. The DEIR needs to be revised
to include the current CDFW studies and deer herd management plans that apply to the project
site. The analysis provided in the DEIR is inadequate and lacking substantial evidence and needs
to be revised.
4. The Canyon Springs DEIR does not reference the hydrologic processes at the Glenshire Pond and
the Truckee River watershed. The Glenshire Pond is a man -made reservoir that withholds runoff
from the Union Valley drainage, whose headwaters is located at the Canyon Springs site.
According to almost a decade of water quality sampling data publicly accessible from the
Truckee River Watershed Council, the effluent stream from the Glenshire Pond is one of the
biggest polluters and most notable nutrient effluents into the mainstem of the Truckee River
within the middle Truckee River watershed. The addition of the proposed homes and home sites
at Canyon Springs would undoubtedly impact the existing hydrologic processes at the Union
Valley drainage, the Glenshire Pond and the Truckee River, and needs to be carefully included in
an environmental impact analysis of the development.
With that my current comments are concluded and I look forward to working with you further through
this process.
Kind regards,
Sara Taddo Jones
10927 Dorchester Dr.
Truckee, CA 96161
taddoiones @gmail.com