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This Limited Revised and Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report, here-
inafter referred to as “Revised Draft EIR”, provides an assessment of potential
environmental consequences of the construction of the proposed Canyon Springs
Subdivision project (the project). The Town of Truckee (Town) is the lead agency
for the project. This Revised Draft EIR is intended to inform the Town of Truck-
ee Planning Commission and Town Council, responsible agencies and the public-
at-large of the nature of the project and its potential impacts. Additionally, this
Revised Draft EIR identifies mitigation measures that, if adopted, would reduce or
avoid potentially significant impacts and examines alternatives to the proposed
project. This Revised Draft EIR has been prepared in accordance with the Califor-
nia Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the State CEQA Guidelines and the
Town’s local procedures for implementing CEQA.
A. Environmental Review Process
1. Notice of Preparation/Scoping Meeting
The Town of Truckee Community Development Department issued a Notice of
Preparation (NOP) on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, initiating a scoping period for
the 2012 Draft EIR which extended from April 20 through May 20, 2011. Two
separate scoping meetings were held on Wednesday, May 4, 2011: 1) for responsi-
ble agencies, and 2) for all other agencies, organizations, and members of the pub-
lic. During the scoping period oral and written comments were received on the
proposed project, project alternatives, and the scope of the EIR. In addition, the
Town considered the comments from public agency and service providers, and
members of the public that were submitted for the previous Tahoe Boca residential
development proposal in 2003 and the Canyon Springs residential development
proposal in 2007. These comment letters were provided in Appendix B of the
2012 Draft EIR. The comment letters received from 2003 through 2011 were used
for the preparation of the 2012 Draft EIR.
2. Notice of Completion/Notice of Availability/Public Hearing
Prior to the release of the 2012 Draft EIR, a Neighborhood Meeting was held on
December 18, 2012 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Town of Truckee Town Hall in
the Council Chambers to provide an overview of the proposed project and the
environmental review process.
Pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15085, a Notice of Completion
(NOC) of the 2012 Draft EIR was filed with the Office of Planning and Research
(OPR) State Clearinghouse and circulated to State agencies on December 19, 2012
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for a 73-day review period ending on March 1, 2013. Pursuant to State CEQA
Guidelines Section 15087, the Town provided at the same time a Notice of Availa-
bility (NOA) and the 2012 Draft EIR was distributed to various public agencies,
private organizations and groups for the 73-day public review period. During this
review period, a public meeting was held on January 29, 2013 from 6:00 to 8:00
p.m. at the Town of Truckee Town Hall in the Council Chambers to provide an
overview of the 2012 Draft EIR including the findings and to invite public com-
ments on the 2012 Draft EIR to be submitted in writing to the Town of Truckee.
Due to requests from the public during the comment period, the public review
period was extended for an additional five days to March 6, 2013.
Copies of the 2012 Draft EIR were available for review at the Town of Truckee’s
Community Development Department and via internet at
www.townoftruckee.com. During the 78-day public review period the Town re-
ceived six comment letters from public agencies and 66 letters from members of
the general public.
3. Revised Draft EIR
After preparation of the 2012 Draft EIR, but prior to its certification, the Town
prepared an addendum to the Traffic Impact Analysis, received new data on Loyal-
ton-Truckee Mule Deer Herd, conducted an additional biological field survey of
the project site and considered a new alternative to the proposed project as a result
of written comments and comments presented at the 2013 public meeting. In
compliance with Section 15088.5(f) of the CEQA Guidelines, the 2012 Draft EIR
was revised to include the new technical study, alternative and updated infor-
mation. Additionally, those comments relevant to CEQA and the 2007 Draft EIR
were also addressed. The purpose of recirculation is to allow interested public
agencies, groups and individuals the opportunity to review and comment on new
and updated information provided in the Revised Draft EIR for the proposed Pro-
ject.
This Revised Draft EIR will be available for review by the public and interested
parties, agencies, and organizations for a minimum 45-day comment period. Refer-
enced technical studies and other cited materials are available for review in the pro-
ject file at the Town of Truckee Community Development Department, 10183
Truckee Airport Road in Truckee.
During the 45-day comment period, the public is invited to submit written or e-
mail comments on the Revised Draft EIR to the contact information provided
below.
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Written comments should be submitted to:
Ms. Denyelle Nishimori
Town of Truckee Community Development Department
10183 Truckee Airport Road
Truckee, CA 96161
Fax: 530-582-7889
Email: dnishimori@townoftruckee.com
4. Final EIR
Following the close of the 45-day comment period on the Revised Draft EIR, a
Final Environmental Impact Report (Final EIR) will be prepared that contains all
substantive comments received on the 2012 Draft EIR and the Revised Draft EIR,
written responses to those comments, and necessary changes or additions to the
text and analysis in the 2012 Draft EIR and the Revised Draft EIR. The Final EIR
will be made available to Town of Truckee Planning Commission and Town Coun-
cil for review and certification prior to their consideration of project entitlements.
B. Summary of Revisions
Section 15088.5(g) of the State CEQA Guidelines requires that, “[w]hen recirculating
a revised EIR, either in whole or in part, the lead agency shall, in the revised EIR or
by an attachment to the revised EIR, summarize the revisions made to the previ-
ously circulated draft EIR.” This Revised Draft EIR incorporates information
originally presented in the 2012 Draft EIR specific to Chapter 1 (Introduction),
Chapter 2 (Report Summary), Section 4.4 (Biological Resources), Section 4.14
(Transportation and Traffic), and Chapter 5 (Alternatives to the Proposed Project).
In addition, the Revised Draft EIR also includes updated information and technical
studies described further below. The Revised Draft EIR is a partial EIR, and is
limited certain chapters of the 2012 Draft EIR listed under Section C, Report Or-
ganization, below. In summary, the Revised Draft EIR includes the incorporation
of the following technical study, alternatives and updated information for the pro-
posed Project:
1. Technical Study
Canyon Springs Traffic Impact Analysis Addendum #1 prepared by LSC Transportation
Consultants, Inc., January 17, 2014: This addendum reflects an update to intersec-
tion Level of Service (LOS) analyses for all study intersections using the Highway
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Capacity Manual (HCM) 2010 method,1 and an evaluation of the impact of the
updated Town of Truckee TransCAD traffic model.
2. Field Assessment
EIR biologists from LSA conducted an additional field survey on November 1,
2013 to evaluate the Jeffrey pine and sagebrush plant communities.
3. Supplemental Data
Additional data related to the long-range studies on the Loyalton-Truckee mule
deer herd prepared by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in
cooperation with Nevada Division of Wildlife (NDOW) that was made available to
the Town on August 27, 2013, January 23, 2014 and April 10, 2014 by CDFW fol-
lowing formal Public Records Requests2 by the Project Applicant. Additional in-
formation regarding the herd was included in the letter submitted by the Project
Applicant to the Town Attorney dated February 21, 2014 and specific movement
data on deer using the site and the property adjacent to the site to the southeast
was also provided to the Town by CDFW on September 3, 2014.3
4. Alternatives
No Project Alternative: This alternative has been revised to clarify the current
uses on the site.
Open Space Buffer (185 units) Alternative: This alternative provides an addi-
tional 4.6 acres of open space buffer between the development area and the
open space area in the southeast corner of the site. In addition, this alternative
re-routes the publically accessible trail to avoid the southeast corner of the site
and the large pebble meadow located in this area.
1 The HCM 2010 Method was not available when the Notice of Preparation was
released on April 20, 2011 and when LSC Transportation Consultants, Inc. started working
on the Transportation Impact Analysis in spring 2011.
2 California Public Records Act (California Government Code section 6250 et seq).
3 The initial Notice of Availability mistakenly referenced data provided by the Cal-
ifornia Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) on September 22, 2014. This error was
corrected via an errata issued September 26, 2014. Some data was provided in preliminary
form by CDFW in late September, but it was raw, non-processed/non-finaled data that was
therefore not relied upon in the Revised Draft EIR.
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C. Report Organization
This Revised Draft EIR is organized into the following chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction. Provides an introduction and overview of the Revised
Draft EIR document.
Chapter 2: Report Summary. Provides a synopsis of the environmental impacts
from the proposed project, describes recommended mitigation measures, and
indicates the level of significance of impacts before and after mitigation.
Chapter 4.4: Biological Resources. Provides a description of the biological re-
sources present or potentially present on the project site, and discusses poten-
tial impacts to these resources that could result from buildout of the project, as
well as associated mitigation measures to offset any impacts. Specifically, this
chapter has been revised to incorporate the new data provided by the Califor-
nia Department of Fish and Wildlife and the results of the field assessment
conducted by LSA biologists.
Chapter 4.14: Transportation and Traffic. Provides a description of the existing
traffic, circulation, and transportation conditions in the Town of Truckee, ad-
dressing vehicular traffic, as well as parking, transit, pedestrian, bicycle, and
aviation facilities, and evaluates potential impacts of the proposed project.
Specifically, this chapter has been revised to incorporate the new data from the
Canyon Springs Traffic Impact Analysis Addendum #1 prepared by LSC Transporta-
tion Consultants, Inc., January 17, 2014.
Chapter 5: Alternatives to the Proposed Project. Considers alternatives to the pro-
posed project, including the CEQA-required “No Project Alternative,” and
explains why some alternatives were not carried forward for detailed evalua-
tion. Specifically, this chapter has been revised to include an analysis of the
new Open Space Buffer alternative.
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