Bridge Preventative Maintenance Program Cycle 3 Project

2023070005

City of Santa Barbara

NOE - Notice of Exemption

7/3/2023

7/3/2023

Kaitlin Mamulski

City of Santa Barbara

Project Planner

Lead/Public Agency / Project Applicant / Parties Undertaking Project

630 Garden St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

(805) 897-2685

kmamulski@santabarbaraca.gov

The Project will involve work at multiple bridge locations within the Public ROW at Hollister Avenue, Carrillo Street, Arrellaga Street, Zoological Garden, Tallant Road, and Pedregosa Street.

Categorical Exemption

Sections 15301 Existing Facilities Class I (d)

This Project meets the 15301 (d) categorical exemption, because the Project involves the restoration and rehabilitation of deteriorated or damaged existing bridges to meet current standards of safety. Coastal Development Permit (CDP) Exemptions will be required for the two bridge locations within the Coastal Zone. A CDFW SAA will be applied for where work is proposed to require access from the creek channel. No impacts to the creeks are anticipated as all work areas shall be tarped to contain any debris or dust generated by the proposed scope of work. Archaeology. All bridges are located within Prehistoric Watercourses, one bridge will = involve the removal of a mature tree along the wingwall at Bridge 51C-0293, however, the stump will be left in place and treated per the direction of the City’s Urban Forest Superintendant. This tree is located within an area that was previously disturbed when the bridge was installed and as well as when the parking lot for the Santa Barbara Zoo was installed. Because the stump will remain in place, there are no ground disturbing activities proposed and there are no anticipated impacts to archaeological resources. Therefore, the effect on archaeological resource is considered to be less than significant. Biology. A majority of creeks within Santa Barbara are considered to be biologically sensitive areas, due to this all bridges involved in this Project are within 200 feet of biologically sensitive areas. To mitigate the impact this Project has on those areas, environmental surveys have been conducted and specific mitigation techniques will be required of the contractor during construction. There should be minimal biological resources impacts as a majority of work is taking place on the bridge decks and within the bridge structure, not within the creek channels or within the top of banks. At two locations, work to the underside of the bridge may be accessed from the creek, therefore, an SAA may be required from the CDFW. Please see below for specific minimization techniques for each bridge. Hollister Avenue over Tecolotito Creek - Bridge No. 51C-0128 There were no observations of listed or ranked plants at the worksite. Therefore, the proposed work will have no impact on special-status plant species. However, suitable habitat for aquatic species may be affected by bridge maintenance activities. The following apply to the Hollister Avenue bridge over Tecolotito Creek activities to prevent impacts on the surrounding aquatic habitat: 1. Environmental Survey: A general survey for nesting birds and aquatic species prior to any activities. 2. Environmental Monitoring: A biologist will be present for work occurring within the creek. 3. Environmental Training: Training of workers for special-status species and mitigation measures. 4. Dry Conditions: Work should occur only during dry conditions. 5. Rain Event Limitations: The work cannot occur within 2 days of a forecasted rain event of over 0.1 inches under no circumstances. 6. Debris Mitigation: Line the creek bed with a tarp or comparable form of equipment when removing concrete, fixing spalls, and sandblasting rebar to capture all debris involved with the proposed activities. 7. Materials Offsite: All materials used to remove concrete, sandblast, and patch spalls shall be removed from the site at the end of each workday and properly disposed offsite. 8. Leave No Trace: No construction waste, food wrappers, cigarette buds, or other forms of trash should be left at the worksite. All waste must be removed from the site and properly disposed of at an offsite location. Carrillo Street over Mission Creek – Bridge No. 51C-0147 There were no observations of listed or ranked plants at the worksite and no suitable habitat was present for the special-status animals listed in the desktop assessment. The proposed activities will be isolated to the deck of the bridge and will not impact nesting bird species. The following apply at the Carrillo Street over Mission Creek bridge: 1. Leave No Trace: No construction waste, food wrappers, cigarette buds, or other form trash should be left at the worksite. No waste or construction debris can enter the creek and all waste must be removed from the site and properly disposed at an offsite location. Arrellaga Street over Mission Creek – Bridge No.51C-0149 There were no observations of listed or ranked plants at the worksite and no suitable habitat was present for the special-status animals listed in the desktop assessment. The proposed activities will occur below the bridge. The following apply at the Arrellaga Street over Mission Creek bridge: 1. Chemical Mitigation: Line the creek bed with a tarp or comparable form of equipment to prevent chemical spills from entering the creek. 2. Leave no Trace: No construction waste, food wrappers, cigarette butts, or other form trash should be left at the worksite. No waste or construction debris can enter the creek and all waste must be removed from the site and properly disposed at an offsite location. Ninos Drive over Sycamore Creek – Bridge No. 51C-0293 There were no observations of listed or ranked plants at the worksite and no suitable habitat was present for the special-status animals listed in the desktop assessment. The proposed activities will occur adjacent to the bridge site. The following apply at the Nin~os Drive over Sycamore Creek bridge: 1. Environmental Survey: A general survey for nesting birds and aquatic species prior to any activities. 2. Environmental Training: Training of workers for special-status species and mitigation measures. 3. Debris Mitigation: No debris from tree felling should enter the creek and the tree remains should be hauled offsite to prevent unintentional branch rolling into the creek. 4. Leave no Trace: No construction waste and or food wrappers, cigarette butts. All waste must be removed from the site. Tallant Road over Mission Creek – Bridge No.51C-0303 There were no observations of listed or ranked plants at the worksite, and no suitable habitat was present for the special-status animals listed in the desktop assessment. The proposed activities will occur on the bridge deck. The following applies at the Tallant Road over Mission Creek bridge. 1. Environmental Survey: A survey for raptors and other nesting birds. 2. Debris Mitigation: Line the creek bed with a tarp or comparable form of equipment to prevent railing materials from entering the creek. 3. Leave no Trace: No construction waste and or food wrappers, cigarette butts. All waste must be removed from the site. Pedregosa Street over Mission Creek – Bridge No.51C-0306 There were no observations of listed or ranked plants at the worksite. Therefore, the proposed work will have no impact on special-status plant species. However, suitable habitat for aquatic species may be affected by bridge maintenance activities. The following apply to the Pedregosa Street over Mission Creek activities to prevent impacts on the surrounding habitat: 1. Environmental Survey: A general survey for nesting birds and aquatic species prior to any activities. 2. Environmental Monitoring: A biologist will be present for work occurring within the creek. 3. Environmental Training: Training for special-status species awareness and mitigation measures. 4. Dry Conditions: Work should occur during dry conditions. 5. Debris Mitigation: Line the creek bed with a tarp or comparable form of equipment when removing concrete, fixing spalls, and sandblasting rebar. 6. Leave no Trace: No construction waste and or food wrappers, cigarette butts. All waste must be removed from the site. Creeks. All bridges in this project span creeks, but there will be no impacts to the flow of the watercourse and all work will be contained through specific minimization techniques (noted above) that the contractor will be required to adhere to during construction. Coastal Zone. Bridge 51C-0128, Hollister Avenue over Tecolotito Creek, is located in the coastal zone, to avoid impacts to surrounding aquatic habitat several mitigation measures have been put in place. A Coastal Exemption permit will be obtained for the work proposed in the coastal zone. Bridge 51C-0293, Ninos Drive over Sycamore Creek, is located within the coastal zone, the only work happening at this bridge is the removal of a mature tree located along the wingwall. A Coastal Exemption permit will be obtained for the work proposed in the coastal zone. An environmental survey has been conducted to assess the impact of the removal; minimal impact is expected. The tree will be felled away from the creek bank to avoid impacts to the channel and as part of debris mitigation no debris from the tree felling should enter the creek and the tree remains should be hauled offsite to prevent unintentional branch rolling into the creek. Floodway. All bridges in this project span creeks, therefore all bridges are located within floodways. The scope of this Project has change to the creek channels or bridge structures on the flow of the watercourse, therefore no impacts to all floodways will occur. Geology. A few bridges within this project are in high liquefaction or potential shallow groundwater areas. The impacts on these factors will be minimal due to the fact most of the work will be on top of the bridge decks and within the bridge structure, therefore the Project is considered less than significant . Hazardous Materials. The Project is located within 200 feet of a known GeoTracker Cleanup Program Site at Dwight Murphy Park. The status of this site is “open – site assessment”. Any ground disturbing activities at the Ninos Bridge location, (i.e., tree stump removal) would require soils testing. Per the guidance of the City’s Urban Forest Superintendent, the tree removal can be accomplished without ground disturbing activities as various treatment options may be implemented to leave the stump in place. Staff will work under the guidance of the Urban Forest Superintendent for the tree removal activities. Noise. A few bridges within this project are located in >65 dBA noise level areas. All additional noise from this Project will be short-term, as no maintenance item should take more than two days to complete. Further, a majority of the equipment needed will not be running for the entirety of the workday and will be compliant with the City’s Noise Ordinance construction hours of 7:30 AM to 4 PM. The temporary noise impacts are considered to be less than significant. Trees. One mature tree will be removed at the site of Bridge 51C-0293, Ninos Drive over Sycamore Creek. The tree is leaning on a wingwall. Per consultation with the City’s Urban Forest Superintendent, an administrative approval for the tree removal will be granted as the tree is compromising the structural integrity of critical infrastructure, furthermore, replacement of this non-native tree will not be required given the nature of the removal. To minimize the impact of the tree removal, an environmental survey was conducted. During removal, specific mitigation measures will be in place to minimize the impact of the removal on the creek bank.. Per the guidance of the City’s Urban Forest Superintendent, the tree removal can be accomplished without ground disturbing activities as various treatment options may be implemented to leave the stump in place. Staff will work under the guidance of the Urban Forest Superintendent for the tree removal activities. Visual. Bridge 51C-0293, Ninos Drive over Sycamore Creek, is located within the coastal zone, but the proposed work will cause no dramatic changes to any unique vistas as the tree is located adjacent to the Santa Barbara Zoo parking lot and not a scenic vista. Given the minor change in visual appearance, the tree removal is less than significant . In conclusion, the Project will address bridge maintenance issues through repairs at various bridge locations throughout the City and bring the bridges into compliance with current standards of safety. Project is not anticipated to result in any significant impacts towards the environmental resources, therefore, the Public Works Department recommends that the Case Planner consider this Project as exempt, as defined in the CEQA review process classified under the Categorical Exemption 15301 (d) Existing Facilities of the CEQA Guidelines.