Appeal to the City Council by Roberto Valdez
posted here for informational purposes only; 
the Friends of Lagoon Valley have taken no position on this matter
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August 24, 2009
 
Vacaville City Council
650 Merchant Street
Vacaville, CA 95688

Subject:  Addendum to Individual Appeal (6/26/09) to Vacaville City Council re:  New Life (File No. 09-036) Church Approved by City Planning Commission on Tuesday (06/16/09).
 
Dear Honorable Gentlemen and Ladies:

Thank you for allowing me to submit both my original request for Waiver/Reduction of Appeal fee (Dated June 24, 2009), which I submitted to City Clerk Office on June 25 & 26, 2009 pending Ms Maureen Carson’s, City Director of Community Development, unfair final decision (June 26, 2009) and subsequent City Council meeting statements and reconsideration letter for refund( July 14, 2009) which is still pending for your final decision as the main stewards of this project. 

I am a long-time Vacaville resident and stakeholder with the proposed Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan of Solano County, representing  the Friends of Lagoon Valley, Markhamalaka Friendship Alliance, the Vallejo Inter-Tribal Council, and Solano Environmental Watchdog Society. 

I am requesting an appeal (June 26, 2009) of the recent approval (June 16, 2009) by the Vacaville Planning Commission re: Negative Mitigation and Design Review for the New Life Church Project (Project File 09-036) which will be located near Cherry Glen and Rivera roads in Upper Lagoon Valley. 

These are my concerns which I am expressing with the signed support of several individuals (please refer to signatures petition letters(2) submitted on June 26, 2009 & August 24, 2009) from both our Vacaville residents and Vallejo Inter-Tribal Members in Solano County.

• Any action today on the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Design Review is premature, because comments on the documents are still being accepted and must be considered before the City Council takes final action.

1.  Lack of Public Participation and Input, due to lack of sufficient publicity and implementation of fee-based criteria for appeal process.

     Comments:

I still feel that this project was not sufficiently publicized in the Vacaville Reporter, when I learned about this approved project from the Vacaville Reporter on Wednesday ( June 17, 2009).  Please refer to attached newspaper article (Attachment No. 1).

Also, I still feel that the lack of flexibility in the appeal fee will continue to discourage citizen participation/input on significant projects such as the New Life Church which will impact adversely the historic Lagoon Valley environment.  That is, to say, I was informed initially that my appeal fee was going to be the maximum ($516) rather than the minimum amount ($103) without any discussion, based on the City of Vacaville Planning Application Fees schedule (Effective August 25, 2008).  Please refer to attached fee schedule which was signed and circled by Ms. Maureen Carson, Director of Community Planning.

2.  Lack of Native American participation and input, due to lack of follow-up contact.

      Comments:

Based on the specific recommendations (December 7, 2007) from State of California Native American Heritage Commission and comments (December 26. 2007) from the archaeological/historic consultants, I do not understand why there were no telephone  efforts made to contact the Most Likely Descendent(s) for this project.  Please refer to Attachments No. 2 re: defunct Lower Lagoon Valley Project (LLVP) and  No. 3 related to New Life Church Project.

Also, the project disregards the adverse disturbances to known Native American sacred sites along Cherry Glen Road ( ex. Vacaville Reporter: August 18, 2007) and nearby CA-SOL 30H & CA-SOL 324 which the Vallejo Inter-Tribal Council has indicated in their submittal letter (July 12, 2007) re: LSA Cultural Report on the defunct Lower Lagoon Valley Project.

Furthermore, Robert Allen, President of the Vacaville Heritage Council, warns about the high probability of disturbances of Indian burials along Laguna Creek within the project site in Upper Lagoon Valley (Attachment No. 4).

• The Mitigated Negative Declaration’s analysis of water quality/hydrology is inadequate.

     Comments:

Since a Wastewater-Septic System will be used to accommodate this project, I am recommending that biodegradable Effective Microorganisms (EM1-5) be used to protect the Lagoon Valley environment  from potential toxic pathogens and wastewater pollutants within this project.  Please refer to the Attachment No. 5 re: EM  scientific demonstration which was conducted at the Frank Bonifacio Septic Service Inc. for City of Vacaville Sewage Treatment Facility Senior Laboratory Technician who was amazed by the results during August-December 1998. 

• Both Mitigated Negative Declaration and Design Review inadequately analyze and mitigate the impacts of project on traffic.

    Comments:

 “While Solano is expected to have a 45% increase in population by 2025 miles Traveled by residents is expected to increase by 60% and housrs on the road are expected to increase by 150%” (Friends of Lagoon Valley letter: 7/1/09), I am very concerned that the Church vehicles will increase the traffic congestion on both the I-80 Gateway corridor and the historic Lincoln Highway on Cherry Glen Road.  Please refer to Attachment No. 6 from Vacaville 04 Map from “To Donner Pass from the Pacific” (circa 2001) by Jack E. Duncan.

• The record demonstrates that the project will destroy valuable foraging habitat for Swainson’s Hawk, a State listed threatened species, and thereby restrict its range, triggering a mandatory finding of significance and the requirement of an EIR.

5.  Adverse impacts to 91 trees (oak, etc.) within project area, identified for actual/potential removal and replacement.

      Comments:  

Although there are 91 oak trees targeted within this project, I am appalled that more than 30% of all historic oak trees (50% of all targeted 91 large trees with project site) will be removed to accommodate this significant project; they are as followed:

    Type of Oak Tree         Identification      Removal      Preservation
 
       Valley Oak                   39                    26              13
 
       Live Oak                      10                    09              01
 
       Total                           49                    35              14

Since these tall oak trees constitute potential habitats for Swainson’s Hawks and large raptors such as White-Tailed kites and Red-tailed Hawks, I have included available information about the historic significance of these Californian giant trees.  Please refer to Attachments No. 7 and No. 8. 

• The Mitigated Negative Declaration analysis of biological impacts relies on wholly outdated data and has missed relevant data re: Swainson’s Hawks and Other Raptors as well as known birds in Lagoon Valley.

6.    Adverse impacts to environmental wildlife and their habitats within project area, including but not limited to: Swainson’s  Hawks, black-tailed  deer, red-tailed hawks, white-tailed Kites, turkey vultures, common garter snakes, etc.

      Comments:

All known bird species were not identified specifically within this project; I have included the latest 2004-2009 Bird Atlas Survey from the Napa-Solano Aududon Society for this USGS block(G5/585240) re: New Life Church Project (Attachment No. 9).

Also, I have consulted with Mr. Jim Knight, a local birder, who has been surveying block G5/585240 for past 5 years within project site, has confirmed that he has observed numerous occurrences of Swainson’s Hawks nearby Lagoon Valley Road during the past 5 years.  Anne Romer, another local birder, stated she observed twice (7:40 am & 11:40 am) Swainson’s Hawks flying over the western side of Lagoon Lake on May 14, 2009.

In addition, I have included the latest scientific findings (Attachments No. 10) and tracking methodology ( Attachment No. 11) from the Swainson’s  Hawks Technical Advisory Committee(SHTAC).  I have used Attachment No. 12 to identify accurately the 3 Swainson’s Hawks (2 dark-feathered adults and 1 light-feathered young birds), State threatened species, nesting in the eucalyptus tree (.3 mile) from the project site.

Furthermore, I  have conducted a two-month observation survey in collaboration with the Napa-Solano Audubon Society to verify the annual presence Swainson’s Hawks within the project.  I conclude from my finding observations that there is      potential habitat for Swainson’s Hawks within the project site, following the scientific recommendations from both the Napa-Solano Audubon Society and Swainson’s Hawks Technical Advisory Committee; Plus, my knowledge of  the current scientific surveys (ex. LSA mappings for the proposed Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan  of Solano County which are accessible in the Solano County Water Agency website) about Swainson’s Hawks occurrences within Solano County, including Lagoon in Vacaville.   Please refer to (Attachment No.  13).
 
7.  Adverse impacts to native grasslands within project area, providing natural habitats for insects, birds, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and crustaceans.

      Comments:

Since this project invalidates the biological significance of native grasses within the project, I wish to include relevant material which confirms the importance of native grasslands, especially needle grass, as biological habitats for many creatures and critters.  Please refer to Attachments No. 14 and 15.

• The project fails to ensure that there will be no increase in the 10-year to 100-year peak runoff in the Lagoon Valley basin within the project area which will continued be impacted by both the Vaca Mountains and Highway I-80.

Please refer to my Appeal form( Dated June 26, 2009) for cited statement: “In addition, as a Vacaville resident and taxpayer, I (Roberto Valdez) question why the annual flooding problems in Lagoon Valley were not addressed within the project area.”

 Comments:

Reflecting on the 2005 Vacaville Flood devastations and proposed Laguna Creek Detention Basin, I am not convinced that the City has provided enough safeguards to prevent the annual flooding within the project area which tends to escalate every seven years in the Lagoon Valley basin.

 Summary of Mitigated Negative Declaration and Design Review:

 In violation of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)’s requirement that the “whole of an action” be considered together, the City is engaging in separate, piecemeal environmental review for this project, resulting in both piecemeal conservation and historic preservation for our community in the historic Lagoon Valley environment.  The project is conflicting selectively with the policies of the General Plan governing traffic, conservation, water quality, wastewater sewage system, and aesthetics, including, but not limited to, the Lagoon Valley Plan.

Also, this project may be subject to the National Environmental Protection Quality Act (NEPA) requirements, if federal permits are required.  In addition, since this project is subject to the Federal Endangered & Threatened Species Act under federal permits.

In addition, I wish to state that I strongly disagree with the city staff viewpoints that the current economic recession is a legitimate excuse to discourage both citizen participation and input on this important project which will have significant impacts on the historic Lagoon Valley environment and will short-cut the public hearing process.

Furthermore, as an American citizen, I have the legal right to request within ten days for an appeal/due process/complete public disclosure/question any infringement of the right to appeal any project that the City of Vacaville has approved under our U.S. Constitution and State of California Constitution as well as City Charter/Plans/Ordinances, including but not limited to CEQA and Federal Threatened/Endangered Species Act.

Finally, relating to the current drought conditions I wish to indicate for the record that the City of Vacaville did not respond to the firestorms concerns in Upper Lagoon Valley, which were raised in the support email (6/26/09) to my appeal by Mr. Patrick Haggarty, a former volunteer with the Oakland Fire Department, that I submitted at the City Clerk to the Assistant City Clerk on Friday (June 26^th) in my informational material packet.

If you have any questions/concerns about my individual comments, please contact me at my home telephone: (707)448-4905 or email:robertovaldez55@hotmail.com.

Thank you very much.
 
Yours Truly,

Roberto Valdez Jr, 248 Plantation Way, Vacaville, CA 95687.

CC: Laura Kuhn- City Manager.
      Michelle Thornbrugh, City Clerk.
      Fred Buderi, City Project Manager.
      Tricia Shortridge, City Assistant Project Manager.
      Maureen Carson, City Director of Community Development.