| Section 11. Impacts on Biology - Vegetation and Wildlife |
Please refer to Appendix A, A-1 (Preliminary Project Plan), A-4 (Resources Map) and A-5A & B (San Mateo County General Plan Sensitive Habitats Map)
The impacts on Vegetation and Wildlife, especially on the East Parcel where the housing project is proposed, are severe and of great concern. Refer to Section 1, Project Description. The East Parcel is essentially an open space "island", bounded by the Highway, the school, the Santiago St. neighborhood, and the Miramar neighborhood. It is connected by a very narrow riparian and wildlife corridor to the "Hammerhead" parcel. It is the only undisturbed open field area in the El Granada/Miramar area and is an essential open space buffer between the two communities.
Despite its isolation, it has very rich and diverse wildlife and plant communities, possibly because it is the most accessible open meadow-like area for the animals that live in the upland wooded area on the Hammerhead. The two parcels have a complimentary relationship for wildlife, offering the food and hunting of an open meadow with the shelter and privacy of a wooded hillside.
The parcels have an admittedly damaged but still viably open riparian corridor that supports a large number of plant and animal species. Many "significant" trees along the watercourse would be removed for the proposed project.
The East Parcel also has a low-lying wet area, possibly a wetlands situation, in the area by the highway, that supports the expected plant, bird and animal life of a marshy area. If this area applies to wetlands definitions, jurisdiction of US Army Corp. of Engineers should be examined.
The health of the plant and animal communities that exist on the West Parcel is directly dependent on the watercourse and drainage that flows through the East Parcel - this creek and drainage feed the riparian corridor on the West Parcel, a major bird sheltering and nesting area on that section of coast. They also contribute to the groundwater system that supports the vernal pond area.
The flow of the creek also affects the bluff erosion rate and beach buildup dynamics at the oceanshore of the West Parcel, which is designated a Sensitive Habitat area by the San Mateo County General Plan (see A-5). Refer to Section 8. Water: Hydrological Impacts and Water Quality
(Biological Assessments from Barbara VanderWerf)
| 11.1. Biological Assessment East Parcel |
The east parcel and hammerhead form a distinctive habitat including three "bio-regions." Biological assessment must include identifying these regions and determining their inter-connections.
a. Riparian corridor:
- corridor was filled to make logging haul road in early 1980's (legal?)
- documentation includes aerial photos 1928 to present and U. S. Coast and Geodetic maps beginning in 1861.
- creek drains South Granada and Miramar watershed
- reptile and amphibian assessment needed
corridor is major wildlife travel corridor from wooded upland areas to willow thickets and open field of East Parcel - used by numerous birds & small mammals (mice, gophers, etc.) and the predators (fox, owls, hawks, bobcats) and scavengers (raccoons, skunks, opossums, ravens) that subsist on them.
b. Central basin wetlands and meadow
- Pacific tree frog breeding area
- Monarch butterfly feeding and watering area
- wetlands indicator plant assessment needed
- photo documentation available of extent of wetlands
c. Blue gum eucalyptus grove
- Cooper's hawk and red-tailed hawk roosting and possible nesting trees
- Need for migrating hawk species identification and inventory
d. Species feeding in east parcel and hammerhead include but not limited to:
- Preliminary list: Black-tailed deer, bobcat, gray fox, mountain bluebird, western king bird, meadowlark, white-crown sparrow, gold crown sparrow, American kestrel, house finch, brown towhee, Swainson's thrush, ...
- Over 50 species of birds have been tallied in Quarry Park, which doesn't offer the degree of habitat diversity found on the east parcel.
- The Hammerhead functions as a transitional area and wildlife corridor from Quarry Park and Johnston Ranch forested hills to the open fields of the East & West Parcels
| 11.2. Biological Assessment West Parcel |
The west parcel contains four "bio-regions."
a. Riparian corridor and adjacent Highway One wetlands (photo documentation available)
- Species: Pacific tree frog
- bird, reptile and amphibian species assessment needed
b. Vernal pond-photo documentation available (biological certification needed)
- Pacific tree frog, potential indicator plant species
- documentation 1928 aerial to present
- extent of surrounding area necessary to support vernal pond unknown
- bird, reptile and amphibian species assessment needed
c. Monterey cypress grove
- planted about 20 years ago
- biological assessment needed
d. Agriculture field reverting to Northern Coastal Scrub
- biological assessment needed
Bird species assessment includes the following:
Shorebird and pelagic bird feeding and resting site. Species include but not limited to the following. Asterisk indicates photo documentation available. * Preliminary list:
- red phalarope*
- willet*
- marbled godwit*
- Heerman's gull*
- Western gull*
- great blue heron*
Land bird feeding, resting and possible nesting site. Species include but not limited to the following:
- meadowlark
- white-crown sparrow
- white-tailed kite
- northern harrier
- rough-legged hawk
- red-tailed hawk
- American kestrel
| 11.3. Precedents and Consequences |
| 11.4. Mitigation |