Rising Tree Wind Farm Project Notice of Preparation - County of Kern

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KERN COUNTY PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT RISING TREE WIND ENERGY PROJECT (h) Portions of the project site are located within an A Zone (100-year) Flood Hazard Area as delineated on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRM). The project requests the overlay of the Floodplain (FP) Combining District over portions of the project located within the A Zone. The purpose of the FP Combining District is to protect public health and safety and minimize property damage by designating areas that are potentially subject to flooding by establishing reasonable restrictions on land use. While the project does not include the placement of structures within a 100-year flood hazard zone, the potential for project structures to redirect or impede flood flows within a floodplain zone will be evaluated in the EIR/EIS. (i) The project would not be not located within an area that is subject to flooding due to failure of a levee or dam. However, portions of the project site are located within an A Zone (100-year) Flood Hazard Area as delineated on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRM). Therefore, the potential for project structures to be impacted by flood flows within this floodplain zone will be evaluated in the EIR/EIS. (j) The Project is not located near an ocean or enclosed body of water, and would not be subject to inundation by seiche or tsunami. Portions of the Project are within the County’s Steep Slope Physical Constraints Overlay. Mudflows are events where saturated earth and surface materials are transported downhill under the force of gravity. Mudflow events are the result of a combination of factors, including soil type, precipitation, and slope. As a result of super-saturation, soil and rock materials may become unstable and slide downslope. The potential for Project structures to be inundated by mudflow will be addressed in the EIR/EIS. July 2011 36 Initial Study/Notice of Preparation
LAND USE AND PLANNING. Would the project: a. Physically divide an established community? b. Conflict with any applicable land use plan, policy, or regulation of an agency with jurisdiction over the project (including, but not limited to the general plan, specific plan, local coastal program, or zoning ordinance) adopted for the purpose of avoiding or mitigating an environmental effect? c. Conflict with any applicable habitat conservation plan or natural community conservation plan? KERN COUNTY PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT RISING TREE WIND ENERGY PROJECT Potentially Significant Impact Potentially Significant Impact Unless Mitigated Less Than Significant Impact No Impact Discussion: (a) The project is located adjacent to and within a small established residential community that is spread out over the Project area. This community has undergone minimal growth and has not achieved complete build out. The residents of this community are linked by, but not limited to, such concerns as transportation and traffic, climate, geology, flood hazards, biological resources, safety, and public services. Additionally, changes in traffic circulation designations and public access would potentially affect the cohesion of the community. Therefore, the potential impact of such changes will be evaluated in this EIR/EIS. (b) The Project site is within the boundaries of the Kern County General Plan (KCGP) and the Mojave Specific Plan (MSP). The KCGP and MSP designate the site as: Map Code 4.1 (Special Treatment Areas--Maximum 10 units/Net Acre), Map Code 5.6 (Residential-Minimum 2.5 gross acres/DU), Map Code 5.7 (Residential--Minimum 5 gross acres/DU), Map Code 8.2 (Resource Agriculture), Map Code 8.3 (Extensive Agriculture—Minimum 20 Acre Parcel Size), and Map Code 8.4 (Mineral and Petroleum-Minimum 5 Acres Parcel Size). The site is also designated with the following combining hazard overlays: Map Code 2.4 (Steep Slope) and Map Code 2.5 (Flood Hazard). The Kern County Zone Districts in the Project area are: A (Exclusive Agriculture) and A-1 (Limited Agriculture). Portions of the Project site designated for wind turbine generators (WTGs) would be changed from the existing zone classifications to the A-WE (Exclusive Agriculture, Wind Energy Combining) District. The WE Combining District mandates specific development standards and conditions that apply to all wind turbine construction and siting in this zone. The proposed circulation amendments to remove road reservations and nonsummary easement vacations would change the existing and planned traffic circulation for the Project area, as established by the KCGP and MSP, thus potentially resulting in significant impacts. Consistency of the Project with the policies of the KCGP, the MSP, and any other applicable land use plan, policy, or regulation will be evaluated in the EIR/EIS. (c) The Project is not within the boundaries of any adopted habitat conservation plan or natural community conservation plan. However, the Project is in an area covered by the California Desert Conservation Area Plan and its amendment, the West Mojave Plan. Consistency with these and any other or approved local, regional, or State habitat conservation plans will be evaluated in the EIR/EIS. July 2011 37 Initial Study/Notice of Preparation
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PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Page 3 and 4: ZCC #48, Map #197; ZCC #7, Map #180
Page 5 and 6: Center on Race, Poverty & the Envir
Page 7 and 8: Notice of Completion & Environmenta
Page 9 and 10: Reviewing Agencies Checklist Lead A
Page 11 and 12: Notice of Preparation Of a Joint En
Page 13 and 14: NOP / REQUEST FOR SCOPING COMMENTS
Page 15 and 16: INITIAL STUDY/NOTICE OF PREPARATION
Page 17 and 18: KERN COUNTY PLANNING & COMMUNITY DE
Page 19 and 20: 1. Project Description KERN COUNTY
Page 31 and 32: 1.4.2 Construction KERN COUNTY PLAN
Page 37 and 38: AESTHETICS. Would the project: a. H
Page 43 and 44: BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES. Would the pro
Page 45 and 46: CULTURAL RESOURCES. Would the proje
Page 53: Discussion: KERN COUNTY PLANNING &
Page 57 and 58: NOISE. Would the project result in:
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Rising Tree Wind Farm Project Notice of Preparation - County of Kern

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