2.
Response
to
Comments
2.9
Individual
Responses
to
Comments
from
Organizations
Views
from
the
entrance
to
Brisbane
near
Highway
101
and
Lagoon
Road
:
Viewpoint
9
in
the
Draft
EIR
analysis
is
located
on
northbound
Highway
101
very
close
to
Lagoon
Road.
View
from
downtown
Brisbane
toward
the
Project
Site
:
Viewpoints
10
and
11
are
from
downtown
Brisbane
looking
towards
the
Project
Site.
View
from
the
southbound
101
freeway
towards
central
Brisbane
:
Viewpoint
5
is
located
southbound
on
the
101
freeway
at
the
northeastern
corner
of
the
Project
Site
looking
across
the
site
towards
downtown
Brisbane.
Subsequent
site-specific
development
plans
would
be
subject
to
additional
environmental
review,
including
analysis
of
visual
impacts
analysis
to
ensure
implementation
of
applicable
visual
resources
mitigation
measures,
and
the
effectiveness
of
proposed
mitigation
measures.
The
statement
from
page
4.A-4
of
the
Draft
EIR
is
accurate
in
its
summary
of
existing
conditions
in
terms
of
vegetation
and
wildlife
habitat
at
the
Baylands
Project
site.
As
a
result
of
former
and
interim
land
uses
within
the
Baylands
Project
site,
including
a
rail
yard
and
a
landfill
that
encompassed
the
large
majority
of
the
site’s
land
area,
the
large
majority
of
natural
vegetation
within
the
Baylands
Project
site
was
removed.
As
of
2010,
the
Draft
EIR’s
baseline
year,
and
continuing
to
the
present
time,
the
large
majority
of
the
site’s
land
area
consists
of
open
ground,
buildings,
and
active
work
areas,
leading
the
Draft
EIR
to
describe
the
majority
of
on-site
habitat
as
“disturbed.”
Please
see
pages
4.C-3
through
4.C-11
of
the
Draft
EIR
for
further
details
regarding
the
quality
of
the
habitat
in
the
Baylands
Project
site.
The
statement
on
page
4.A-4
of
the
Draft
EIR
that
“
...
the
riprap
embankment
supporting
the
railroad
tracks
along
the
eastern
edge…”
is
correct
since
the
eastern
edge
of
the
railroads
tracks
is
also
the
western
edge
of
the
lagoon.
To
ensure
clarity,
the
next
to
last
sentence
of
the
last
paragraph
on
page
4.A-4
is
revised
to
read
as
follows:
The
lagoon
shoreline
is
characterized
by
low
grasses,
occasional
shrubbery,
and
the
a
riprap
embankment
supporting
the
railroad
tracks
along
the
eastern
edge.
Visitacion
Creek,
as
mapped
in
Figure
4.C-1
,
and
as
observed
in
reconnaissance
studies
undertaken
for
the
Draft
EIR,
did
not
support
abundant
riparian
vegetation
along
its
banks
except
for
willow
trees
north
of
the
tank
farm
in
association
with
emergent
wetland
habitat.
A
cluster
of
trees
is
also
present
on
the
north
bank
near
Highway
101.
Given
the
length
of
the
channel
and
the
limited
extent
of
riparian
vegetation
the
patch
is
best
characterized
as
discrete
in
size
and
location,
and
thus
the
word
“limited”
was
appropriately
used
to
describe
it.
To
call
the
riparian
vegetation
“a
lot”
Brisbane
Baylands
Final
EIR
2.9.3-22
May
2015