Title
PLN230035 - BENGARD FAMILY PARTNERSHIP ET. AL.
Public hearing to consider construction of three two-story 16,286 square foot agricultural employee housing apartment buildings (48,858 square feet total) containing one manager’s unit and 45 residential units to accommodate up to 360 farmworker employees, and associated site improvements including a laundry facility, recreation room, open space and informal sports fields, and 4,700 cubic yards of cut and 4,700 cubic yards of fill to be balanced on site.
Project Location: 1981, 1983 and 1985 Alisal Road, Salinas, Greater Salinas Area Plan
Proposed CEQA Action: Adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15074.
Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that the Planning Commission adopt a resolution:
1) Adopting a Mitigated Negative Declaration pursuant to Section 15074 of the CEQA Guidelines;
2) Approving Use Permit to allow construction of three two-story 16,286 square foot agricultural employee housing apartment buildings (48,858 square feet total) containing 1 managers unit and 45 residential units to accommodate up to 360 farmworker employees, and associated site improvements including a laundry facility, recreation room, open space and informal sports fields; and
3) Adopting a Condition Compliance and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Plan.
The attached draft resolution includes findings and evidence for consideration (Exhibit B). Staff recommends approval subject to 27 conditions of approval.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Property Owners: Bengard Family Partnership Et. Al.
Agent: Jeff Nohr, Avila Construction
APN: 153-011-064-000
Zoning: Farmland, 40 acres per unit (“F/40”)
Plan Area: Greater Salinas Area Plan
Flagged and Staked: No
Project Planner: Fionna Jensen, Senior Planner, 831-796-6407, JensenF1@co.monterey.ca.us
SUMMARY
The subject property (188 acres) is located at the intersection of Sconberg Parkway and Alisal Road (1981, 1983 and 1985 Alisal Road), adjacent to the City of Salinas, and has been utilized for agricultural row-crop production for approximately 86 years. The property also contains agricultural employee housing and agricultural support space (e.g., shops, yards, office, etc.). The existing employee housing consists of 16 apartment units (two apartment buildings), six (6) single-family homes, and one (1) common laundry room. The existing agriculture employee housing was authorized through the issuance of a Use Permit in 1987 (Monterey County Planning Commission Resolution No. 87-172).
The Proposed Project will be located on a 5.24-acre portion of the 188-acre parcel and consists of the construction of three two-story 16,286 square foot agricultural employee housing apartment buildings (48,858 square feet total) containing 1 managers unit and 45 residential units to accommodate up to 360 farmworker employees. The Proposed Project would be occupied primarily during the Salinas Valley harvest season from April through November. The project will be made available to Domestic agricultural employees and to employees working in the United States with an H-2A visa (Exhibit D). These employees will be dispersed throughout agricultural fields in Monterey County. Proposed site improvements include one laundry facility, one recreation room, and recreational turf area for informal outdoor sports and recreation. The Proposed Project also includes a fire access aisle, trash enclosures, 125 on-site parking stalled (including 7 electrical vehicle charging stations), perimeter fencing, 30 bicycle racks, and landscaping. Each apartment unit would be suitable to house eight individuals and provide the essential needs such as kitchen and restroom amenities. Required grading includes 4,700 cubic yards of cut and 4,700 cubic yards of fill, to be balanced on site. Consistent with AG-1.2 and Title 21 section 21.66.030, the Proposed Project design incorporates a 200-foot agricultural buffer (Exhibit H). The buffer would protect the existing surrounding agriculture land and reduce the effect of agricultural operations on the proposed residential use. Alco Water Service will provide portable water to the site, while the City of Salinas and Monterey One Water will provide sewer service.
County staff prepared a draft Initial Study (IS) for this project and concluded that any potential adverse impacts would be less than significant with mitigation measures applied. The County also identified potentially significant impacts to biological resources, cultural resources, and tribal cultural resources. Mitigation measures have been proposed to reduce the identified impacts to a level of less than significant. Public comment in support of the project has been received (Exhibit C).
DISCUSSION
The subject property is zoned Farmland, 40 acres per unit [F/40] and is governed by regulations and policies in the 2010 General Plan, Greater Salinas Area Plan, and Monterey County Inland Zoning Ordinance (Title 21). Policy AG-1.6 of the 2010 General plan allows farmworker housing on lands designated for agriculture (i.e. Farmlands) subject to appropriate review and provided they are located to minimize the conversion of viable agricultural lands and consistent with the nature of the surrounding land uses. Surrounding land uses include farmland, public/quasi-public, and single family and multi-family residential use with Residential Medium Density and Residential Low Density.
Traffic/Access
The Proposed Project includes two pedestrian and vehicular access routes and one emergency/fire access route provided via new driveways abutting Sconberg Parkway and Alisal Road. The Alisal Road driveway will connect to a driveway serving the existing agricultural employee housing and will be the primary point of ingress and egress for the Project. Sconberg Parkway will serve as secondary ingress and egress. Emergency vehicular ingress and egress will be provided via a third access route from Sconberg Parkway. Based on actual driveway traffic counts from other farmworker housing projects in the County (Casa Boronda and Greenfield), agricultural employee traffic trips are anticipated to be considerably less than a standard apartment because many employees will not have individual vehicles and are much more likely to rely on buses and vans for transport to/from work. Outbound vanpool and/or bus transportation occurs by 5:00 A.M. and inbound bus and/or vanpool trips would occur between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM. During weekday evenings and weekends, bus service would be provided to employees to transport employees to shopping, recreation, and religious services. The prepared Traffic Impact Analysis (LIB230210; Exhibit E) concluded that the Proposed Project would generate approximately 75 daily trips with 6 trips in the morning peak hour and 25 in the evening peak hour. On an annualized basis (units only occupied during the growing season), the Proposed Project would generate 55 daily trips with 4 in the morning peak hour (3-4 AM) and 6 in the evening peak hour (2-3 PM).
Water Demand
The subject property is located within the East Side Aquifer Subbasin, which is within the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin (SVGB). Groundwater uses within the East Side Aquifer Subbasin are 15% urban and 85% agricultural. The Salinas Valley - East Side Aquifer subbasin is currently in overdraft (groundwater pumping exceeds net inflows). A Water Demand memorandum was prepared by Schaaf & Wheeler (LIB230211; Exhibit F) to quantify the subject property’s historical water demand and the Proposed Project’s water demand. Based on the acreage of the site, the types of crops grown on the site, and assuming that cultivation occurs on the property for approximately 9 months out of the year, the existing average water demand for crop irrigation is approximately 20.9 AFY (baseline conditions). Water to irrigate the agricultural operation of the subject property is supplied by a private well that draws from the same East Side Aquifer Subbasin. Consequently, the Project site’s historical water use (20.9 AFY) is included in the historic groundwater overdraft conditions of the East Side Aquifer Subbasin. The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) adopted the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) for the East Side Aquifer Subbasin in January 2022. Generally, the GSP outlines how groundwater sustainability will be achieved in 20 years and then maintained for an additional 30 years. The SVBGSA has yet to develop specific projects to increase water supply or decrease water usage within the East Side Aquifer Subbasin. The GSP for the Subbasin assumes that urban and agricultural use will continue at their current levels through 2070. The Proposed Project’s water demand (8-month residential use plus year-round maintenance and landscaping) would be 7.7 AFY less than the baseline water use of 20.9 AFY (projected water demand of 13.2 AFY). The Proposed Project would reduce the water use within the Project site and thus reduce the demand placed on the East Side Aquifer Subbasin. Consequently, the Proposed Project is considered consistent with the GSP goal of long-term sustainability within the subbasin. As a result, the Proposed Project would have a less-than-significant impact to groundwater supplies and would not substantially decrease groundwater supplies or interfere substantially with groundwater recharge such that the Proposed Project may impede sustainable groundwater management of the basin.
Community Meetings
Avila Construction and the Bengard Ranch voluntarily held three community meetings (May 17, 2023, May 31, 2023 and June 17, 2023) prior to submitting this application to HCD-Planning to allow for early community input. Information provided at these meetings were provided in Spanish and English. Approximately 15 to 30 people, primarily residents of the neighboring Monte Bella subdivision, attended each of these meetings. Concerns raised at these meetings related to traffic, off-site parking, location, and safety of nearby children. The Proposed Project would be served by the Monterey County Regional Fire Protection District and the Monterey County Sheriff's Office. The Proposed Project includes 125 parking spaces, which exceeds the requirements established by Title 21. Community members requested that secondary ingress and egress via Alisal Road be added to the project to help alleviate existing congestion on Sconberg Parkway. Accordingly, the Proposed Project includes access via Sconberg Parkway and Alisal Road. Many members of the public requested that the project be moved elsewhere. The Applicant informed the meeting attendee’s that the subject site was chosen “due to a variety of factors, including proximity to necessary utilities [specifically sewer infrastructure], adjacency to existing housing, favorable [agriculture] buffer conditions, adjacency to roadways, adjacency to existing sidewalk networks, and proximity to existing goods and services.” Individuals also expressed desire for the Proposed Project to address community-wide issues, unrelated to the project, such as potholes, traffic congestion, and lack parking. Avila Construction created a public website (https://www.sconbergandalisalaghousing.com/), which was posted at the three community meetings, to capture details of the Proposed Project, include frequently asked questions with answers, allow public members to provide feedback, and instructions on how to request County public notices related to the project and review documents uploaded to Accela Citizen’s Access.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21083 and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Sections 15063(a) and 15063(b)(2), Monterey County as Lead Agency completed environmental review to determine if the project may have a significant effect on the environment. The County prepared a draft initial study and mitigated negative declaration (IS/MND) for this project (Exhibit B). County staff filed the draft IS/MND with the County Clerk on November 14, 2023; and circulated for public review from November 14, 2023 through December 14, 2023 (State Clearinghouse Number 2023110352). The draft IS/MND identified potentially significant impacts to biological resources, cultural resources, and tribal cultural resources. Pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21080.3.1 et seq., Monterey County HCD-Planning conducted consultation with local Native American tribes on October 31,2023 and November 6, 2023). Mitigation measures have been proposed to reduce the identified impacts to a level of less than significant, as described below. Condition No. 6 has been applied to address comments received from the Monterey County Environmental Health Bureau related to the need for the Department of Toxic Substance Control to finalize their review.
Project construction has the potential to impact Congdon’s tarplant (California Native Plant Society California Rare Plant Rank 1B) and nesting raptors and other avian species. Implementation of Mitigation Measure No. 1 (Condition No. 25) and Condition No. 17 would reduce impacts to special status plant species to a level of less than significant. Although the Project site has been historically utilized for agricultural cultivation and discovery of archaeological resources or human remains has not been documented, construction activities could potentially impact previously unknown or buried archaeological resources. The potential impact to archaeological resources would be less than significant with the implementation of Condition No. 3, Mitigation Measure 2 (Condition No. 26; on-call archaeological monitor), and Mitigation Measure 3 (Condition No. 27; onsite tribal monitor).
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
The following County agencies have reviewed this project, have comments, and/or have recommended conditions: HCD-Engineering Services, HCD-Housing, HCD-Environmental Services, Environmental Health Bureau, Monterey County Regional Fire Protection District.
LUAC
The project was not referred to a Land Use Advisory Committee as the project site is not located within a LUAC review boundary.
AAC
The Proposed Project was scheduled for the November 16, 2023 Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC) meeting. However, this AAC meeting was cancelled due to a lack of quorum. The AAC Guidelines do not address or require that projects be re-scheduled for the AAC if a quorum is not met. The Proposed Project has been processed in an expedited manner due to being a Board of Supervisor’s high priority project (farmworker housing). In order to ensure timeliness, HCD-Planning, County Counsel and the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office agreed that item should not be re-scheduled for the January 24, 2024, AAC meeting. The Agriculture Commissioners Office has expressed their support of the proposed 200-foot buffer.
Airport Land Use Commission
The Monterey County Airport Land Use Commission found the Proposed Project consistent with the 1982 Airport Land Use Plan (ALUP) for Salinas Municipal Airport on October 23, 2023 (Resolution No. 23-011; Exhibit G), subject to four conditions of approval that are incorporated as Condition Nos. 18 through 21. A more detailed discussion is provided in Finding No. 3, Evidence “e” of the Draft Resolution (Exhibit A).
Prepared by: Fionna Jensen, Senior Planner x6407
Reviewed by: Anna Ginette Quenga, AICP, Principal Planner
Approved by: Melanie Beretti, AICP, Acting Chief of Planning
The following attachments are on file with HCD:
Exhibit A - Draft Resolution, including:
o Draft Conditions of Approval
o Site Plan, Floor Plans and Elevations
Exhibit B - Draft IS/MND
Exhibit C - Public Comment Letters
Exhibit D - Employee Housing Plan
Exhibit E - Traffic Report
Exhibit F - Historical and Proposed Water Demand
Exhibit G - ALUC Resolution No. 23-011
Exhibit H - Agricultural Buffer
Exhibit I - Vicinity Map
cc: Front Counter Copy; Monterey Regional Fire Protection District; HCD-Environmental Services; HCD-Engineering Services; Environmental Health Bureau; Fionna Jensen, Senior Planner; Anna Ginette Quenga, AICP, Principal Planner; Bengard Family Partnership Et Al, Property Owner; Jeff Nohr, Avila Construction, Agent; The Open Monterey Project; LandWatch (Executive Director); Lozeau Drury LLP; Christina McGinnis, Keep Big Sur Wild; Planning File PLN230035