RES 231363 - Laserfiche WebLink

AUGUSTIN BERNAL MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAIL PROJECT DRAFT INITIAL STUDY 12956 DUDEK 77 April 2022 Master Plan identified Augustin Bernal Community Park as one of the most popular existing parks, indicating that the trails throughout the park receive moderate to heavy use. Impact Discussion a) Would the project increase the use of existing neighborhood and regional parks or other recreational facilities such that substantial physical deterioration of the facility would occur or be accelerated? The proposed project would not directly result in any population growth because it would not construct any residences. As discussed in Section 3.14(a), the project would also not induce growth because it would not construct any employment-generating land uses or extend infrastructure into unserved areas. Thus, the project would not increase the use of other neighborhood and regional parks. The project could slightly increase use of the Augustin Bernal Community Park by providing an engineered mountain bike trail that could be used by mountain bikers within a wider range of experience and skill levels. The existing unofficial user-created trail that the proposed trail would replace has many deficiencies, such as poor transitions between slopes and deep ruts (Figures 8a and 8b), as well as many challenging sections. The proposed project would remediate these deficiencies and provide alternate paths or ride-arounds for some of the more challenging sections to accommodate users with less experience. Further, the City would decommission several additional trail segments that cover approximately 4,300 linear feet, thus the project would result in a net reduction in the total linear feet of trails within the park. The proposed trail would largely replace an existing unofficial, user-created trail. The total length of the new trail would be approximately 3,700 linear feet, of which approximately 1,070 linear feet would require new construction and 2,630 linear feet would replace the existing trail surface. In addition, approximately 4,300 linear feet of other existing unofficial, user-created trails would be decommissioned. The project is not expected to substantially increase trail use activity within the park overall because of the existing high volume of trail use at the park, including on the unofficial user-created trails that the proposed project would replace and decommission, and the net reduction in total trail length. The project could lead to incremental increases in physical deterioration of other trails and amenities within the Augustin Bernal Community Park due to the potential for a slight increase in mountain bike trail use. However, the proposed project is consistent with the City’s Trails Master Plan and the City has anticipated the need for increased maintenance activities within the park, thus the potential for incremental increases in physical deterioration of the park would not result in an adverse environmental effect and this impact would remain less than significant. b) Does the project include recreational facilities or require the construction or expansion of recreational facilities, which might have an adverse physical effect on the environment? The project would develop an official mountain bike trail that would help to reduce potential safety concerns between trail users. The project includes no residential development and would not directly or indirectly induce substantial population growth in the project area that would require