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<br />CHAPTER 4 <br />ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING, IMPACTS, <br />AND MITIGATION MEASURES <br /> <br /> <br />This section reviews and illustrates the visual setting and describes key visual elements of <br />the project within that setting. Potential visual impacts of the project are then discussed, <br /> <br />1. Framework for Analysis <br /> <br />This section addresses the aesthetic and visual quality issues associated with the proposed <br />Specific Plan and, within the Specific Plan area, the development of the Bernal Community <br />Park. <br /> <br />Assessment of visual quality and aesthetic impacts is supported by: <br /> <br />. Familiarity with existing visual conditions and ability to understand how various devel- <br />opment programs would affect the visual setting, <br /> <br />City policies and priorities relating to aesthetics and visual resources, <br /> <br />Visual exhibits that help to communicate existing and future conditions and clarify <br />project-related changes in the visual setting, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />2. Setting <br /> <br />The visual setting of an urban project includes both natural and constructed elements of the <br />environment. The Phase I Specific Plan EIR (1997/2000) included a detailed review of the <br />site's visual setting, The following is a summary and update: <br /> <br />. Context The project area is at the western edge of the Livermore-Amador <br />Valley at an elevation of:l: 380 feet, To the west lies Pleasanton <br />Ridge, a northwest-trending formation that rises some 880 feet <br />above the valley floor (to a maximum elevation of 1 ,264 feet), To <br />the southwest lie a series of 1,200- to 1,600-foot hills, To the <br />north lie Mt. Diablo and its foothills, <br /> <br />Site topography is relatively flat except for (a) the elevated road- <br />bed of 1-680 between the Western and Central Areas and (b) in <br />the southeast corner, a grass-covered Knoll with scattered valley <br />oaks, Land cover consists of oak savannah on the Knoll; culti- <br />vated hayfields in the Central Area with a row of several <br />established trees in about the middle of that area; and brush and <br />mature riparian trees in the narrow, deeply-incised channel of <br />the Arroyo de la Laguna on the western edge of the site, <br /> <br />. Views of the Site <br /> <br />31 <br />