Item 28 - Public Hearing - ZOA No. 20204-01 South Coast Technology Center

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South Coast Technology Center Project CEQA Exemption 15183 The Project would redevelop a 10.2-acre office park and develop an approximately 5.6-acre vacant field. The majority of the excavation for the proposed buildings would require over - excavation for the building pads at a depth of approximately 5 to 8 feet. Trenches for utility connections would require a maximum excavation depth of 14 feet. Based on the Tribal Cultural Resources Memorandum, sensitivity for cultural resources consisting of archaeological sites is considered low at and near the surface but increases to moderate with depth. The late nineteenth to early twentieth century bed of the Santa Ana River was located approximately 0.6 miles to the northwest and would have provided abundant resources to area inhabitants. As the river meandered and changed its course, it or its tributaries may have been located closer to the Project area at times. These conditions heighten the sensitivity of the Project area for buried cultural resources. However, the Project area has an extensive history of recent disturbances. East of Susan Street, the Project Site is entirely developed by the construction of multi -storied office buildings, a pond, and parking lots. Building methods at the time, and the installation of associated utilities, would have resulted in the disturbance of archaeological sites buried at shallow depths. West of Susan Street, geotechnical testing indicates that a layer of imported fill, ranging from 3 to 4.5 feet thick, covers the entire Project Site. However, buried resources may remain in areas where developments such as parking lots or structures with shallow foundations have required only minimal ground disturbance, or below the existing imported fill. Therefore, the sensitivity of the Project area at the surface and near surface is low due to past disturbances. However, excavations for the Project are anticipated to disturb a large part of the Project Site to points below the level of existing fill and other disturbances. The sensitivity for potential buried prehistoric archaeological sites is moderate in these undisturbed soils. Therefore, consistent with the GPU PEIR, the proposed Project would implement GPU PEIR MM CUL-7 since the Cultural Memorandum did not identify potentially significant resources but portions of the Project Site with undisturbed soils has been determined to be moderately sensitive for buried resources. With implementation of GPU PEIR MM CUL-7, impacts would be reduced to less -than -significant levels. Additionally, in the event that human remains are uncovered during ground disturbing activities, the Project would be required to comply with California Health and Safety Code Section 7050.5 (RR CUL-1) and Public Resources Code Section 5097.98 to ensure that Project impacts to human remains would be less than significant. Based on the above, the Project would not result in new or substantially more severe impacts would occur compared to the determinations of the GPU PEIR, which concluded that impacts to tribal cultural resources would be less than significant with mitigation incorporated. Therefore, no new project -specific mitigation measures are required. 4.18.3 Conclusion The Project is consistent with the General Plan Update. With implementation of RR CUL-1 and GPU PEIR MM CUL-7 identified in the GPU PEIR, the proposed Project would not have any specific effects which are peculiar to the Project or the Project Site. There are no project -specific impacts or potentially significant off -site or cumulative impacts that the GPU PEIR did not analyze, and there are no new significant or substantially more severe tribal cultural resources impacts than anticipated by the GPU PEIR. July 2024 Page 95