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Tesoro del Valle (Phases A, B, C)
Draft Supplemental EIR

San Francisquito Canyon Road. Therefore, impacts would be less than those identified for the
proposed Project and the significant and unavoidable aesthetic impacts would be avoided.

Agriculture/Forest

As described in Section 5.2 of this Draft EIR, no portion of the project site is designated as
Prime or Unique Farmland or Farmland of Statewide Importance. Phases B and C were entirely
zoned A-2-2, the current zoning is largely R-1, except the northeastern portion which is still
zoned A-2-2. Said areas are vacant and are not currently being used for agricultural purposes.
The project is not located in a forest land, timberland, or zoned timberland production area. As
with the proposed Project, potential impacts to agriculture/forest resources would be considered
less than significant. Impacts associated with the Modified 2012 Santa Clarita Valley Area Plan
Alternative would be the same as with the proposed Project.

Air Quality

The Modified 2012 Santa Clarita Valley Area Plan Alternative would require less earthwork
compared to the proposed Project due to the decreased development footprint (79.8 acres versus
393.6 acres). It is assumed that all earthwork would be balanced on-site. As with the proposed
Project, short- and long-term impacts would be subject to regulatory requirements set forth by the
South Coast Air Quality Management District as well as additional mitigation measures which
would reduce impacts to a level considered less than significant. Trip generation would be
reduced due to the reduction in dwelling units (520 versus 820) and would result in reduced long-
term emissions when compared to the proposed Project. Impacts associated with the Modified
2012 Santa Clarita Valley Area Plan Alternative would be reduced in comparison to the proposed
Project.

Biological Resources

The Modified 2012 Santa Clarita Valley Area Plan Alternative would reduce the development area
of the Project site (79.8 acres versus 393.6 acres), resulting in fewer impacts related to biological
resources as compared to the proposed Project due to a smaller development footprint. The
Modified 2012 Santa Clarita Valley Area Plan Alternative development area contains significant
biological resources, therefore, impacts would occur. However, consistent with the proposed
Project, these impacts would be reduced to less than significant levels with implementation of
mitigation measures identified in Section 5.4.

Cultural Resources

The Modified 2012 Santa Clarita Valley Area Plan Alternative would reduce the development area
of the Project site, resulting in a reduction in grading and ground disturbance. As addressed in
Section 5.5 of this Draft EIR, the site contains no known archaeological resources. Consistent
with the proposed Project, excavation in native soils always has the potential to uncover unknown
archaeological resources and human remains even though the development area would be
smaller. Therefore, as with the proposed Project, potential impacts to archaeological resources
and human remains under this alternative can be mitigated to a level considered less than
significant.

As described in Section 5.5, the project site is underlain by the Saugus Formation, and to a lesser
extent, the Castaic Formation, both of which are determined to be of high paleontological
sensitivity. However, similar to the proposed Project, the high paleontological sensitivity with
development of this alternative would continue to exist even though the development area would

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