LandWatch Takes Active Role in Ferrini Ranch Battle

With a development proposal for 212 residential lots, a 35 acre winery, and four private roadway parcels and numerous significant environmental impacts, LandWatch has stepped up its efforts to increase awareness on the Ferrini Ranch development and ensure the development is stopped.

November 5th LandWatch Presentation
Amy White, Executive Director of LandWatch was the speaker during a public forum hosted by the Rimrock Homeowner’s Association and LandWatch. The focus of the meeting was the Ferrini Ranch Subdivision. Over 100 attendees participated in the program and learned important facts about the development plans.

LandWatch Identifies Four Main Development Concerns
The four biggest issues related to this project have to do with scenic resources (viewshed), traffic, biological resources, and water.

• Viewshed. Many of the proposed parcels are in the critical viewshed. The Toro Area Plan (specifically policy 40.2.5) requires building sites to be outside the critical viewshed, but the DEIR appears to permit them to be within this area as long as they are not visible from scenic roadways. That is not the intention of Toro Area Plan Policies.
  
  
• Traffic. The DEIR does not adequately analyze the traffic impacts.  The DEIR assumes that a number of roadway improvements will be in place by the time the project is built, but fails to demonstrate that they are actually adopted and funded projects. Under California law payment of impact fees is adequate mitigation only if the fees go toward necessary improvements that are actually part of an adopted, funded impact fee program.  
  
  
• Biological Resources. There are numerous concerns as it relates to biological resources including: (1) extensive revisions to the project’s layout are proposed (“as feasible”) to address impacts to species and habitat, including wetlands and waters of the US, but the EIR does not tell us where the lots will be; (2) feasibility of avoiding these impacts must be determined now or else we can expect the applicant will argue that mitigation is infeasible and will just offer off-site compensation; (3) no mitigation is proposed for permanent loss of grassland habitat for badgers or habitat for roosting bats; (4) oak woodland and wildlife corridors impact analysis and mitigation is inadequate; and (5) hazards, like wildfire, are not fully evaluated.
  
  
• Water. The DEIR assumes that there will be adequate water based on the project being in Zone 2C and it does not disclose litigation by LandWatch and TOMP challenging the premise that being in Zone 2C ensures adequate water. The DEIR provides no information about cumulative demand and sustainable yield for the Salinas Valley Groundwater basin and provides inadequate information about baseline conditions for the SV Groundwater Basin.

LandWatch Releases Graphics on Development Plans
The following images represent aerial views of the property, using Google Earth, showing Ferrini Ranch’s relationship to existing communities, roads, parks, and the general area. The yellow lines represent the development lots within the project boundary and the green area is Toro County Park. (Click on the thumbnail images below to enlarge)

Overview of Ferrini Ranch
View from above San Benancio Road	View from above Toro Cafe
View of Ferrini Ranch Entry	View of Ferrini Ranch Entry looking south
View of Ferrini Ranch looking North from Hwy	View of Ferrini Ranch’s Winery looking South across Hwy

Draft Environmental Impact Report Comments
The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) was released and is available on the County website. Comments were due to the County by November 16th. True to form, LandWatch submitted 44 pages of substantive comments on the project proposal. Download the LandWatch comments (336K PDF file).

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Posted 11.20.12