PALEONTOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT FOR
THE HEWITT AND ESPLANADE
RESIDENTIAL PROJECT
CITY OF SAN JACINTO,
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
APN 439-180-011
Lead Agency:
City of San Jacinto
Community Development – Planning Division
595 South San Jacinto Avenue, Building A
San Jacinto, California 92583
Preparer:
BFSA Environmental Services,
a Perennial Company
14010 Poway Road, Suite A
Poway, California 92064
Project Proponent:
EPD Solutions, Inc.
3333 Michelson Drive, Suite 500
Irvine, California 92612
December 1, 2023; Revised June 26, 2024
Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Paleontological Database Information
Author: Todd A. Wirths, M.S., Senior Paleontologist,
California Professional Geologist No. 7588
Consulting Firm: BFSA Environmental Services, a Perennial Company 14010 Poway Road, Suite A
Poway, California 92064
(858) 484-0915
Report Date: December 1, 2023; Revised June 26, 2024
Report Title: Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project, City of San Jacinto, Riverside County, California
Prepared for: EPD Solutions, Inc.
3333 Michelson Drive, Suite 500
Irvine, California 92612
Submitted to: City of San Jacinto
Community Development – Planning Division
595 South San Jacinto Avenue, Building A
San Jacinto, California 92583
USGS Quadrangle: Unsectioned Township 5 South, Range 1 West of the San Jacinto, California (7.5-minute) Quadrangle
Study Area: 24.48 acres
Assessor’s Parcel Number: 439-180-011
Key Words: Paleontological assessment; Holocene alluvial deposits; low paleontological sensitivity; monitoring not recommended; City of San Jacinto.
Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents
Section Page
1. INTRODUCTION AND LOCATION .......................................................................1
2. REGULATORY SETTING .......................................................................................1 State of California.......................................................................................................1 City of San Jacinto......................................................................................................4
3. GEOLOGY .................................................................................................................5
4. PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES......................................................................5 Definition ....................................................................................................................5 Fossil Locality Records Search ..................................................................................7 Project Survey.............................................................................................................7
5. PALEONTOLOGICAL SENSITIVITY ....................................................................7 Overview .....................................................................................................................7 Professional Standards...............................................................................................8 City of San Jacinto Sensitivity Assessment .................................................................8
6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................9
7. CERTIFICATION ......................................................................................................9
8. REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................9 Appendices
Appendix A – Qualifications of Key Personnel
List of Figures
Figure Page
Figure 1 General Location Map .................................................................................2 Figure 2 Project Location Map...................................................................................3 Figure 3 Geologic Map...............................................................................................6 Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND LOCATION
A paleontological resource assessment has been completed for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project, located west of South Hewitt Street between East Esplanade and East Commonwealth avenues, within the city of San Jacinto in Riverside County, California (Figures 1 and 2). The 24.48-acre project consists of one parcel (Assessor’s Parcel Number [APN] 439- 180-011) and is situated within an unsectioned area of Township 5 South, Range 1 West in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) San Jacinto, California topographic quadrangle map (Figure 2).
The applicant proposes to subdivide the property for a residential development along with associated landscaping and infrastructure. Currently, the project parcel is vacant, but appears to have been previously cleared.
As the lead agency, the City of San Jacinto has required the preparation of a paleontological assessment to evaluate the project’s potential to yield paleontological resources.
The paleontological assessment of the project included a review of paleontological literature and fossil locality records in the area; a review of the underlying geology; and recommendations to mitigate impacts to potential paleontological resources, if necessary.
2.0 REGULATORY SETTING
State of California
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which is patterned after the National Environmental Policy Act, is the overriding environmental regulation that sets the requirement for protecting California’s paleontological resources. CEQA mandates that governing permitting agencies (lead agencies) set their own guidelines for the protection of nonrenewable paleontological resources under their jurisdiction.
Under “Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act,” as amended in December 2018 (California Code of Regulations [CCR] Title 14, Division 6, Chapter 3, Sections 15000 et seq.), procedures define the types of activities, persons, and public agencies required to comply with CEQA. Section 15063 of the CCR provides a process by which a lead agency may review a project’s potential impact to the environment, whether the impacts are significant, and provide recommendations, if necessary.
Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 In CEQA’s Environmental Checklist Form, a question to respond to is, “Would the project directly or indirectly destroy a unique paleontological resource or site or unique geologic feature?” (Appendix G, Section VII, Part f). This is to ensure compliance with California Public Resources Code Section 5097.5, the law that protects nonrenewable resources including fossils, which is paraphrased below:
a) A person shall not knowingly and willfully excavate upon, or remove, destroy, injure or deface any historic or prehistoric ruins, burial grounds, archaeological or vertebrate paleontological site, including fossilized footprints, inscriptions made by human agency, rock art, or any other archaeological, paleontological or historical feature, situated on public lands, except with the express permission of the public agency having jurisdiction over such lands.
b) As used in this section, “public lands” means lands owned by, or under the jurisdiction of, the state, or any city, county, district, authority, or public corporation, or any agency thereof.
c) A violation of this section is a misdemeanor.
City of San Jacinto
The 2022 Envision San Jacinto – General Plan 2040 addresses cultural resources in its Resource Management chapter. The City of San Jacinto’s Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) identifies an existing potential for earth disturbance activities to adversely impact significant paleontological resources (City of San Jacinto 2022). Policy Resource Management (RM) 3.1 Preservation serves to preserve paleontological resources, stating “Protect areas containing significant historic, archaeological, paleontological, and tribal cultural resources, as defined by the California Public Resources Code.” In response, Action RM-3e, stated below and in the city’s Draft EIR (De Novo Planning Group 2022), is provided to reduce adverse impacts to paleontological resources to a level below significant (City of San Jacinto 2022):
The City shall require an assessment of the potential for development proposals to significantly impact paleontological resources pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines. If the project involves earthworks, the City may require a study conducted by a professional paleontologist to determine if paleontological assets are present, and if the project will significantly impact the resources. If significant impacts are identified, the City may require the project to be modified to avoid impacting the paleontological materials, require monitoring of rock units with high potential to contain significant nonrenewable paleontological resources, or require mitigation measures to mitigate the impacts, such as recovering the paleontological resources for preservation.
Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 3.0 GEOLOGY
Regionally, the project lies within the northwest-draining San Jacinto Valley, between the San Jacinto Mountains on the east and the Lakeview Mountains to the west. The ephemeral San Jacinto River is located about two miles to the northeast.
Based on geologic mapping by Lancaster et al. (2012), the majority of the project is mapped as Holocene-aged alluvial wash deposits that emanated from Bautista Wash (“Qw” on Figure 3). Holocene to late Pleistocene-aged young alluvial fan deposits, consisting mostly of unconsolidated, undissected boulders, cobbles, gravel, sand, and silt (areas labeled “Qyf” in Figure 3) are mapped at the southwest tip of the property. Southeast of the project is Park Hill, an isolated outcrop of Pleistocene-aged, coarse-grained sandstone (“Qss” on Figure 3). Dibblee (2003) assigns these rocks to the fossiliferous “Bautista Beds” of the upper part of the San Timoteo Formation. These Pleistocene deposits likely lie beneath the alluvial wash deposits and the young alluvial fan deposits at the project at an unknown depth.
4.0 PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES
Definition
Paleontological resources are the remains of prehistoric life that have been preserved in geologic strata. These remains are called fossils and include bones, shells, teeth, and plant remains (including their impressions, casts, and molds) in the sedimentary matrix, as well as trace fossils such as footprints and burrows. Fossils are considered older than 5,000 years of age (Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 2010) but may include younger remains (subfossils), for example, when viewed in the context of local extinction of the organism or habitat. Fossils are considered a nonrenewable resource under state and local guidelines (see Sections 2.0 and 5.0 of this report).
Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 Fossil Locality Records Search
A paleontological literature review and collections and locality records search was conducted for the project using records from prior Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc. (BFSA) projects, the Division of Geological Sciences at the San Bernardino County Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, and the Western Science Center (WSC), as well as data from published and unpublished paleontological literature (Jefferson 1991, 2009). The resulting locality records search did not identify any previously recorded fossil localities within the boundaries of the project. The closest known fossil localities are between three and four miles southwest of the project and are associated with improvements to the concrete-lined San Diego Canal (“Eastside Pipeline”; De Novo Planning Group 2022). From WSC records, these Pleistocene vertebrate localities extend from Devonshire Avenue to as far south as Stetson Avenue, and are from areas mapped as young alluvial valley deposits. The localities yielded several species of large Pleistocene mammals (Stoneburg 2022; Radford 2021). Approximately five miles southwest of the project, south of the Hemet-Ryan Airport off Warren Road, a locality consisting of the bones of an extinct horse and other unidentified large mammal remains were discovered during mitigation monitoring. Fossils were recovered from 10 places at the locality from as little as a few feet below the surface, in an area mapped as young alluvial valley deposits (Kennedy 2006). These fossils are housed at the WSC.
Early work by Frick (1921) established the deposits known as the informally named “Bautista Beds” south and east of the project as yielding the fossilized remains of early Pleistocene mammals. His localities lie within an area near the headwaters of Bautista Creek, several miles southeast. The “Bautista fauna” includes extinct Pleistocene animals such as the giant ground sloth, tapir, horse (two species), camel, and pronghorn (two species) (Jefferson 2009).
Project Survey
BFSA staff, under the supervision of Principal Investigator Todd A. Wirths, conducted a project survey on November 9, 2023, employing a series of parallel survey transects spaced at approximately 10-meter intervals. The entire property was covered by the survey process. The topography of the project was noted as generally flat with an average elevation of 1,585 feet AMSL. The visibility of the natural ground surface was characterized as excellent. No paleontological resources, or evidence indicating the presence of paleontological resources, were identified as a result of the survey.
5.0 PALEONTOLOGICAL SENSITIVITY
Overview
The degree of paleontological sensitivity of any particular area is based on a number of factors, including the documented presence of fossiliferous resources on a site or in nearby areas, Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8 the presence of documented fossils within a particular geologic formation or lithostratigraphic unit, and whether or not the original depositional environment of the sediments is one that might have been conducive to the accumulation of organic remains that may have become fossilized over time. Holocene alluvium is generally considered to be geologically too young to contain significant nonrenewable paleontological resources (i.e., fossils) and thus is typically assigned a low paleontological sensitivity. Pleistocene (older than 11,700 years old) alluvial and alluvial fan deposits in the Inland Empire and western Riverside County, however, are known to yield important terrestrial vertebrate fossils, such as extinct mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths, extinct species of horse, bison, camel, saber-toothed cats, and others (Jefferson 1991).
These Pleistocene sediments are thus accorded a high paleontological resource sensitivity.
Professional Standards
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (2010) has drafted guidelines that include four categories of paleontological sensitivity for geologic units (formations) that might be impacted by a proposed project, as listed below:
• High Potential: Rock units from which vertebrate or significant invertebrate, plant, or trace fossils have been recovered.
• Undetermined Potential: Rock units for which little information is available concerning their paleontological content, geologic age, and depositional environment, and that further study is needed to determine the potential of the rock unit. • Low Potential: Rock units that are poorly represented by fossil specimens in institutional collections or based on a general scientific consensus that only preserve fossils in rare circumstances.
• No Potential: Rock units that have no potential to contain significant paleontological resources, such as high-grade metamorphic rocks and plutonic igneous rocks.
Research indicates there are significant, nearby fossil localities that likely originate from the same geologic formation that underlies the project at depth. Based on these data and the criteria outlined above, the “Bautista Beds” can be considered to have a high potential to yield significant paleontological resources. The young alluvial fan deposits at the surface may be considered to have a low paleontological potential.
City of San Jacinto Sensitivity Assessment
The surficial alluvial deposits at the project are regarded by the City of San Jacinto as having a low potential to contain paleontological resources; however, the potential increases to high with (an unspecified) depth, in accordance with their increasing (verging into Pleistocene) age (De Novo Planning Group 2022: p. 5.7-16).
Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9 6.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The presence of young alluvial wash deposits and young alluvial deposits at the surface of the project, the typical lack of paleontological resources found in young alluvial deposits, the likelihood that potentially fossiliferous deposits lie deep beneath the project, and the relatively shallow subsurface impacts needed for the proposed project support the recommendation that paleontological monitoring not be required during earth disturbance activities at the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project. However, if fossils of any sort are discovered during grading and earthmoving activities, a paleontologist must be retained to develop a paleontological monitoring plan consistent with the provisions of CEQA, the city of San Jacinto (2022; De Novo Planning Group 2022), and the guidelines of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (2010).
Implementation of the paleontological monitoring plan would reduce the potential for any adverse impacts (loss or destruction) to nonrenewable paleontological resources, if present, to a level below significant.
7.0 CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the statements furnished above and in the attached exhibits present the data and information required for this paleontological report, and that the facts, statements, and information presented are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief and have been compiled in accordance with CEQA criteria.
June 26, 2024
Todd A. Wirths, M.S., Senior Paleontologist Date
California Professional Geologist No. 7588
8.0 REFERENCES
City of San Jacinto. 2022. Envision San Jacinto – General Plan 2040. chromeextension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a9 99021cc8fedea12873268/t/639a30e962747e6d737cfb59/1671049471437/SanJacinto_Ad optedGPU.pdf.
Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10 De Novo Planning Group. 2022. Public Review Draft, Environmental Impact Report for the San Jacinto General Plan Update (Sch: 2020120312). Report prepared for City of San Jacinto Community Development Department, by De Novo Planning Group, Tustin, Calif. https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Vj9c-gjvsqypdwprdq_9OCvIt8OCksM/view.
Dibblee, T.W., Jr. 2003. Geologic map of the San Jacinto quadrangle, Riverside County, California. Dibblee Geological Foundation, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Dibblee Foundation Map DF-116, edited by J.A. Minch.
Frick, C. 1921. Extinct vertebrate faunas of the badlands of Bautista Creek and San Timoteo Cañon, southern California. University of California Publications in Geology, 12(5):
277-424, figs. 1-165, pls. 43-50.
Jefferson, G.T. 1991. A catalogue of late Quaternary vertebrates from California: Part two, mammals. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Technical Reports, no. 7: iv + 1-129.
Jefferson, G.T. 2009. A catalogue of Blancan and Irvingtonian vertebrates and floras from Arizona, southern California, Nevada, Utah, and northwestern Mexico. Unpublished draft manuscript, Colorado Desert District Stout Research Center, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, California. Dated March 11, 2009.
Kennedy, G.L. 2006. Preliminary results of paleontological monitoring, Ranch Diamante project, south of Hemet, Riverside County, California. Unpublished consulting report for Pulte Home Corporation, Irvine, California, by Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.
Lancaster, J.T., Hayhurst, C.A., and Bedrossian, T.L., compilers. 2012. Preliminary geologic map of Quaternary surficial deposits in southern California. Palm Springs 30' x 60' quadrangle. In Geologic compilation of Quaternary surficial deposits in southern California. California Geological Survey Special Report 217: pl. 24 (scale 1:100,000).
Radford, D. 2021. Record search letter, Hemet 30 Project, Hemet. Unpublished letter prepared for Duke CRM, Irvine, California, by the Western Science Center, Hemet, California. https://planning.rctlma.org/Portals/14/Appendix%20J%20Paleontological%20Resources %20Assessment.pdf.
Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. 2010. Standard procedures for the assessment and mitigation of adverse impacts to paleontological resources; by the SVP Impact Mitigation Guidelines Revision Committee: https://vertpaleo.org/wpcontent/uploads/2021/01/SVP_Impact_Mitigation_Guidelines-1.pdf.
Stoneburg, B.E. 2022. Record search letter, Hemet 63 Project, Hemet. Unpublished letter prepared for Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California, by the Western Science Center, Hemet, California.
Paleontological Assessment for the Hewitt and Esplanade Residential Project _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX A
Qualifications of Key Personnel
Todd A. Wirths, MS, PG No. 7588
Senior Paleontologist
BFSA Environmental Services, A Perennial Company
14010 Poway Road Suite A
Phone: (858) 679-8218 Fax: (858) 679-9896 E-Mail: [email protected] Education
Master of Science, Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, California 1995 Bachelor of Arts, Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz 1992 Professional Certifications
California Professional Geologist #7588, 2003
Riverside County Approved Paleontologist
San Diego County Qualified Paleontologist
Orange County Certified Paleontologist
OSHA HAZWOPER 40-hour trained; current 8-hour annual refresher Professional Memberships
Board member, San Diego Geological Society
San Diego Association of Geologists; past President (2012) and Vice President (2011) South Coast Geological Society
Southern California Paleontological Society
Experience
Mr. Wirths has more than a dozen years of professional experience as a senior-level paleontologist throughout southern California. He is also a certified California Professional Geologist. At BFSA, Mr.
Wirths conducts on-site paleontological monitoring, trains and supervises junior staff, and performs all research and reporting duties for locations throughout Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego, and Imperial Counties. Mr. Wirths was formerly a senior project manager conducting environmental investigations and remediation projects for petroleum hydrocarbonimpacted sites across southern California.
Selected Recent Reports
2019 Paleontological Assessment for the 10575 Foothill Boulevard Project, City of Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino County, California. Prepared for T&B Planning, Inc. Report on file at Brian F.
Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.
2019 Paleontological Assessment for the MorningStar Marguerite Project, Mission Viejo, Orange County, California. Prepared for T&B Planning. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.
BFSA Environmental Services, A Perennial Company, 2
2019 Paleontological Monitoring Report for the Nimitz Crossing Project, City of San Diego. Prepared for Voltaire 24, LP. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California. 2019 Paleontological Resource Impact Mitigation Program (PRIMP) for the Jack Rabbit Trail Logistics Center Project, City of Beaumont, Riverside County, California. Prepared for JRT BP 1, LLC.
Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California. 2020 Paleontological Monitoring Report for the Oceanside Beachfront Resort Project, Oceanside, San California. Prepared for S.D. Malkin Properties. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.
2020 Paleontological Resource Impact Mitigation Program for the Nakase Project, Lake Forest, Orange County, San California. Prepared for Glenn Lukos Associates, Inc. Report on file at Brian F.
Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.
2020 Paleontological Resource Impact Mitigation Program for the Sunset Crossroads Project, Banning, Riverside County. Prepared for NP Banning Industrial, LLC. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.
2020 Paleontological Assessment for the Ortega Plaza Project, Lake Elsinore, Riverside County.
Prepared for Empire Design Group. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.
2020 Paleontological Resource Record Search Update for the Green River Ranch III Project, Green River Ranch Specific Plan SP00-001, City of Corona, California. Prepared for Western Realco. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California. 2020 Paleontological Assessment for the Cypress/Slover Industrial Center Project, City of Fontana, San Bernardino County, California. Prepared for T&B Planning, Inc. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.
2020 Paleontological Monitoring Report for the Imperial Landfill Expansion Project (Phase VI, Segment C-2), Imperial County, California. Prepared for Republic Services, Inc. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California. 2021 Paleontological Assessment for the Manitou Court Logistics Center Project, City of Jurupa Valley, Riverside County, California. Prepared for Link Industrial. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.
2021 Paleontological Resource Impact Mitigation Program for the Del Oro (Tract 36852) Project, Menifee, Riverside County. Prepared for D.R. Horton. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.
2021 Paleontological Assessment for the Alessandro Corporate Center Project (Planning Case PR-2020- 000519), City of Riverside, Riverside County, California. Prepared for OZI Alessandro, LLC.
Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California. 2021 Paleontological Monitoring Report for the Boardwalk Project, La Jolla, City of San Diego.
Prepared for Project Management Advisors, Inc. Report on file at Brian F. Smith and Associates, Inc., Poway, California.