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4.10 Cultural Resources
4.10CULTURAL RESOURCES
This section describes existing cultural resources in the MEIR Study Area and discusses whether
implementation of the proposed project would cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a
historic or archaeological resource (as defined in Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and
Section 15064.5 of the CEQA Guidelines), directly or indirectly destroy a unique paleontological
resource or site or unique geologic feature, or result in the disturbance of any human remains, including
those interred outside of formal cemeteries.
Preparation of this section used data obtained from the California Historic Resources Information
System (CHRIS) Northwest Information Center (NWIC), which reviewed pertinent data maps, historic-
period maps, and literature for San Mateo County on file at the NWIC office, and the 1995 Master Plan.
Full bibliographic entries for all reference materials are provided in Section 4.10.4 (References) of this
section.
No comment letters related to cultural resources were received in response to the December 9, 2005
Revised Notice of Preparation (NOP) circulated for the project. In addition, no comments were received
at the public scoping meeting held January 17, 2006. The NOP and comment letters are included in
Appendix A of this MEIR.
4.10.1Existing Conditions
MEIR Study Area
The MEIR Study Area is located on the San Mateo Peninsula, a landform that divides the Pacific Ocean
from the southern San Francisco Bay, and connects the City of San Francisco with the Santa Clara
Valley. The MEIR Study Area is generally developed and includes surface parking lots, roads, structures
and landscaped areas, interspersed with steep hillsides in the City of South San Francisco (City).
HistoricBackground
Regional History
The colonizing efforts of the Spanish government first reached the San Francisco Peninsula when an
expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá was attempting to explore Monterey Bay. The party reached what is
now the San Francisco Bay in October 1769, and though they knew they had overshot their target when
they spotted the Farallons and Point Reyes, they briefly explored the region before returning south. After
traveling along the San Mateo coastline, the party turned east and traveled inland to camp along San
Andreas Creek near the present City of Millbrae. Sergeant Jose Francisco Ortega first saw the San
Francisco Bay when he climbed the hills northeast of San Pedro Valley (along present-day Sweeney
Ridge).
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Captain Fernando Rivera, a member of the Portolá expedition, returned with Fray Francisco Palou in
1774 to explore the region and scout prospective sites for Spanish settlement. The party camped in the
San Andreas Valley. Just two years later, in the spring of 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza, Pedro Font, and
others would return to explore the area once again. The Rivera and de Anza parties traveled north up the
Peninsula along the route that would become known as both El Camino Real and the San Jose Road.
Once the missions at San Francisco and Santa Clara were established (in 1776 and 1777) at the northern
and southern ends of the Peninsula, the trail would become a well-traveled wagon road between the two
centers of activity. In addition, the road would be a determining factor in the settlement patterns of
newcomers and the growth of future cities and towns within this area.
The traditional core of South San Francisco?s industry, the East of 101 Area, was originally developed
with meatpacking and heavy manufacturing activities, facilitated by rail access. In the 1930?s, shipping
emerged as a major industry, as South San Francisco became an adjunct facility to the Port of San
Francisco. In the post-war years the City converted marshlands into areas usable for industrial
development, drastically reshaping the shoreline and attracting light industry to the City. The area has
been transforming for the past thirty years. Steel production and other heavy industries have largely been
replaced by warehousing and research and development establishments.
Historic Landmarks
South San Francisco possesses one national historic landmark?Sign Hill. The sign on this regional
landmark, which reads ?South San Francisco The Industrial City,? is clearly visible to travelers on nearby
freeways and to those flying into and out of San Francisco International Airport. This sign has been an
important facet of the City?s character since the J. Dunn Real Estate Company, South San Francisco?s
first realtor, initially installed a sign that included this message in 1891. After a period of several years
during which the sign was absent, the South San Francisco Chamber of Commerce had the message of
the original sign whitewashed onto the hillside. The letters that comprise the message of the sign were
installed in concrete in 1929.
Archaeology
Prehistoric and Ethnographic Context
At the time of initial contact between European explorers and the Native Californians, the area that is
now San Francisco was inhabited by a people who were of Penutian linguistic stock and who spoke the
Ramaytush language. These people, referred to as Costanoan, reaped the benefit of living in a bountiful,
temperate environment. Abundant marine and terrestrial resources made both agriculture and animal
husbandry unnecessary.
Evidence of the success of their hunter/gatherer subsistence strategy may be seen in the number of
flourishing village sites known to have existed at the time of contact with the Spanish. The detritus of
these sites was found in numerous locations around the shoreline of San Francisco Bay in the form of
shellmounds?large accumulations of shell, ash, human artifacts, and occasionally human remains. With
the influx of European settlers in the mid-nineteenth century, most of these sites were destroyed or
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covered by buildings and roads at numerous locations around the bay shoreline, including the MEIR
Study Area. Additionally, the MEIR Study Area is located along the southwestern shoreline of the San
Francisco Bay. Gold rush-era silt accumulation and historic settlement (e.g., landfills) effectively filled in
hundreds of acres of the original bay shoreline. The MEIR Study Area is located on such fill. Estuary and
marsh locales along the former bay shoreline would have offered abundant food resources to prehistoric
human population.
The term Costanoan is derived from the Spanish word Costaños, or "coast people," but its application as
a means of identifying this population is based in linguistics. Costanoan actually designates a family of
eight languages. Of these, Ramaytush was the language spoken by the estimated 1,400 people who
occupied the area now designated as San Francisco and San Mateo counties. Tribal groups occupying the
area from the Pacific Coast to the Diablo Range and from San Francisco to Point Sur spoke the other
seven languages of the Costanoan family. Modern descendants of the Costanoan prefer to be known as
Ohlone and formed a corporate entity in 1971, the Ohlone Indian Tribe. They are named after the Oljón
tribal group, which occupied the San Gregorio watershed in San Mateo County.
On the basis of linguistic evidence, it has been suggested that the ancestors of the Ohlone arrived in the
San Francisco Bay area about 500 A.D. from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region. Extended
families lived in domed structures thatched with tule, grass, wild alfalfa, ferns or carrizo. Semi-
subterranean sweathouses were built into pits excavated in stream banks and covered with a structure
against the bank. The tule raft, propelled by double-bladed paddles, was used to navigate across San
Francisco Bay. The Ramaytush usually cremated a corpse immediately upon death but, if there were no
relatives to gather wood for the funeral pyre, interment occurred. Mortuary goods were all or most of the
personal belongings of the deceased. Mussels were an important staple in the Costanoan diet as were
acorns of the coast live oak, valley oak, tanbark oak and California black oak. Seeds and berries, roots,
grasses, and the meat of deer, elk, grizzly, sea lion, rabbit, and squirrel also contributed to the Costanoan
diet. Careful management of the land through controlled burning served to insure a plentiful and reliable
source of all these foods.
The arrival of the Spanish in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1775 led to the rapid demise of native
California populations. Diseases, declining birth rates, and the effects of the mission system served to
eradicate the aboriginal life ways (which are currently experiencing resurgence among Ohlone
descendants). Brought into the missions, the surviving Costanoan along with former neighboring groups
of Esselen, Yokuts, and Miwok were transformed from hunters and gatherers into agricultural laborers.
With abandonment of the mission system and Mexican takeover in the 1840s, numerous ranchos were
established. Generally, the few native Californians who remained were then forced, by necessity, to work
on the ranchos.
Definitions of Historical Resources
The National Historic Preservation Act established the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) to
recognize resources associated with the country?s history and heritage. Structures and features generally
must be at least 50 years old to be considered for listing on the NRHP, barring exceptional
circumstances. Criteria for listing on the NRHP, which are set forth in Title 26, Part 60 of the Code of
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Federal Regulations (36 CFR Part 60), are significance in American history, architecture, archaeology,
engineering, and culture as present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that possess
integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and that meet any
of the following criteria:
A. Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history;
B. Associated with the lives of persons significant in our past;
C. Embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction; represent the
work of a master; possess high artistic values, represent a significant and distinguishable entity
whose components may lack individual distinction; or
D. Have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. (See 36 CFR
§60.4).
The California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR) was created to identify resources deemed
worthy of preservation on a state level and was modeled closely after the NRHP. The criteria are nearly
identical to those of the NRHP, but focus upon resources of statewide significance. The criteria are set
forth in Section 15064.5(a)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, and are defined as any resource that:
A. Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
California?s history and cultural heritage;
B. Is associated with lives of persons important in our past;
C. Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction, or
represents the work of an important creative individual, or possesses high artistic values; or
D. Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
The CRHR includes resources listed on the NRHP.
In addition, the CEQA Guidelines, Section 15064.5(a) (4) states:
The fact that a resource is not listed in, or determined to be eligible for listing in the California
Register of Historical Resources, not included in a local register of historical resources (pursuant to
Section 5020.1(k) of the Public Resources Code), or identified in an historical resources survey
(meeting the criteria in Section 5024.1(g) of the Public Resources Code) does not preclude a lead
agency from determining that the resource may be an historical resource as defined in Public
Resources Code Section 5020.1(j) or 5024.1
Results of Records Search and Historic Resources Survey
Results of Records Search
The California Historical Resources Information System (CHRIS) includes the statewide Historical
Resources Inventory (HRI) database maintained by the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) and the
records maintained and managed under contract by twelve independent regional information centers.
The staff of the California Historical Resources Information System?s Northwest Information Center
rd
,
(NWIC) at Sonoma State University completed a record search of the project vicinity on January 3
2006 (File No. 05-502) for the 2006 FMPU (NWIC 2006). The record search included a review of site
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records, primary records, historic maps and manuscripts, the National Register of Historic Places Index
(NRHP), California Register of Historic Resources, California Historic Landmarks (CHL), California
Points of Historic Interest (CPHI), state and local inventories, and other pertinent historical data
available at the NWIC for San Mateo County.
The record and literature search did not identify any previously recorded Native American or historic-
period archaeological resources in the MEIR Study Area or within a quarter-mile radius of the MEIR
Study Area. The record and literature search did not identify any previous archaeological studies at the
MEIR Study Area or within a quarter-mile radius of the MEIR Study Area. No resources within the
MEIR Study Area boundaries were listed on the NRHP, CHL, or CPHI. The nearest NRHP-listed
property is within one quarter-mile radius of the MEIR Study Area: the W P Fuller & Company Paint
Plant, located on East Grand Avenue.
Historic Resources Survey
South San Francisco has several historic homes and commercial buildings. Most are located along Grand
Avenue near the Civic Center, and around the intersection of Grand Avenue and Eucalyptus Street. The
City conducted a comprehensive survey of these structures in 1986. The buildings identified in this
survey are representative of an architectural period, are of local historic prominence, or are well-restored
examples of vernacular architecture. Many of the structures in downtown South San Francisco along
Linden, Baden, and Miller avenues were also among those identified as potential historic resources in the
survey. Although industry played a critical role in South San Francisco?s history, no industrial buildings or
sites are currently designated as historic resources (OSCE 1999).
At the time of the Euro American contact the Native Americans that lived in the area spoke Ramaytush,
one of the Costanoan/Ohlone languages. Two Native American resources?shellmounds?have been
recorded within and adjacent to the MEIR Study Area, according to references in the ethnographic
literature. Based on an evaluation of the environmental setting and features associated with known sites,
Native American cultural resources in this part of San Mateo County have been found on terraces
adjacent to the bayshore. The City of South San Francisco contains gently sloping hills adjacent to the
bayshore. Given the similarity of these environmental factors and ethnographic sensitivity, there is a
moderate to high likelihood that unrecorded Native American cultural resources exist in the MEIR Study
Area.
Review of historical literature and maps indicated four historic-period archaeological resources within the
MEIR Study Area. The 1915 San Mateo 15-foot Quadrangle indicated four historic-period buildings in
the MEIR Study Area. With this in mind, there is a moderate to high possibility of identifying historic-
period archaeological resources.
Paleontological Resources
The MEIR Study Area is on the west shore of San Francisco Bay on reclaimed bay lands and adjacent
uplands at the eastern base of San Bruno Mountain. The lower portion of the MEIR Study Area was
reclaimed from the waters of the San Francisco Bay in the mid to late 1960?s by using well compacted
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materials derived primarily from excavations consisting of the Bedrock belonging to the Franciscan
complex, alluvial material and Bay Mud lie directly beneath the reclaimed fill material. In this area, the
Franciscan complex consists primarily of sandstone and shale. The Bedrock Alluvial units consisting of
medium stiff to hard, green, gray-green, and brown sandy and silty clay and medium dense to dense silt,
silty sand, and sand unconformably overlie the bedrock surface.
A review of a map produced by Kleinfelder Associates depicting the MEIR Study Area illustrates the
potential for the existence of paleontological resources in the MEIR Study Area. Because the MEIR
Study Area is underlain primarily with bedrock components, as discussed in Section 4.5 of this MEIR
(Geology and Soils), it is possible that unique paleontological resources exist within the MEIR Study
Area, since paleontological resources typically occur within rock formations. However, according to the
Los Angeles Museum of Natural History (LACM), no vertebrate fossil localities exist on the San
Francisco peninsula, thus, no unique paleontological resource or unique geologic features are anticipated
to exist within the MEIR Study Area. No previously identified paleontological resources were found to
be located at the MEIR Study Area (UCB 2006).
The University of California, Berkeley Museum of Paleontology database was searched to determine
whether invertebrate or vertebrate fossils were present. No vertebrate fossils were listed.
4.10.2Regulatory Framework
The treatment of cultural resources is governed by federal and state laws and guidelines. There are
specific criteria for determining whether prehistoric and historic sites or objects are significant and/or
protected by law. Federal and state significance criteria generally focus on the resource's integrity and
uniqueness, its relationship to similar resources, and its potential to contribute important information to
scholarly research. Some resources that do not meet federal significance criteria may, nevertheless, be
considered significant by state criteria. The laws and regulations that seek to address and/or mitigate
impacts on significant prehistoric or historic resources are summarized below.
Federal
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 established the NRHP as the official federal list of cultural
resources that have been nominated by state offices for their historical significance at the local, state, or
national level. Properties listed in the NRHP, or ?determined eligible? for listing, must meet certain
criteria for historical significance and possess integrity of form, location, and setting. Significance is
determined by four aspects of American history or prehistory recognized by the NRHP Criteria, which
are listed below.
A. Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history
B. Associated with the lives of persons significant in our past
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C. Embody the distinctive characteristics of a type; period, or method of construction; represent the
work of a master; possess high artistic values, represent a significant and distinguishable entity
whose components may lack individual distinction
D. Have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. (See 36 CFR
§60.4)
Eligible properties must meet at least one of the criteria and exhibit integrity. Historical integrity is
measured by the degree to which the resource retains its historical properties and conveys its historical
character, the degree to which the original fabric has been retained, and the reversibility of changes to the
property.
State
The California Register of Historic Resources (Public Resources Code Section 5020 et
seq.)
The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) maintains the CRHR. Properties listed, or formally
designated as eligible for listing, on the NRHP are automatically listed on the CRHR, as are State
Landmarks and Points of Interest. The CRHR also includes properties designated under local ordinances
or identified through local historical resource surveys.
State law seeks to protect cultural resources by requiring evaluations of the significance of prehistoric and
historic resources in CEQA documents. A cultural resource is an important historical resource if it meets
any of the criteria found in Section 15064.5(a)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines. These criteria, which are
nearly identical to those for the NRHP, are listed below.
A. Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
California?s history and cultural heritage
B. Is associated with lives of persons important in our past
C. Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction, or
represents the work of an important creative individual, or possesses high artistic values
D. Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history
As stated earlier CEQA Section 15064.5(a)(4) also affords the lead agency the ability to determine
whether a resource may be an historical resource without being listed in the CRHR.
California Health and Safety Code Sections 7050.5, 7051, and 7054
These sections collectively address the illegality of interference with human burial remains, as well as the
disposition of Native American burials in archaeological sites. The law protects such remains from
disturbance, vandalism, or inadvertent destruction, and establishes procedures to be implemented if
Native American skeletal remains are discovered during construction of a project, including the
treatment of remains prior to, during, and after evaluation, and reburial procedures.
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CaliforniaPublicResourcesCodeSection15064.5(e)
This law addresses the disposition of Native American burials in archaeological sites and protects such
remains from disturbance, vandalism, or inadvertent destruction. The section establishes procedures to
be implemented if Native American skeletal remains are discovered during construction of a project and
establishes the Native American Heritage Commission as the entity responsible to resolve disputes
regarding the disposition of such remains.
Local
The City has a Historic Preservation Commission that designates historic resources, reviews applications
for altering or demolishing historic structures, disseminates information to the public concerning
structures, sites and areas deemed worthy of preservation, and considers and recommends to the City
Council methods for encouraging and achieving historical or architectural preservation. The Historic
Preservation Commission prepared a Historic Resources Survey in 1986, which determined that there are
no historical resources within the MEIR Study Area.
4.10.3Project Impacts and Mitigation
Analytic Method
Historic Resources
Potentially adverse effects on historic structures or features are evaluated by determining the presence or
absence of historic status with respect to the feature in question, and then determining the potential for
the project to affect the structure or feature if it possesses historic status.
Archaeological Resources (including human remains)
This analysis is based on the possibility, based on the archaeological survey conducted, that an
archaeological resource or human burial would be affected by activities that disturb the ground surface or
subsurface, including grading or excavation.
Paleontological Resources
This analysis is based on professional knowledge that paleontological resources could be affected by
activities that disturb the ground surface or subsurface, including grading or excavation. For the purposes
of this MEIR, impacts on paleontological resources are assessed in terms of significance based upon
whether these resources meet the definition of a ?unique paleontological resource? found in
Section 21083.2(g) of the PRC.
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Thresholds of Significance
The following thresholds of significance are based on Appendix G of the 2006 CEQA Guidelines. For
purposes of this MEIR, implementation of the proposed project could result in potentially significant
impacts to cultural or historic resources if the proposed project would result in any of the following:
Cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource as defined in the
NRHP criteria or Section 15064.5 of the CEQA Guidelines.
Cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of an archaeological resource pursuant to
Section 15064.5 of the CEQA Guidelines.
Directly or indirectly destroy a unique paleontological resource or site or unique geologic feature.
Disturb any human remains, including those interred outside of formal cemeteries.
Impacts and Mitigation Measures
Threshold Cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource as
defined in the NRHP criteria and/or CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.5
Impact 4.10-1 Implementation of the proposed project is not anticipated to cause a
substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. This
less-than-significant
impact would be .
As discussed in Section 4.10.1 (Existing Conditions), there were no previously identified historic
structures located within the MEIR Study Area. State and federal inventories list no historic properties
within the MEIR Study Area. The nearest NRHP-listed structure is outside the MEIR Study Area on
East Grand Avenue. The MEIR Study Area currently comprises non-historic structures used to support
the functions of Genentech. The project would not require demolition of a structure or structures which
less than significant
are potentially eligible for listing on the NRHP or CRHR. This impact is and no
mitigation is required.
Threshold Cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of an archaeological resource
pursuant to 36 CFR 60.4 Criterion (d) and/or CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.5
Impact 4.10-2 Implementation of the proposed project could affect the significance of a
previously unidentified archaeological resource as defined in 36 CFR 800,
CEQA Section 15064.5, and PRC Section 21083.2. This impact would be
potentially significant. However, implementation of identified mitigation
less-
measures MM 4.10-1(a) and MM 4.10-1(b) would reduce this impact to
than-significant.
As discussed in Section 4.10.1 (Existing Conditions), a records search was conducted by the CHRIS to
determine the existence of archaeological resources in the MEIR Study Area. Review of data maps,
historic-period maps, and literature for San Mateo County on file at the NWIC indicates that the MEIR
Study Area contains four historic-period archaeological resources within the MEIR Study Area. The 1915
San Mateo 15-foot Quadrangle indicated four buildings in the MEIR Study Area. The CHRIS also
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discovered two Native American resources in or adjacent to the MEIR Study Area referenced in
ethnographic literature. Two shellmounds were recorded within and adjacent to the MEIR Study Area,
#377 and #378 (NWIC 2006). With this in mind, there is a moderate to high possibility of identifying
historic-period archaeological resources.
Additionally, the MEIR Study Area contains gently sloping hills adjacent to the bayshore, a type of land
area on which Native American cultural resources have previously been found on adjacent terraces in
South San Francisco. Thus, as previously discussed, based on an evaluation of the environmental setting
and features associated with known sites, there is a moderate to high likelihood that unrecorded Native
American cultural resources exist in the MEIR Study Area.
While the MEIR Study Area is a highly developed area, the East of 101 Area has historically been
occupied by ware housing and meat packing industries. Due to the nature of these activities, most of the
existing buildings in the area did not include sub-levels beneath grade. Construction activities associated
with the proposed project has the potential to excavate and grade in areas that were previously
developed. As such, other previously unidentified archaeological resources eligible for listing on the
NRHP or CRHR may also be located within the MEIR Study Area or its immediate vicinity during
project construction. Construction of the project could result in ground disturbance associated with
grading, excavating, and trenching, which could damage or destroy previously unidentified, significant
archaeological resources. This impact is considered potentially significant.
Implementation of MM 4.10-1(a) and MM 4.10-21(b) would reduce this impact to a less-than-significant
level.
MM 4.10-1(a) If an unidentified archaeological resource is uncovered during construction, a qualified
archaeologist approved by the project applicant shall conduct further archival and field study to
identify the presence of archaeological resources in the area surrounding the discovery. Field study
may include, but is not limited to, pedestrian survey, auguring, and monitoring construction
activities as well as other common methods used to identify the presence of archaeological resources
in a fully developed urban area.
MM 4.10-1(b) If an unidentified archaeological resource is uncovered during construction, a qualified
archaeologist approved by the project applicant shall first determine whether this resource is a
?unique archaeological resource? under 36 CFR 800, CEQA Section 15064.5, and/or
Public Resources Code Section 21083.2. If the archaeological resource is determined to be a
?unique archaeological resource,? the archaeologist shall formulate a mitigation plan that satisfies
the requirements of, 36 CFR 800, CEQA Section 15064.5, and/or Public Resources Code
21083.2. Work in the vicinity of the find may resume at the completion of a mitigation plan or
recovery of the resource.
If the archaeologist determines that the archaeological resource is not a unique archaeological
resource, work will resume, and the archaeologist may record the site and submit the recordation
form to the California Historic Resources Information System Northwest Information Center.
The archaeologist shall prepare a report of the results of any study prepared as part of a
mitigation plan, following accepted professional practice. Copies of the report shall be submitted
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to the City and to the California Historic Resources Information System Northwest Information
Center.
The potentially significant impact on previously unidentified archaeological resources would be reduced
less-than-significant
to a level with implementation of MM 4.10-1(a) and MM 4.10-1(b).
Threshold Directly or indirectly destroy a unique paleontological resource or site or unique
geologic feature
Impact 4.10-3 The proposed project would not directly or indirectly destroy a unique
paleontological resource or site or unique geologic feature. This impact
less than significant.
would be
As discussed in Section 4.10.1 (Existing Conditions), no previously identified unique paleontological or
unique geologic features are located in the MEIR Study Area. A review of a map produced by Kleinfelder
Associates depicting the MEIR Study Area shows the potential existence of vertebrate and invertebrate
fossils within the MEIR Study Area. However, according to the LACM, no vertebrate fossil localities
exist on the San Francisco peninsula, thus, no unique paleontological resource or unique geologic
features are anticipated to exist in the MEIR Study Area. The University of California, Berkeley Museum
of Paleontology database was also searched to determine whether invertebrate or vertebrate fossils were
less than significant
present. No vertebrate fossils were listed (UCB 2006). This impact is considered .
No mitigation is necessary.
Threshold Disturb any human remains, including those interred outside of formal cemeteries
Impact 4.10-4 Implementation of the proposed project could disturb unknown human
remains, including those interred outside of formal cemeteries as defined
in 36 CFR 800, CEQA Section 15064.5 and/or PRC Section 5097.98. This
impact would be potentially significant. However, implementation of
less
identified mitigation measure MM 4.10-2 would reduce this impact to
than significant.
As discussed in Section 4.10.1 (Existing Conditions), the MEIR Study Area is not known to be located
within a human burial ground and no known human burial sites were identified within the MEIR Study
Area or its immediate vicinity. However, previously unidentified human remains could be encountered
during ground disturbing activities with construction of the project. Human burials, in addition to being
potential archaeological resources, have specific provisions for treatment in Section 5097 of the PRC.
Disturbing human remains could violate the health code, as well as destroy the resource. This impact is
considered potentially significant.
To minimize this impact, implementation of MM 4.10-2, shall be required if human remains are
discovered in the MEIR Study Area:
MM 4.10-2 In the event of the discovery of a burial, human bone, or suspected human bone, all excavation or
grading within 100 feet of the find shall halt immediately, the area of the find shall be protected,
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and the project applicant immediately shall notify the San Mateo County Coroner of the find
and comply with the provisions of PRC Section 5097 with respect to Native American
involvement, burial treatment, and re-burial, if necessary. Work may resume once the area is
protected or the body is removed.
This potentially significantly impact on previously unidentified human remains would be reduced to a
less-than-significant
level with implementation of MM 4.10-4.
4.10.4References
California Historical Resources Information System?Northwest Information Center?Sonoma State
University. January 2006. Record Search Results.
Jillian E. Guldenbrein, Researcher I, Northwest Information Center, Sonoma State University, written
communication to EIP Associates, January 3, 2005, Re: Record Search Results for the proposed City
of South San Francisco Project. City of South San Francisco General Plan, Open Space and
Conservation Element.
Dyett & Bhatia. Genentech. Central Campus Ten-Year Master Plan?South San Francisco. November 2005.
Office of Historic Preservation. August 2005. Directory of Properties in the Historic Property Data File
for San Mateo County.
UCB Museum of Paleontology, Paleontology Collections Data website, http://bscit.berkeley.edu/ucmp/
Accessed February 14, 2006.
City of South San Francisco. October 1999. City of South San Francisco General Plan, Open Space and
Conservation Element.
Kleinfelder Associates, 2003, Inferred Fossil Potential from State-wide Geologic Unit Map (Jennings,
2002), database searched 16 February 2006.
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