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Home My WebLink About10-17-2017 Item 10, Ashley - outlineLO Gt -f�� gr� c OMMW 7- S OpLAI c5pAcp- tid U'5 Dp U�� Wj-- _ - 74 rr ' 1� It "NPR- L 4'] 3 d PT -H A w V a city of san Luis oalspo THE GENERAL PLAN Figure 3: Wildlife Corridors Conservation and Open Space -w 6-42 Figure 3: Wildlife Corridors City Limit ® Greenbelt — Creeks ® Wltlllle Zones Wildlife Corridors •- — r Linear Barrier ^� Wildlife Corridor ■ ■ ■ Potentia! Wildlife Comdor RW llual LMiFfi�►t� �,H le6 (d) Valley Foraging Habitats (Grasslands and Grazing Lands) As valley grasslands are underlain by rich soils, they once supported the greatest abundance of life. Soils on the hillsides are thinner, and do not support the same biotic carrying capacity. The grasslands around the city of San Luis Obispo support many animals besides domestic cattle. Many have seen deer grazing in the fields opposite the Men's Colony or on the flanks of San Luis Mountain and Bishop Peak. There is a common misconception that grasslands have no value since they lack the visual poetry of trees. Thus they have usually become the default. environment for development, and historically were the first to be converted to agriculture. As a matter of policy, the City should endeavor to retain some grasslands and other valley floor habitat as part of the open space to maintain as high a biodiversity as possible. These habitats can be preserved -in association with other land uses, as corridors between clustered development or as grazing - limited conservation easements. Even golf courses, which use up large amounts of land but provide very little or no habitat value, could develop native grassland corridors or in other ways enhance themselves to become a link in a grassland corridor. Much of the grassland around the city is currently dominated by exotic European species, but could be;restored to native grasses and to higher wildlife value. In spite of the dominance by exotic plants, many of the grasslands still function as valuable habitat. (e) Oak Woodlands, Scrublands, and Hillside Grassland and Chaparral The hills surrounding the city are covered by an intermeshed association of communities. In the sheltered valleys and the moister, northern flanks of the hills are the Coast Live Oak woodlands. On the poorer soils and the hotter, south -facing slopes are scrublands and chaparrals, and patches of grassland. Many of these habitats are relatively undisturbed by man, -due to their inaccessibility, their steepness, and relatively low impacts from -cattle compared to the grasslands. They support different types of birds and animals than the flatlands. It should become City policy to preserve much of the vegetation on the steeper slopes, and to preserve as much of the mosaic of these diverse plant communities as possible, particularly in association with wildlife corridors. (f) Wildlife Migration Corridors One of the most commonly overlooked aspects of habitat conservation is the wildlife corridor, usually because the values of the corridor lie beyond the boundaries of the section of land being evaluated. In the San Luis Obispo watershed area, wildlife connection is required between the diverse geographical elements of the surrounding landscape. EQTF Sustainability Recommendations Page 17 Within the city, there has been little attention paid to wildlife corridors, such as those linking mountains to valley creeks. Often city planning policies undercut the needs of wildlife. (For example, the General Plan and zoning allow residential development, that would block the corridor, on a parcel in the best corridor linking the east side of San Luis Mountain with the creek system, in the 100 block of Broad Street). (In the larger regional landscape animals must move from the Irish Hills to the Edna Valley, from the Santa Lucia Mountains to Cerro San Luis Obispo, from east to west and frpm north to south around the city. There is still open country around the city, and the problem appears to be restricted to freeway survival skills, but in a few decades the Irish Hills and Morros could be as isolated as the Palos Verdes Peninsula. We have a responsibility to future generations to guarantee the presence of healthy and varied wildlife, and for that we must prevent the genetic isolation of wildlife populations. The City, in establishing a green belt around itself, should use its powers to provide relatively safe animal passage across this belt. The wider the space for passage, the more varied the travelers will be. If sufficiently sized, travelers could include deer, fox, coyote, possum, raccoon, bobcat, cougar, and even bear. Corridors can be maintained by preventing strip development, which acts as a barrier, and by providing ample opportunities for wildlife to cross major transportation routes. Already a significant portion of the northwest - southeast movement of bear and cat is becoming bottlenecked into the Cuesta Pass area. The opportunities for values conflicts along a wildlife corridor are many. Open space reserved around the City may also be considered a scenic resource that may not overlay the most valuable lands from the ecological standpoint. Public access and recreation within open space_ may severely limit its use as a wildlife corridor. - (2) Land Use Controls The City should convene a series of planning conferences with biologists, landowners, City planning staff, and County planning staff to agree on areas that might be considered for either a joint powers planning vehicle or annexation. This would address the 'revenue -neutral' requirement of the County relative to annexation of its territory, the relationship of those lands to existing City land use plans and to county zoning, the assessment of landowner desires, and the consideration of compensation for perceived or real take through changed regulations. The conferences could complement current efforts to establish a program for transfer of development credits and to fund and prioritize acquisition of land or easements. Consultation with LAFCO should continue concurrently with the conferences. EQTF Sustainability Recommendations Page 18 Tank Farm Wetlands The wetlands just north of Tank Farm Road should, be enhanced, and surrounded with a viable valley grassland buffer. Cerro San Luis Obispo The -preservation -of Cerro San Luis Obispo as wildlife habitat depends on keeping much of the existing Foomill Boulevard grazing lands open and free from development that could close off the connecting corridor with the other Morros. gmL:EQTF.RPT 2-28-95 EQTF Sustainability Recommendations Page 22