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Rancho Laguna Project

Zentner Planning and Ecology was hired to complete the permitting and the Habitat Mitigation and Monitoring Plans for the Rancho Laguna project, a 27-unit single-family residential subdivision, located on approximately 179 acres off Rheem Blvd in Moraga, California. The 18,000 to 24,000 square foot lots are clustered on 27 acres, leaving the majority of the site, approximately 152 acres, as open space.

Permitting

Permitting for the project was relatively complex with a Section 7 consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for Alameda whipsnake (Masticophis lateralis) and California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), as well as for permits required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The project included impacts to both seasonal wetlands and Rheem Creek.

Mitigation Planning

The mitigation plan Zentner Planning and Ecology created involved a reroute of the Rheem Creek with wetland planting in the creek and floodplain, and relatively dense riparian vegetation along the banks. The Town of Moraga also requested a specific plan along a section of the creek to combat potential erosion and scarification, which we also developed.

preconstruction surveys

Zentner’s tasks related to permits obtained from the USACE, the USFWS, and the CDFW require a range of surveys for special status species including Alameda whipsnake, California red-legged frog, burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), bat species, nesting birds and raptors, San Francisco dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes annectens), and special status plants. Prior to construction each season, Zentner staff complete preconstruction surveys for the project. 

Once project construction begins in April, our staff completes daily clearance surveys of the site prior to construction for the day. These surveys involve ensuring no wildlife is within the work perimeter, surveying the perimeter exclusion fence, inspecting any excavated ditches or pits where species could become trapped, and visually checking any pipes or other stored materials on the project site. Our staff is also on hand to complete clearance surveys of vegetated areas prior to vegetation stripping as well as being on hand while all vegetation removal activities are occurring. We are also on site to ensure the proper placement and installation of exclusion fencing around the site and around sensitive habitats. In addition, we make sure that trees, creeks, wetlands, and other habitat features are properly excluded from the project area via orange construction fencing. If work is permitted to take place in these or other sensitive features, Zentner Planning Ecology staff is on hand to ensure that the proper procedures are followed before, during, and after the work.

worker awareness training

Zentner Planning and Ecology also created worker awareness training documents for the project that included important information regarding potential species that may occur on the project site as well as photos of the species used for identification purposes.  All work personnel are trained prior to work beginning on the project each year, even if they previously had the worker training in previous years.  Further, we work with the project foreman and the various subcontractors on the project site to ensure that worker training is completed as new workers come onto the site.A log is kept of all those that have completed the training and this log as well as the training documents are posted onsite in the construction trailer. 

Mitigation Monitoring and project management

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Zentner Planning and Ecology ensures that project permits are kept in an accessible location on the project site so that they can be produced, if necessary.  We also ensure that equipment operators have copies of the permits to keep with them in their equipment along with the worker training information. We recognize how vital it is to have a positive line of communication with the project foreman so that our staff will be directed to any potential concerns as they arise and before they become problematic.

For this project, our staff complete daily monitoring logs and submit weekly logs summarizing the work activities to the client, Town of Moraga, CDFW and other project consultants.