The Sierra Club is challenging the environmental assessment for the proposed Willow Road interchange project in Nipomo over what it says is the lack of mitigation plans for the loss of more than 700 oak trees.

In an April 24 letter to Caltrans, Thomas N. Lippe, an attorney for the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club, said any approval of the project based on the environmental assessment would violate the National Environmental Policy Act.

Lippe asked Caltrans to follow the requirements of the act by preparing a full environmental impact statement that provides specific plans for mitigating the loss of the trees and specifies that the measures will take place within the project study area.

Project and environmental planners for Caltrans did not return calls seeking comment by press time Tuesday; but Sierra Club representatives said the mitigation proposal is inadequate.

“My main issue is the loss of all those trees and the lack of a plan to replace them,” said Les Kangas, a member of the club's Environmental Committee.

“They say they have a plan, but they don't say what that plan is,” Kangas added. “They don't say when or where or how they'll replace the trees, just that they'll plant acorns. It's kind of bogus.”

Kangas said Caltrans' proposed mitigation doesn't meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act for the loss of 705 trees to make way for the interchange and a park-and-ride lot to be constructed later.

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“Under the rules of mitigation, it would take more than 11,000 3-inch-diameter trees to offset the impacts of this magnitude,” Kangas said, adding the law requires “a real plan.”

Dale Ramey, project planner for San Luis Obispo County, believes Kangas is overstating the number of trees that must be replanted.

“I think we're in good stead,” he said of the environmental assessment and mitigation plan. “I thought the maximum was around 1,100 (trees).

“I think the mitigation is a 4-to-1 mitigation,” he continued. “So if we took out 1,000 trees, it would be 4,000 trees (planted) as a mitigation effort.”

The environmental assessment for the project released by Caltrans says San Luis Obispo County requires a 4-to-1 replacement ratio for trees with a diameter of 6 inches or more that are removed.

Trees that are affected or damaged by a project must be replaced at a 2-to-1 ratio.

“Oak trees removed or damaged by project activities must be replaced by locally collected acorns or other seedlings, preferably collected from within the area of the proposed construction,” the environmental assessment says.

The final number of trees and their diameters would be determined prior to the start of construction but after a final design is approved, according to the assessment.

County officials said April 9 that a number of sites are being considered for planting acorns, but as of that time, none had been finalized.

Herb Kandel, president of the Dana Adobe Nipomo Amigos, said last month that one of the sites being considered is the land surrounding the historical adobe being restored and preserved by his group.

He said some 5,000 oaks might be planted to meet the mitigation requirements, with the expectation that not all the newly planted trees would survive.

A Sierra Club spokesman

couldn't say whether Caltrans'

refusal to prepare a full environmental impact statement and provide a specific mitigation plan would lead to a lawsuit.

“Well, we certainly hope not,” said Andrew Christie, Santa Lucia Chapter director. “That's a long way down the road. What we're looking for now is for them to come up with an EIS. We would never (file a lawsuit) as a first resort.”

San Luis Obispo County, under the oversight of Caltrans, plans to extend Willow Road from Pomeroy Road to Highway 101 - where a full diamond interchange would be constructed - and then to North Thompson Road.

North Frontage Road also would be extended from Sandydale Drive to Willow. Once the project is complete, the park-and-ride lot would be constructed near the interchange to provide a place for commuters to meet carpools, vanpools and buses.

If the environmental assessment receives final approval this spring and the rest of the work goes according to schedule, the full project could be completed by 2013.

The environmental assessment was available for public review from March 10 to

April 24, and the Sierra Club's letter was sent on the last day to comment on the project.

But Ramey said Tuesday that comments about the project are still coming in, but he couldn't say if there were other objections to the project.

“Basically, I collected them, scanned a few and passed them along to our consultants to respond to,” he said, noting it will be at least a couple of weeks before responses to the letters are prepared.

Associate editor Mike Hodgson can be reached at 925-2691, Ext. 2221 or mhodgson@santamariatimes.com.

May 11, 2008