Environmental Consulting Services

San Diego, California

RECON prepared a Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) for the City of San Diego's Complete Communities: Housing Solutions and Mobility Choices program. The EIR evaluated amendments to the San Diego Municipal Code to incentivize multi-family housing construction and affordability by allowing qualifying development to occur without further discretionary review. The PEIR also addressed implementation of a fee program to fund multi-modal infrastructure improvements and evaluated adoption of a new threshold for evaluating vehicle miles traveled consistent with Senate Bill 743. The PEIR included analysis and assumptions for mobility improvements within road rights-of-way throughout the city.

Chula Vista, California

RECON has been serving as the Otay Ranch Preserve Steward/Biologist (PSB) since 2009 which covers approximately 3,958 acres in Chula Vista. Annual stewardship tasks are performed consistent with the Otay Ranch Resource Management Plan (RMP) and City of Chula Vista Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) Subarea Plan. We conduct focused surveys for rare plants, coastal cactus wren, coastal California gnatcatcher, least Bell's vireo, and Quino checkerspot butterfly.

As PSB, RECON conducts regularly scheduled site visits to document access issues, illegal dumping, weed infestations, and incidental observations of sensitive flora and fauna. We address unauthorized access issues by coordinating with the Preserve Manager (City of Chula Vista and County of San Diego), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the sheriff's department, neighboring land managers, and easement holders.

In addition, RECON attends regional and subregional meetings relating to preserve management and monitoring to ensure efforts are not being duplicated and to ensure consistency with regional monitoring efforts and plans. We prepare a variety of reports including fiscal-year annual work plans and budgets, calendar-year annual reports detailing the results of all monitoring and management activities, species-specific habitat management plans, and post-survey reports for USFWS protocol surveys.

Biological monitoring efforts conducted by RECON, such as focused surveys for sensitive species, photographic monitoring, invasive plant mapping, and baseline surveys, are used to inform and prioritize management decisions. RECON has implemented an Early Detection Rapid Response program to ensure that new invasions of California Invasive Plant Council weeds with a High, Moderate, or Alert designation are treated before they spread to other areas. In addition, RECON has implemented a brown-headed cowbird trapping program to reduce nest predation in least Bell's vireo populations.

Moreno Valley, California

RECON prepared existing condition reports and a Draft Program Environmental Impact Report for the City of Moreno Valley Comprehensive General Plan Update, Climate Action Plan (CAP), and Housing Element, which addressed potential impacts of buildout of citywide land use changes and mobility network updates. Proposed General Plan and CAP policies were evaluated to identify the extent they would reduce potentially significant impacts. The evaluation included analysis of warehouse and logistics development and potential new city centers. Mitigation frameworks were identified that would allow for tiering and streamlined analysis for future projects consistent with the General Plan.