Aspen Provides Environmental Services For The Avila Point Project

Aspen is working under contract with the County of San Luis Obispo to provide the County with environmental services including the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report for the Avila Point Project. The project is proposed by Chevron Land and Development Company on a 95-acre site, a former oil tank farm in the community of Avila Beach. The project includes cleanup of the site (remediation), land use plan amendments to change the land use and zoning of the property, and a conceptual plan for future development with resort and wellness center facilities. The resort could also include restaurants, pool, spa, and other amenities such as walking trails; some of these amenities would be open to the public.

Aspen has recently been supporting the County at the Avila Tank Farm Collaborative Assessment Team (ATCAT) meetings with resource agencies and Chevron regarding the site cleanup. Formed several years ago, ATCAT includes the Regional Water Quality Control Board, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Coastal Commission, US Army Corps of Engineers, County Department of Planning and Building, County Air Pollution Control District, and County Environmental Health Department. The ATCAT has been evaluating the level of cleanup needed to accommodate a future resort and recreational use of the site. Although the site no longer includes oil tanks, soil and groundwater contamination remains on the site as well as buildings, structures, and piping that need to be addressed/removed to allow for other uses of the property.

Aspen’s work on this project involves two phases. As part of Phase 1, Aspen has been supporting the County in project-related agency meetings and in the review of Chevron’s application to the County. This phase also includes site surveys (biological resources technical report, Peregrine Falcon Survey report, and historic resources survey), project scoping, and preparation of a comprehensive project description. Aspen completed a detailed Initial Study and Notice of Preparation, which identified the need for an EIR and started the 30-day scoping period for the project. Aspen supported the County at the public scoping meeting and is preparing a scoping summary to document the comments made at the meeting, which was well attended by local residents, and written comment letters received during the scoping comment period. In addition, Native American consultation has also been a key component of the Phase I work to address the proposed land use plan amendments and requirements of SB 18. Phase 2 involves the preparation of the EIR that will consider all components of the Avila Point Project – site cleanup, plan amendments, and future use of the project site. In addition to the technical reports mentioned above, the EIR will evaluate other key information and data such as a traffic study, visual assessment, and a detailed air quality and greenhouse gas analysis as well as the proposed amendments to the Avila Beach Specific Plan, Local Coastal Program, and the San Luis Bay Area Plan.