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5.0 Environmental Analysis 5.4 Landform Alteration/Visual Quality <br />Avion Project SEIR <br />Page 5.4-3 <br />5.4.4 Issue 2: Landform Alteration <br />• Would the project result in a substantial change in the existing landform? <br />5.4.4.1 Threshold <br />According to the City’s CEQA Significance Determination Thresholds, landform alteration/visual <br />quality impacts may be significant if the project would: <br />a. Alter more than 2,000 cubic yards of earth per graded acre by either excavation or fill, and <br />one or more of the following conditions apply: <br />1) Project would disturb steep hillsides in excess of the encroachment allowance of the <br />Environmentally Sensitive Lands (ESL) regulations; <br />2) The project would create manufactured slopes higher than 10 feet or steeper than 2:1 <br />(50 percent) slope gradient; <br />3) The project would result in a change in elevation of steep hillsides as determined by the <br />San Diego Municipal Code Section 113.0103 from existing grade to proposed grade of <br />more than 5 feet by either excavation or fill, unless the area over which excavation or fill <br />would exceed 5 feet is only at isolated points on the site; or <br />4) The project design includes mass terracing of natural slopes with cut or fill slopes to <br />construct flat-pad structures. <br />b. However, the above conditions may not be considered significant if one or more of the <br />following apply: <br />1) The grading plans clearly demonstrate, with both spot elevations and contours, that the <br />proposed landforms will very closely imitate the existing on-site landform and/or the <br />undisturbed, pre-existing surrounding neighborhood landforms. This may be achieved <br />through naturalized variable slopes. <br />2) The grading plans clearly demonstrate, with both spot elevations and contours, that the <br />proposed slopes follow the natural existing landform and at no point vary substantially <br />from the natural landform elevations. <br />3) The proposed excavation or fill is necessary to permit installation of alternative design <br />features such as step-down or detached buildings, non-typical roadway or parking lot <br />designs, and alternative retaining wall designs that reduce the project‘s overall grading <br />requirements.