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Community Plan Exemption Checklist <br />City of Santa Ana Gary Avenue Business Park Project <br />b) Generation of excessive ground borne vibration or ground borne noise levels? <br />Construction <br />No New Impact. Construction activities for the proposed Project would include demolition, excavation, and <br />grading activities, which have the potential to generate low levels of groundborne vibration. People working <br />in close proximity to the Project site could be exposed to the generation of excessive groundborne vibration <br />or groundborne noise levels related to construction activities. The results from vibration can range from no <br />perceptible effects at the lowest vibration levels, to low rumbling sounds and perceptible vibrations at <br />moderate levels, to slight structural damage at the highest levels. Site ground vibrations from construction <br />activities very rarely reach the levels that can damage structures, but they can be perceived in the audible <br />range and be felt in buildings very close to a construction site. <br />Demolition, excavation, and grading activities are required for the Project and can result in varying degrees <br />of ground vibration, depending on the equipment and methods used, distance to the affected structures and <br />soil type. Potential impacts of the Project are compared to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published <br />standard vibration velocities for construction equipment operations in their 2018 Transit Noise and Vibration <br />Impact Assessment Manual. <br />Based on FTA data, vibration velocities from typical heavy construction equipment operations that would be <br />used during Project construction range from 0.003 to 0.089 in/sec PPV at 25 feet from the source of activity, <br />which is below the FTA's 0.20 PPV threshold for annoyance, as shown on Table N-5. The closest structure is <br />the commercial use located approximately 40 feet from the Project construction area. Also, as shown Table <br />N-5, construction VdB levels would not exceed 81 VdB at 40 feet (i.e., below the 100 VdB structural damage <br />threshold). Therefore, no new impacts related to construction would occur from implementation of the Project. <br />Table N-5: Construction Equipment Vibration Levels <br />Equipment <br />PPV at 25 <br />Feet (in/sec) <br />PPV at 40 <br />Feet (in/sec) <br />VdB at <br />25 Feet <br />VdB at 40 <br />Feet <br />Large Bulldozer <br />0.089 <br />0.0440 <br />87 <br />81 <br />Caisson Drilling <br />0.089 <br />0.0440 <br />87 <br />81 <br />Loaded Trucks <br />0.076 <br />0.0376 <br />86 <br />80 <br />Jackhammer <br />0.035 <br />0.0173 <br />79 <br />73 <br />Small Bulldozer Tractors <br />1 0.003 <br />0.0015 <br />58 <br />52 <br />Source: Acoustical Assessment (Appendix K) <br />Operation <br />Once operational, the Project would not be a significant source of groundborne vibration. Groundborne <br />vibration surrounding the Project currently result from heavy-duty vehicular travel (e.g., refuse trucks, heavy <br />duty trucks, delivery trucks, and transit buses) on the nearby local roadways. Operations of the proposed <br />Project would include passenger cars and trucks. Due to the rapid drop-off rate of ground -borne vibration <br />and the short duration of the associated events, vehicular traffic -induced ground -borne vibration is rarely <br />perceptible beyond the roadway right-of-way, and rarely results in vibration levels that cause damage to <br />buildings in the vicinity. Therefore, the Project would result in no new impacts related to ground born <br />vibration. <br />c) For a project located within the vicinity of a private airstrip or an airport land use plan or, where <br />such a plan has not been adopted, within two miles of a public airport or public use airport, would <br />the project expose people residing or working in the project area to excessive noise levels? <br />No New Impact. The Project would not expose people residing or working in the Project site to excessive <br />noise levels from aircraft. The nearest airport is John Wayne Airport that is located approximately 1.5 miles <br />80 <br />