GUIDELINES FOR FUTURE PROJECTS

The principle of preserving the natural physical setting to the maximum extent feasible, consistent with the programmatic requirements of the University, is served to a large extent by the organizing principles, land use plan, and parking and circulation element. The following measures are intended to further serve this principle by guiding future planning and informing environmental review of individual projects. Wherever feasible, the campus will:

• avoid disturbing known sinkholes, but, if development over sinkholes is necessary, allow sinkholes to continue to function as natural drainages;

• avoid direct and indirect alterations of the solution cavities;

• protect subterranean solution cavities from alterations of storage capacity;

• maintain high levels of absorption in water recharge areas;

• avoid overdrawing groundwater supplies;

• protect major drainage channels from substantial erosion or siltation;

• protect the limited occurrence of riparian vegetation from harmful erosion or siltation;

• require special erosion control measures on slopes greater than the angle of repose necessary for natural erosion control;

• avoid an increase or decrease to natural surficial drainage patterns of a magnitude that would cause harm to natural vegetation or would increase erosion substantially;

• preserve raptor roosts and acorn granaries;

• limit interruptions of identified ecotones;

• design exterior landscaping to relate to the surrounding native plant community, utilizing native plants, closely related species, or, in limited locations, ornamentals used successfully on campus;

• choose predominantly drought-tolerant species, requiring little or no irrigation for exterior landscaping;

• limit the use of non-native species for exterior landscaping to non-invasive species in order to preserve natural floral diversity;

• favor fire resistive species for exterior landscaping in areas of high fire hazard, such as within the chaparral plant community;

• protect recognized specimens and vegetation groupings within developed areas, including representative stands of dwarf redwoods and giant chinquapins, and in addition, protect such stands from the impacts of pedestrian traffic, overwatering, and other deleterious actions;

• preserve areas of prime and old-growth redwood and prime mixed evergreen forests;

• employ measures for increasing the quality of average and below average forest stands in the core area surveyed by McBride [42];

• maintain aesthetically valuable trees, landforms, and landmarks;

• restrict the height and bulk of development within visually sensitive areas;

• maintain prime viewsheds and viewpoints from the Campus Core and colleges;

• protect recorded archaeological sites; and

• maintain the character of the historic landscape in planning new development.

 

[ Previous Page: Circulation & Parking ]

[ Return to LRDP ]   [ Return to Main Page ]