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vgE'O RA.EO ' <br />STAFF REPORT <br />ITEM NO. 04 <br />DATE: FEBRUARY 1, 2011c .,� <br />!� <br />TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY=COUN I <br />FROM: ROD FOSTER, CITY MANAGER <br />PREPARED BY: MARK TOMICH, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIRECTOR <br />SUBJECT: STATUS REPORT ON HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN FOR THE <br />DELHI SANDS FLOWER -LOVING FLY (DSF/HCP) <br />RECOMMENDED ACTION <br />It is recommended that the City Council confirm current direction regarding DSF/HCP content <br />and negotiations with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. <br />GOAL STATEMENT <br />The proposed action will support the City's goal to complete the Habitat Conservation Plan. <br />BACKGROUND <br />The Delhi Sands Flower -loving Fly (DSF) was listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish <br />and Wildlife Services (Service) in 1993 and is protected under the provisions of the Endangered <br />Species Act (ESA). The ESA prohibits anyone from "taking" a listed species. Take includes, <br />but is not limited to, harming, harassing, or killing individuals of a listed species as well as <br />destruction of habitat occupied by listed species. <br />DSF habitat is limited to areas that include Delhi fine sand, a wind -deposited soil type. The <br />Service has estimated that the DSF's present distribution is less than 2% of its former range of 40 <br />square miles in northwestern Riverside and southwestern San Bernardino counties. <br />Approximately 150 acres of undeveloped lands covered by Delhi sands are located in the City of <br />Colton, within the area of the West Valley Specific Plan Amendment. Although the West Valley <br />Specific Plan was adopted in 1995, with subsequent amendments in 2003, development within <br />the Specific Plan area has been constrained by potential impacts to DSF habitat. <br />Environmental documentation for both the 1995 Specific Plan adoption and the 2003 <br />amendments placed the burden of responsibility for habitat mitigation directly on developers of <br />individual projects. Requiring individual developers to be responsible for DSF documentation <br />and mitigation proved to be infeasible and inefficient due to the cost and time required to prepare <br />individual HCPs. Therefore, the City initiated development comprehensive HCP that builds <br />