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San Joaquin County Community Environmental Setting,Impacts,and Mitigation Measures Development Department Aesthetics Visual Character Natural and artificial landscape features contribute to the visual character of an area or view. Visual character is influenced by geologic,hydrologic,botanical, wildlife,recreational,and urban features. Urban features include those associated with landscape settlements and development, including roads,utilities, _ structures,earthworks,and the results of other human activities. The perception of visual character can vary significantly seasonally,even hourly,as weather, light, shadow, and elements that compose the viewshed change. The basic _ components used to describe visual character for most visual assessments are the elements of form,line,color, and texture of the landscape features(USFS 1974; FHWA 1983). The appearance of the landscape is described in terms of the dominance of each of these components. Visual Quality — Visual quality is evaluated using the well-established approach to visual analysis adopted by Federal Highway Administration,employing the concepts of vividness, intactness, and unity (FHWA 1983),which are described below. ■ Vividness is the visual power or memorability of landscape components as they combine in striking and distinctive visual patterns. ■ Intactness is the visual integrity of the natural and human-built landscape and its freedom from encroaching elements; this factor can be present in well- kept urban and rural landscapes,and in natural settings. ■ Unity is the visual coherence and compositional harmony of the landscape — considered as a whole; it frequently attests to the careful design of individual components in the landscape. Visual quality is evaluated based on the relative degree of vividness, intactness, and unity,as modified by visual sensitivity. High-quality views are highly vivid, relatively intact,and exhibit a high degree of visual unity. Low-quality views lack vividness, are not visually intact, and possess a low degree of visual unity. — Viewer Exposure and Sensitivity The measure of the quality of a view must be tempered by the overall sensitivity of the viewer. Viewer sensitivity or concern is based on the visibility of — resources in the landscape,proximity of viewers to the visual resource, elevation of viewers relative to the visual resource, frequency and duration of views, number of viewers, and type and expectations of individuals and viewer groups. — The importance of a view is related, in part, to the position of the viewer to the resource;therefore,visibility and visual dominance of landscape elements — depend on their placement within the viewshed. A viewshed is defined as all of DeSilva Gates Quarry Project Draft Environmental Impact Report 3.A-2 AS astoaos