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5.13 VISUAL RESOURCES The LEC would expand the visible presence of industrial facilities in this view. However, the facility would be entirely within an already existing industrial envelope, adjacent to the STIG plant and near the large transmission towers that already appear as prominent vertical elements in the landscape. And although a segment of the coast range,visible in background views,would be obscured by the LEC, substantial portions of the distant mountains are already blocked in this view by existing structures. The majority of the LEC would be comparable in scale with the existing STIG plant structures,with only the new exhaust stack appearing as taller than the existing STIG stack. The WPCF ponds and agricultural land would remain prominent in foreground views. Because the new features would not remove any valued elements of the view,would not block views of valued features in the background,and would not substantially change the composition of this view,there will be essentially no change to the view's existing levels of vividness,unity,and intactness,and overall level of visual quality. As a consequence,the change in view from this KOP would not be substantial. 5.13.2.4.2 KOP 2—View from White Slough Wildlife Area Figure 5.13-3 presents a photo of the existing view toward the project site from within the WSWA,approximately one mile northwest of the project site (Photo A),a simulation of the view as it would appear during the project's operational period (Photo B), and a simulation of the view as it would appear with proposed landscaping, after five years (Photo C). Comparison of the first two images indicates that when the proposed project is in place,the change to the view will not be substantial. The existing STIG plant stack and some of the buildings are visible from KOP 2,as are portions of the WPCF. The LEC would not expand the horizontal extent of the industrial area already apparent in current views. The exhaust stack would be noticeably taller than the STIG stack from this vantage point,but it would appear shorter than the nearest transmission tower. In addition,from this viewpoint,the new exhaust stack would appear to be within the corridor of the existing transmission alignment. Because no elements of the LEC would appear outside of the industrial envelope visible in the existing view, and because there would be no marked change in the existing levels of vividness,unity or intactness,changes to the overall visual quality in the existing view from this KOP would not be substantial. 5.13.2.4.3 KOP 3—View from Eight Mile Road Figure 5.13-4 presents a photo of the existing view toward the project site from a viewpoint approximately 2 miles south of the LEC site, along the westbound shoulder of Eight Mile Road (Photo A), a simulation of the view as it would appear during the project's operational period (Photo B), and a simulation of the view as it would appear with proposed landscaping, after five years (Photo C). Comparison of the two images indicates that when the proposed project is in place,the change to the view will be relatively small. The cooling tower and,above it, the exhaust stack would be clearly visible in the distance,adjacent to the existing STIG plant. The LEC would be near the existing transmission lines in the area and therefore,while taller than other nearby structures,would appear as part of a corridor with other taller vertical elements in the landscape. As with the view from KOP 2,the horizontal area occupied by industrial facilities in the existing view would not expand with inclusion of the LEC. These changes would do little to alter the existing character of the view. The visual vividness and unity of the existing view is based on the dominance of agricultural land in the fore-and middleground, and construction of the LEC would not substantially alter the intactness of the view. Thus,there would be no substantial change to 5.13-24 SAC/371322/082350001(LEC_5.13_VISUAL.DOC)