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III. Environmental Setting, Impacts, and Mitigations B. Aesthetics Land Uses and Cultural Features land(for cattle,horses,sheep), and small farmhouses. However,three other major developed uses also exist in the immediate vicinity of the project site: the Northern California Youth Center facility and a women's prison immediately north of the project site;the 157-acre Forward, Inc.Landfill facility just south of the site;and the Stockton Metropolitan Airport approximately 7,500 feet northwest of the site on the other side of SR 99. The Austin Road Landfill facility was permitted for operation in 1960. The portion of the existing landfill facility north of Little Johns Creek and the portion south of the creek are linked by a short-span steel bridge. These areas are crisscrossed by roving landfill operation vehicles, consisting of a bulldozer,two scrapers, a compactor,a loader, a tanker and a tractor. Two trailers,one used as a scale house and the other used as an office, are located at the northeast corner of the site near the entrance to the landfill facility. At the junction of Newcastle Road and the access road near the northwest corner of the site, a trailer home, storage shed, and a one-story power station serving the facility are located on the landfill property. A 6-foot high chain link fence surrounds the property. Utility poles and transmission lines run parallel to the landfill access road that connects Newcastle Road and Austin Road. The proposed expansion area north of the access road was recently purchased by the City of Stockton from the California Youth Authority,and is currently an undeveloped open grassland. An alfalfa field occupies the proposed expansion area southeast of the creek,with a single-story house situated on the Brocchini property at 9621 Austin Road approximately 460 feet north of the southeast corner of the parcel. This wooden frame structure has a simple,functional wooden facade that lacks ornamentation and does not appear to warrant special consideration of its historic or aesthetic value. Vegetation Seasonal flora greatly influence the attributes of color and texture at the project site. Where the existing landfill operations are in progress,vegetation is removed,leaving swaths of exposed soil until patches of volunteer grasses reemerge. In contrast,the creek and its banks support extensive plant life,including wild oats,curly dock, young willows, and a few mature oak trees. Both of the northwest expansion area is covered with low-lying grasses,with a broken line of mature oak trees planted along Newcastle Road. The single-family residence on the Brocchini parcel is surrounded by a colorful and well-tended garden on the edge of an alfalfa field. III.B.3