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SOMACH SIMMONS & DUNN A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION ATTORNEYS AT LAW 500 CAPITOL MALL,SUITE 1000,SACRAMENTO,CA 95814 OFFICE:916-446-7979 FAX:916-446-8199 SOMACHLAW.COM May 2, 2023 Giuseppe Sanfilippo San Joaquin County Community Development Department 1810 E. Hazelton Avenue Stockton, CA 95205 gsanfilippo@sjgov.org Re: PA-2100238 (UP): Comments on Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration Dear Mr. Sanfilippo: On behalf of the Naglee Burk Irrigation District(District) and Reclamation District 1007 (RD 1007), 1 am providing the following comments on Application PA-2100238 (UP) and the draft initial study/mitigated negative declaration(IS/MND) for the large religious assembly proposed to be developed at 12925 W. Bethany Road(Project). For over 100 years, the District has been delivering irrigation water to farmland within its approximately 4,600 acre service area. As the first irrigation district in the Tracy area, the District has a strong interest in ensuring the continued viability of agriculture in San Joaquin County, including the preservation of agricultural land. District Board members and customers reside in the County and support the development of community serving uses such as the Project, in appropriate locations. The District and RD 1007 have carefully reviewed the Project application and IS/MND and have significant concerns about the use in its proposed location. Locating a large public assembly facility at the proposed location is fundamentally incompatible with the surrounding agricultural uses and inconsistent with the County's strong General Plan goals and policies for the protection of agriculture. The IS/MND fails to address these issues and lacks information necessary to inform the District, RD 1007, and County decisionmakers about the Project's potential impacts, and as such does not comport with the most basic requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA). I. The Project is Inconsistent with County General Plan Goals and Policies Adopted for the Protection of Agriculture The preservation of farmland and economically viable agriculture is a centerpiece of the County's General Plan. The California Supreme Court has held that the general plan is "the Constitution for all future development." (Lesher Communications, Inc. v. City of Walnut Creek(1990) 52 Cal.3d 531, 540. As such, all County planning actions are