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5.20 Dry Utilities

Threshold Criteria

The following criterion from the County of Los Angeles Environmental Checklist is used to
establish a threshold to determine the potential for significance. The Project would result in
a significant impact to telephone facilities and services if it would:

Threshold 20-3 Create energy utility (electricity, natural gas, propane) system capacity
problems, or result in the construction of new energy facilities or
expansion of existing facilities, the construction of which could cause
significant environmental effects.

Environmental Impacts

Threshold 20-3 Would the project create telephone service system capacity
problems, or result in the construction of new facilities or
expansion of existing facilities, the construction of which could
cause significant environmental effects?

On-Site Impacts

Telephone Service Demand

The Project would result in an increased demand for the number of telephone lines and
would create the need for new telephone service infrastructure provided by AT&T. The
physical environmental impacts related to the implementation of necessary utility
infrastructure are addressed as part of the Project analyzed in this EIR.

AT&T currently designates two lines per customer for a typical single-family home. Using
this assumption, the Project will require 38,666 telephone lines for residential uses.
Telephone line sizes for commercial areas are planned for and sized based on the Project
Applicant/Developer’s proposed demand. AT&T has stated that the Project’s demand for
telephone service would be adequately served on a demand basis (Matthews 2006). This
means that, as demand increases, service to the Project site and associated facilities would
be improved or expanded to accommodate the demand. No impacts related to AT&T’s ability
to provide telephone service would occur; however, AT&T has stated that upgrading the
Central Office in Lebec would be necessary and would involve internal upgrades to
distribution facilities, which would expand the Central Office’s service capacity and meet the
overall Project demand. The upgrade would be performed in stages, based on the level of
demand, as the Project progresses.

To extend telephone service to the Project, telephone fiber or cabling would be provided in
the proposed utility corridors. The initial extension (overhead and/or underground) of
telephone facilities will be constructed along Gorman Post Road in the current franchise area
entering the Project site at the most westerly entrance, or continuing overhead along the
pole line along SR-138 (PDF 20.4-1).

The Project would be developed as a “full fiber” project, with the extension of fiber lines (as
opposed to cable lines) to all homes on the site. AT&T would plan for a substructure system

R:\Projects\PAS\CEN\000306\Draft EIR\5.20 Dry Utilities-051117.docx 5.20-24 Centennial Project
Draft EIR