18030_The Standard at Boone_DM_20141204

DECISION MEMORANDUM
DATE: December 4, 2014
FROM: Sharon Eckard, PG
TO: BF Assessment File
RE: The Standard at Boone
784, 862, 862-B Blowing Rock Rd
299, 311, 325 & 339 Faculty Street
& three unaddressed parcels
Boone, Watauga County, NC
Brownfields Project #18030-14-095
Based on the following information, it has been determined that the above referenced
site, for which the intended redevelopment is for no uses other than for mixed use
including high density residential, office, retail and food and beverage services, stream
restoration and greenway trail construction, can be made safe for this site use.
Introduction:
The Brownfields property is comprised of 10 parcels formerly used as motels or
residential dwellings that are located along Blowing Rock Road and Faculty Street in
Boone. A portion of Boone Creek flows through the Property and is within the 100-year
flood zone of the creek, as described below:
Parcel Number
County Parcel Tax
Identification Number
Address
1
2910-14-5944-000
784 Blowing Rock Road
2
2910-14-6823-000
Unaddressed
3
2910-14-7647-000
862 Blowing Rock Road
4
2910-14-6613-000
862-B Blowing Rock Road
5
2910-14-7495-000
Unaddressed
6
2910-14-8386-000
Unaddressed
7
2910-14-4883-000
339 Faculty Street
8
2910-14-4849-000
325 Faculty Street
9
2910-14-4905-000
311 Faculty Street
10
2910-15-3072-000
299 Faculty Street
Redevelopment Plans:
The PD is planning a mixed use off -campus housing development with retail, commercial
office, food & beverage services, a subgrade parking garage, and re -engineering and
restoration of the portion of Boone Creek that flows through the property under the
necessary permits. The stream restoration work is outlined in a number of documents,
including:

1) Approval Letter from DENR, DWR dated March 10, 2014 re: Approval of 401 Water
Quality Certification with Additional Conditions attaching the Water Quality General
Certification Number that approves 20 linear feet of temporary impact and 904 linear feet
of permanent impact to the stream based on the application dated February 13, 2014, an
restricting in -stream construction from October 15 to April 15 of any year to prevent
harm to trout spawning sites downstream. Activities will include stream daylighting
(removal of all culverts on site that encapsulate Boone Creek), stream channel
construction to restore 904 linear feet of the creek and re -align the stream along Faculty
Street, stream bank stabilization, riparian zone re-establishment, and construction of a
pedestrian bridge connecting the two sides of the stream flowing through the BF
property.
2) US Army Corps of Engineers, General Permit (Regional and Nationwide) Verification,
Action ID 2014-00369 under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, 33 USC 1344), April
25, 2014, Nationwide Permit Number 27, authorizes impact to 904 ft of Boone Creek
during a stream restoration project. Includes special conditions from the NC Wildlife
Resources Commission from their March 3, 2014 letter (trout requirements mentioned
above). Verification expires on March 18, 2017. Cites the following basis of
jurisdictional determination: Stream channels on the property exhibit indicators of
ordinary high water marks; Boone Creek flows into Winkler Creek which flows into the
South Fork New River which flows into the New River which flows into the Gauley
River, to the Kanawha River, to Ohio River, to Mississippi River, and into the Gulf of
Mexico.
3) Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) (BREC, PA, Wilkesboro, NC, July 30,
2014), provides the details of the stream impacts including base flood elevations (BFE)
and floodway geometry. Cites the Town of Boone Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance
and notes hydraulic modeling performed for project, provides a copy of the US Dept of
Homeland Security, FEMA Overview & Concurrence Form, Riverine Hydrology &
Hydraulics Form, Riverine Structures Form, Revised SFHA Maps, notification letter to
affected property owners along affected stretch of creek, and stream restoration plans.
4) Revised CLOMR (BREC, October 21, 2014) includes redevelopment plans
Site History:
The buildings on Parcel 1 (784 Blowing Rock Road) were constructed approximately 40
years ago and were formerly operated as a motel, most recently as the Scottish Inn and
prior to that time, the Cabana Motel. The buildings at these parcels are in disrepair and
there has been prior flooding and subsequent flood damage to these buildings. The motel
at this location is currently closed and the Town of Boone has condemned the existing
buildings. The buildings associated with this motel are to be demolished once the
Prospective Developer takes ownership of the property. A water supply well (WW#1) is
located at the northeastern edge of this parcel, but is no longer in use. This will be
properly closed as per the BFA.
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Parcels 2, 5, & 6 are currently asphalt parking lots. No addresses are associated with
these parcels. Formerly Parcel 5 was the site of a small commercial building, demolished
in the late 1990s that most recently operated as a restaurant.
The buildings on Parcels 3 (862 Blowing Rock Road) and 4 (862-B Blowing Rock Road)
were constructed in 1969 and are currently operated as the Red Carpet Inn. The motel
use on these parcels will be discontinued, and the existing buildings demolished, to make
way for this redevelopment. There is a partial earthen basement associated with portions
of some of the buildings, including the area that houses the boiler room. Multiple boiler
tanks, several 55-gallon drums of heating oil, construction debris, and a small sump
containing a dark fluid and a sump pump were observed in the basement during a 2014
site inspection. Staining of soil was evident in the vicinity of the boilers during this
inspection.
Parcel 7 (339 Faculty Street) has historically been residential and is the site of a three-
story residential apartment building constructed in 1971. Parcel 8 (325 Faculty Street)
was historically used as a single-family residence with the current building constructed in
1955. The building may also have been used in an unknown office capacity at one time.
Parcels 9 (311 Faculty Street) and 10 (299 Faculty Street) have historically been single-
family residential property, with construction occurring on these parcels on 1964 and
1967, respectively.
The Property is the site of eight or nine underground storage tanks (USTs) and two above
ground heating oil storage tanks (ASTs). Seven of the USTs were used for the storage of
heating oil and are non -regulated. One of the USTs formerly contained gasoline and the
potential ninth UST may have also contained heating oil. An additional heating oil UST,
removed from Parcel 10 (299 Faculty Street) in 1998, was the source of a release
formerly reported to DENR in 1993, and generated free product in groundwater (Incident
#11198 & Incident #18529). Approximately 6.6 tons of impacted soil was also removed
from Parcel 10 under Incident #18529, and disposed of offsite.
Documented petroleum hydrocarbon releases to the north (the former WATA radio
station (Incident #11198) and the former Pantry 141 gasoline station (Incident #11137),
including complaints of petroleum hydrocarbon odors in certain motel rooms at the
Scottish Inn led to a subsurface investigation that included the former Scottish Inn parcel,
which confirmed petroleum hydrocarbon impacts to the Property. Subsequent remedial
activities including the installation of a soil vapor extraction system were implemented by
The Pantry, Inc. at the former Scottish Inn site, but were shutdown in 2004.
Parcels 1 through 8 are owned by AMP Enterprises, Inc. of Boone, North Carolina.
Parcels 9 and 10 are separately owned by individuals located in Sacramento, California
and Raleigh, North Carolina, respectively. An affiliate of the Prospective Developer,
Stonegate Developers, LLC has each parcel under contract to purchase and will assign
each of the contracts to the Prospective Developer prior to closing. The effective
purchase dates by Stonegate Developers, LLC are as follows: Parcels 1 through 8, April

1, 2013; Parcel 9, October 6, 2013; and Parcel 10, December 16, 2013. Subsequent
amendments to these original purchase contracts are also documented.
Phase I and Phase II ESAs have been conducted at the property to date.
Potential Receptors:
Potential receptors are construction workers, onsite workers, visitors, future residents,
trespassers, and Boone Creek.
Contaminated Media Summary:
DENR has evaluated data collected from the following media at the subject property:
groundwater, soil, surface water, and stream sediment. DENR relies on the following data
collected from 1994 through 2014 on which to base its conclusions regarding the subject
property and its suitability for its intended reuse. Releases are documented at the site
from known and suspected onsite and offsite sources. Contaminants detected above
screening levels or standards are generally petroleum hydrocarbon compounds and lead.
Groundwater conditions have significantly improved since monitoring started at the
property, although we suspect soil contamination remains from remaining UST systems
and from releases at the basement of the Red Carpet Inn.
Soil
Soil data is limited to historical data collected in association with USTs at the site and is
limited to TPH DRO & GRO/MADEP VPH & EPH analyses. Because of this reason we
have used the action level of 10 mg/kg for TPH DRO/GRO for documentation purposes
in the BFA data tables. USTs remain at the site and will be required to be removed for
the redevelopment. Upon removal, PD will be required to obtain compound -specific soil
confirmatory data and conduct compound -specific final grade sampling to ensure that we
have representative site data on which to evaluate risk associated with contaminated soil.
Groundwater
Groundwater has been sampled by three separate investigators over the last couple of
decades. Groundwater data in the 1990s indicated elevated concentrations of petroleum
hydrocarbon volatile organic compounds and lead. More recent sampling indicates
significant reduction in organic compounds in groundwater, in almost all cases below
detection limits and below 2L standards. Lead concentrations in some areas remain over
the 2L for lead.
Surface Water
A portion of Boone Creek flows through the BF property; it will be daylighted and
restored as discussed above for this redevelopment. The creek was sampled in May 2014
and no compounds were detected in two surface water samples in excess of unrestricted
use standards.
Sediment
Sediment samples collected in May 2014 detected TPH-DRO in sediment ranging from
14.3 to 80.7 mg/kg compared with an action level of 10 mg/kg. The stream will be
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restored during the redevelopment and these concentrations should be mitigated by the
stream work and removal of source material (USTs and contaminated soil) during
redevelopment activities.
Soil Vapor
Soil vapor samples were not collected at the site. Only the concentration of naphthalene
in 2003 from 299 Faculty Street of 864 µg/m3 exceeds the residential VISL of 34.8
µg/m3; however, this has likely dissipated since 2003. UST removal and contaminated
soil removal will likely mitigate remaining soil vapor issues at the property. PD will be
using a vapor barrier at the site as well.
Indoor Air
Indoor air samples have not been collected at the site and are not deemed necessary by
the risk analysis done by DENR based on recent data collection. In the mid-1990s,
complaints of petroleum odors were noted by many in certain rooms at the Scottish Inn;
these complaints were investigated by The Pantry, and had to do with improper sealing of
the flooring that allowed vapors to migrate into certain hotel rooms.
Work to be Performed/Required Land Use Restrictions —
Work to be performed includes: 1) preparation of an EMP prior to earth moving work at
the site, 2) removal of remaining USTs/ASTs and associated appurtenances and
contaminated soil, 3) confirmatory compound -specific soil analyses below removed
USTs, 4) final grade sampling to confirm surface soil meets residential standards, and 5)
proper closure of former onsite water supply well.
In addition to the standard land use restrictions, land use restrictions include: 1)
prohibition of groundwater use at the site; 2) prohibition of surface water use at the site
until after remedial activities and the stream restoration work have been conducted; 3)
contingent soil restrictions based on results of confirmatory soil sampling.
Based on the site -specific data provided to the Brownfield program and to be confirmed
by soil confirmatory data, the site reuse is suitable for the site as long as the agreed upon
land use restrictions in the BFA are abided by.
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