20091236 Ver 1_Public Notice_20091118

US Army Corps
Of Engineers
Wilmington District
2- c%G? I2?SCP
ov
PUBLIC NOTICE s'i,,ry
Issue Date: November 17, 2009
Comment Deadline: December 17, 2009
Corps Action ID No: 2009-02054
The Wilmington District, Corps of Engineers (Corps) has received a prospectus
proposing to establish an umbrella mitigation bank, known as the Lower Cape Fear
Umbrella Mitigation Bank (Lower Cape Fear), within two separate sites owned by Jon
Vincent of Tri-Coast Properties, LI,C, located along the Cape Fear River, north of
Navassa and south of Boiling Spring Lakes, in eastern Brunswick County, North
Carolina.
Specific plans and location information are described below and shown on the attached
plans. This Public Notice is also available on the Wilmington District Web Site at
www.saw.usace.army.mil/WETLANDS/; and the prospectus can be accessed at
http://www.saw.usace.army.mil/WETLANDS/Mitigation/Banks/Pending
/
Sponsor/Owner: Mr. Jon Vincent
Tri-County Properties, LLC
1508 Military Cutoff Road, Suite 302
Wilmington, North Carolina 28403
Agent: Land Management Group, Inc.
Attn: Mr. Brent Manning
Post Office Box 2522
Wilmington, North Carolina 28402
Authority
The Corps will evaluate this prospectus and the establishment of the mitigation bank in
accordance with the procedures outlined in,33 CFR Part 332. Additionally, this proposal
will also be reviewed pursuant to the permitting authority under Section 10 of the Rivers
and Harbors Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act if construction work involves
the discharge of fill material in navigable waters, non-navigable waters and/or wetlands
of the United States.
Location
The proposed Lower Cape Fear Bank is located within two separate tracts, Sneeden and
White Springs. The Sneeden Tract (34.2838 latitude, -78.0152 longitude) is located
northeast of SR 1430 and SR 1431 intersection, just north of the Town of Navassa. This
site sits on the western bank of the Cape Fear River and encompasses portions of Mill
Branch and Indian Creek. The White Springs Tract (33.9859 latitude, -78.0302
longitude) is located in the northeast corner of Highway 133 and Military Ocean
Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU) Entrance Road intersection, in the headwaters of White
Spring Creek, between Boiling Spring Lakes and Southport. Both sites are situated
within the 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 03030005 (Lower Cape Fear), in the
Cape Fear River Basin, and are approximately 20 miles from each other.
Existing Site Conditions
The approximate size of the planned umbrella bank is 501 acres, with 438 acres in the
Sneeden Tract and 63 acres in the White Springs Tract. At the Sneeden site, the proposed
mitigation area is comprised of approximately 420 acres of intact mature riverine bald
cypress (Taxodium distichum) and swamp tupelo (Nyssa biflora) swamp on the Cape Fear
River and Indian Creek. The listed soil type within the riverine system is Chowan silt
loam, a soil that is frequently flooded for very long durations from November to April.
This community type accounts for the majority of 'the mitigation tract. The site also
includes portions of a forested riparian system, Mill Branch, which is approximately 18
acres located in the north central part of the property. The listed soil type for Mill Branch
is Muckalee loam, which is a hydric soil that exhibits frequent flooding for brief
durations between November and April. The remaining parcel of the property,
approximately 462 acres, is not included in the proposed mitigation bank and has been set
aside for future marina and residential development.
The 63-acre White Springs parcel, which is located approximately 20 miles south of the
Sneeden Tract, is also part of a larger property that is approximately] 14 acres in size.
The entire tract has been heavily ditched with the main drainage system being excavated
sometime in the early 1970's, and the remainder of the property ditched sometime in late
1997/early 1998. During the later ditch construction activity, the excavated material was
not sidecast, but transported and deposited offsite, leaving no material along these
ditches. The entire ditch network has extensively drained the majority, if not all, of the
onsite wetland areas on the property. Currently, the site consist mainly of pond pine
woodlands and pocosin forested wetlands, which is dominated by pond pine (Pinus
serotina), red bay (Persea palustris), and American titi (Cyrilla racemiflora). Onsite
drainage flows in a southeast direction into White Spring Creek, which connects to
Walden Creek and eventually empties into the Cape Fear River, approximately 4.0 miles
downstream from the tract. According to the Brunswick Soil Survey, the underlying soil
type for this property is Murville mucky fine sand, which is a hydric soil with an apparent
water table within the upper 12 inches of the surface from November thru May.
It should be noted that 30 of the 114 acres are currently being monitored as part of
wetland compensatory mitigation for impacts associated with our 2006 issued
Department of the Army authorization at the Brunswick County Airport in Oak Island.
The 30 acre parcel is located along the southern property boundary adjoining the MOTSP
Entrance Road, and is entering into its third monitoring season. Reference Action ID.
2002-0216 (Brunswick County Airport-permittee) for any additional information
concerning this 30-acre mitigation parcel.
Project Purpose
Basic: The basic purpose of the proposal is to establish a stream and wetland mitigation
umbrella bank within two tracts, Sneeden and White Springs, in order to provide
compensatory mitigation for stream, riparian wetland, and non-riparian wetland impacts
associated with Department of the Army authorizations pursuant to Section 404 of the
Clean Water Act.
Overall: The Sponsors propose the following within the bank for the Sneeden Tract: 1)
Restore -0.5 acre of riparian wetlands; 2) Enhance -18 acres of riparian wetlands and
2,200 linear feet of stream; and 3) Preserve -420 acres of wetlands. For the White
Springs Tract, the proposal consists of restoring 1,000 linear feet of zero-order stream,
-5.0 acres of riparian wetlands, and -58 acres of non-riparian wetlands. The work on
both tracts is intended to generate approximately 2,100 linear feet of stream credits and
approximately 156.5 credits of wetlands (14.5 riparian and 142 non-riparian) in total to
be used for compensatory mitigation. The implementation of the plan is expected to
improve water quality functions, promote nutrient removal/transportation, increase water
storage capacity, sediment/pollutant reduction, and to restore and preserve wildlife
habitat.
Project Description
As previously mentioned, the Sneeden Tract will include preserving approximately 420
acres of mature cypress-gum riverine swamp. No work is proposed within this portion of
the site. However, the Mill Branch has been targeted for both stream and wetland
enhancement with a small portion designated as restoration. The enhancement and
restoration activities include the removal of an earthen dam located at the mouth of Mill
Branch. This dam spans approximately 250 feet across the branch and contains two 36-
inch culverts. Once the dam is removed, the footprint of the dam will be planted with
bald cypress, swamp tupelo, pond cypress (Taxodium ascenders) and black gum (Nyssa
sylvatica).
For the White Springs "Tract, hydrological restoration is proposed via the re-establishment
of braided, diffuse flow conditions within the pre-existing valley corridor, or the upper
reach of White Spring Creek. This restoration will not involve the construction of a
defined channel, but prescribes the backfilling and/or plugging of the central canal and
adjoining lateral ditches in the vicinity of the valley reach. Areas outside of the 100-foot
wide corridor (but still in the valley) are targeted for riparian wetland restoration. This
riparian wetland area, or small stream swamp, will be planted with bald cypress, swamp
tupelo, pond pine, tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), American Holly (Ilex opaca),
and ironwood (Carpinus Caroliniana). Additional onsite hydrologic restoration includes
the installation of 50-foot plugs within thirteen (13) lateral ditches, scattered throughout
the site, in order to restore non-riparian wetlands. Since the majority of the tract's
vegetation remains intact and generally represents the natural pond pine/pocosin
community found in these landscapes, plantings in the non-riparian areas will be limited
to the existing ditch corridors, which vary from 40- to 80-feet wide. The planting scheme
for the majority of these corridors consists of pond pine, Atlantic white cedar
(Chamaecyparis thyoides), loblolly bay (Gordonia lasianthus), red bay, and American
titi. In the northeastern portion of the site, the corridors will be restored as a wet pine
savanna where there is a higher percentage of long-leaf pine (Pinus palustris) in the
canopy with a more diverse herbaceous layer. Here, the targeted species will be pond
pine, red bay, loblolly bay, and long-leaf pine.
The proposed Geographical Service Area (GSA) includes the entire 03030005 HUC
(Lower Cape Fear) which extends just south of Fayetteville to the mouth of the Cape Fear
River. The sponsor, who own fee simple title of the Sneeden and White Springs Tracts,
are not, at this time, negotiating with any entity to be the holder of the conservation
easement; however, there are intentions to transfer a perpetual conservation easement to
an appropriate 501(c)3 non-profit organization for long-term protection and management
of the sites.
Evaluation and Commenting Information
The Corps is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, State and local agencies and
officials, including any consolidated State Viewpoint or written position of the Governor;
Indian Tribes and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the
establishment of Lower Cape Fear Umbrella Mitigation Bank. Any comments received
will be considered by the Corps of Engineers in evaluating the approval of this bank. To
make this decision, all factors which may be relevant to the proposal will be considered
including the cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation, economics,
aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historic properties, fish and
wildlife values, flood hazards, flood plain values (in accordance with Executive Order
11988), land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply
and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral
needs, considerations of property ownership, and in general, the needs and welfare of the
people.
The Corps has reviewed the proposal and has examined all information provided by the
sponsors. Our preliminary review indicate the following: 1) An Environmental Impact
Statement will not be required; 2) No listed species of fish, wildlife, and/or plant species
(or Critical Habitat) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 is expected to be
impacted by the construction of the bank; and 3) There are no presence of cultural or
historic resources within the proposed project site. A "no effect" determination for
threatened and endangered species and for cultural and/or historic resources has been
4
made at this time. Any additional or new information may change any of these
preliminary findings.
Written comments pertinent to the proposed work, as outlined above, will be received by
the Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, until 5pm, December 17, 2009. Comments
should be submitted to Mr. Mickey Sugg, 69 Darlington Avenue, Wilmington, North
Carolina 28403-1343, or via internet at mickey.t.sugg_nsaw02.usace.army.mil . If you
have any questions or in need of a copy of the bank prospectus, please contact Mr. Sugg
at [phone].
5

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