20180032 Ver 2_Pre-Filing Meeting Request_20200921

ID#* 20180032 Version* 2
Regional Office* Mooresville Regional Office - [phone]
Reviewer List* Alan Johnson
Pre -Filing Meeting Request submitted 9/21/2020
Contact Name*
Contact Email Address*
Project Name*
Project Owner*
Project County*
Owner Address:
Is this a transportation project?*
Chris Tinklenberg
chris.tinklenberg,@kimley-horn.com
Lower Little Sugar Creek Greenway and Stream Rehabilitation (from S. Polk
St. to
Charlotte -Mecklenburg Storm Water Services and Right of Entry
Agreements
Mecklenburg
Street Address
Address Line 2
City
Postal / Zip Code
Type(s) of approval sought from the DWR:
401 Water Quality Certification - Regular
Individual Permit
Shoreline Stabilization
Does this project have an existing project ID#?*
Yes No
Yes No
State / Province / Region
Country
401 Water Quality Certification - Express
Modification
Please list all existing project ID's associated with this projects.
SAW-2020-01148, NCDWR #18-0032
Do you know the name of the staff member you would like to request a meeting with?
Bryan Roden -Reynolds (USACE) and Alan Johnson (DWR)

Please give a brief project description below.*
Mecklenburg County proposes the construction of an approximately 2.47 miles of 12'-wide multi -use
path and an additional 0.57 miles of 10' and 12'-wide connections to adjacent points of interest along
the corridor. A PCN for this project was submitted in January 2018. A field review meeting was
conducted with Kimley-Horn staff, Chris Tinklenberg and Jason Diaz, and Mr. David Shaeffer with the
USACE on February 2, 2018, resulting in a request for additional information (RFAI). Shortly after the
RFAI was requested, the project was put on hold by Mecklenburg County due to funding. No
modifications to the originally submitted PCN are proposed.
The multi -use path will provide connectivity from to the proposed Little Sugar Creek Greenway
(currently under construction) just west of South Polk Street all the way to the North Carolina/South
Carolina state line. This multi -use path will also provide access to the President James K. Polk State
Historic Site, the Belle Johnson Park, Pineville Community Park and multiple residential
developments along the corridor. The project will support pedestrian and bicycle travel between
residential, commercial, and recreational facilities by providing an alternative transportation option.
In addition to the multi -use path, the County also proposes to stabilize segments of Little Sugar Creek
along the project corridor. The bank stabilization and stream enhancements seek to reduce bank
erosion, improve channel dimension, create localized bedform diversity and in -stream habitat, and
stabilize bank areas in close proximity to the proposed multi -use path. Stabilization includes bank
grading to a stable slope, rock toe protection, and native buffer enhancement/revegetation. Retaining
walls are necessary in areas of extreme bank erosion where existing infrastructure, parking lots,
buildings need protection as well as areas where the greenway is close to the top of bank. These
areas required an engineered solution, necessary in order to ensure safety of those using the
greenway. A Verti-block retaining wall system is proposed which is a very natural looking rock face
and allows for groundwater exchange by way of gravel infill cavities with lateral perforated drains
which also relieves hydrostatic pressure (sustainability). Walls are limited to those areas mentioned
above only and are avoided where bank grading with rock toe protection (including native riparian
vegetation planting) can be implemented. Generally, the walls will be 4'-5' tall, graded 3:1 above the
wall and planted with native riparian vegetation. The sizes of the retaining walls will be the minimum
necessary to maintain stability and provide protection to infrastructure. Installation of rock -toe
protection will consist of 6"-18" rip rap flush with the bank. The rock -toe foundation is necessary to
provide stability for the proposed bank grading proposed behind the rock -toe structure. A brush
mattress will be implemented along a section previously recommended by the USACE, which
replaces a section originally proposed as rock -toe protection.
Please give a couple of dates you are available for a meeting.
9/25/2020
9/28/2020
9/29/2020
9/30/2020
Please attach the documentation you would like to have the meeting about.
02-Lower LSC-Polk to Stateline_Corps_... 212.74KB
pdf only
By digitally signing below, I certify that I have read and understood that per the Federal Clean Water Act Section
401 Certification Rule the following statements:
• This form completes the requirement of the Pre -Filing Meeting Request in the Clean Water Act Section 401
Certification Rule.
• 1 understand by signing this form that I cannot submit my application until 30 calendar days after this pre -filing
meeting request.
1 also understand that DWR is not required to respond or grant the meeting request.
Your project's thirty -day clock started upon receipt of this application. You will receive notification regarding meeting
location and time if a meeting is necessary. You will receive notification when the thirty -day clock has expired, and you can
submit an application.
Signature

Submittal Date 9/21/2020
Reviewer Meeting Request Decision
Has a meeting been scheduled?* Yes No

Kimley»>Horn
July 16, 2020
Mr. Bryan Roden -Reynolds
Asheville Regulatory Field Office
US Army Corps of Engineers
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, NC 28801-5006
Ms. Karen Higgins
NC DWR, 401 & Buffer Permitting Branch
512 North Salisbury Street
Raleigh, NC 27604
Re: Pre -Construction Notification (NWP #13, #14 & #27) Application &
Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination Request (SAW-2020-01148 and NCDWR #18-0032)
Lower Little Sugar Creek Greenway and Stream Rehabilitation (from S. Polk St. to Stateline)
Pineville, Mecklenburg County, NC
Dear Mr. Roden -Reynolds and Ms. Higgins:
On behalf of our client, Charlotte -Mecklenburg (County) Stormwater Services, Kimley-Horn and
Associates, Inc. (KH) is submitting the enclosed joint Section 404/401 Pre -Construction Notification
for the above referenced project for your review pursuant to a Nationwide Permits #13, #14, & #27
and General 401 Water Quality Certification number 4087 and 4135. This application is to request
authorization to conduct stream bank stabilization and in -stream enhancement activities for the
purposes of improving water quality, bank stabilization, and aquatic habitat. This application is to also
request authorization to install one permanent stream ford crossing necessary to provide property
access for current land owners. The center of the project area is located at 35.072776°N, -
80.893387°W. The following information is included as part of this application submittal:
• Project Summary Sheet
• Agent Authorization Letter
• Pre -Construction Notification Form
• Permit Figures
• Figure 1 -Vicinity
• Figure 2 — USGS Topo (Fort Mill)
• Figure 3 — SSURGO Soils
• Figure 4 — Existing Conditions
• Figure 5 — Proposed Conditions
• Permit Drawings for Lower Little Sugar Creek Stream Restoration (From President James K.
Polk State Historic Site to the NC/SC Stateline)
• Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination (PJD) Request
• Field Data Forms
• NCDWR Stream Identification Forms
• NCSAM Forms
Project Site Photographs
Agency Correspondence

Kimley»>Horn
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Page 2
Mecklenburg County proposes the construction of an approximately 2.47 miles of 12'-wide multi -use
path and an additional 0.57 miles of 10' and 12'-wide connections to adjacent points of interest along
the corridor. A PCN for this project was submitted in January 2018. A field review meeting was
conducted with Kimley-Horn staff, Chris Tinklenberg and Jason Diaz, and Mr. David Shaeffer with the
USACE on February 2, 2018, resulting in a request for additional information (RFAI). Shortly after the
RFAI was requested, the project was put on hold by Mecklenburg County due to funding. No
modifications to the originally submitted PCN are proposed.
The multi -use path will provide connectivity from to the proposed Little Sugar Creek Greenway
(currently under construction) just west of South Polk Street all the way to the North Carolina/South
Carolina state line. This multi -use path will also provide access to the President James K. Polk State
Historic Site, the Belle Johnson Park, Pineville Community Park and multiple residential
developments along the corridor. The project will support pedestrian and bicycle travel between
residential, commercial, and recreational facilities by providing an alternative transportation option.
In addition to the multi -use path, the County also proposes to stabilize segments of Little Sugar Creek
along the project corridor. The bank stabilization and stream enhancements seek to reduce bank
erosion, improve channel dimension, create localized bedform diversity and in -stream habitat, and
stabilize bank areas in close proximity to the proposed multi -use path. Stabilization includes bank
grading to a stable slope, rock toe protection, and native buffer enhancement/revegetation. Retaining
walls are necessary in areas of extreme bank erosion where existing infrastructure, parking lots,
buildings need protection as well as areas where the greenway is close to the top of bank. These
areas required an engineered solution, necessary in order to ensure safety of those using the
greenway. A Verti-block retaining wall system is proposed which is a very natural looking rock face
and allows for groundwater exchange by way of gravel infill cavities with lateral perforated drains
which also relieves hydrostatic pressure (sustainability). Walls are limited to those areas mentioned
above only and are avoided where bank grading with rock toe protection (including native riparian
vegetation planting) can be implemented. Generally, the walls will be 4'-5' tall, graded 3:1 above the
wall and planted with native riparian vegetation. The sizes of the retaining walls will be the minimum
necessary to maintain stability and provide protection to infrastructure. Installation of rock -toe
protection will consist of 6"-18" rip rap flush with the bank. The rock -toe foundation is necessary to
provide stability for the proposed bank grading proposed behind the rock -toe structure. A brush
mattress will be implemented along a section previously recommended by the USACE, which
replaces a section originally proposed as rock -toe protection.
Installation of a permanent stream crossing (ford) is proposed to accommodate current landowner
access to adjacent parcels. Construction of the permanent stream crossing consists of a geoweb
cellular confinement system including 2"-5" riprap and #57 stone mix as infill in the geoweb cells.
Natural channel design elements including rock sills and constructed riffles will be constructed
immediately upstream and downstream of the ford crossing to provide stability of the crossing and the
functionality of one continuous constructed riffle.
An existing UT to Little Sugar Creek will be relocated to remove the stream from a maintained utility
corridor and create separation from N. Polk Street. The existing condition of the UT consists of
vertical, exposed banks with limited bedform diversity and a riparian buffer dominated by invasive
species. Natural channel design techniques will be implemented in order to stabilize the channel bed
and banks, improve water quality and establish a native riparian a buffer area.

Kimley»>Horn
Page 3
The project corridor begins adjacent to Little Sugar Creek, 552 linear feet west of South Polk Street.
The path follows the north side of Little Sugar Creek for 6,350 linear feet where it crosses the creek
and continues south of the Creek for another 6,725 linear feet ending at the state line.
SITE DESCRIPTION
The project corridor is located in the piedmont region of North Carolina. Topography is moderate
within the study corridor and roughly ranges from 520 to 620 feet in elevation (Figure 2; National
Geodetic Vertical Datum 1929).
The project is located in the Catawba River Basin. A field review by Kimley-Horn environmental
scientists was conducted on July 2, 2014, August 16, 2015 and May 15, 2017. Little Sugar Creek, a
potential non -wetland water of the US (WoUS) as well as seven (7) additional unnamed tributaries
(potential non -wetland WoUS) are located within the project study corridor (Figures 4a & 4b). Little
Sugar Creek discharges into Sugar Creek approximately 0.6 miles southwest of the project study
corridor, which subsequently discharges into the Catawba River an additional (25.7 stream miles) 8.5
miles to the south.
Little Sugar Creek is rated by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(NCDENR) Division of Water Resources (DWR) as Class C with the following DWR Stream Index #
11-137-8. Class C waters are protected for primary recreation, fishing, wildlife, fish consumption,
aquatic habitat and agricultural uses. Currently, Little Sugar Creek is classified as 303d listed (i.e.
"impaired") and is not meeting its water quality functions. Primary pollutants are heavy metals,
sediment, and bacteria. The project study corridor does not lie within a Water Supply Watershed and
there are no Outstanding Resource Waters or High Quality Waters within the study corridor.
Field investigations by Kimley-Horn environmental scientists also determined that there were no
potential wetland WoUS in the project corridor. One potential wetland WoUS is located upslope of
Stream 7 (S7), just outside of the project corridor (Figure 4b).
STREAM REHABILITATION APPROACH
Goals and Objectives:
The goal of the stream and buffer rehabilitation is to improve the hydraulic and geomorphic function of
LSC to create a foundation for potential improvements of water quality and aquatic/terrestrial habitat
of the site's streams and floodplain through the following objectives:
• Improve the hydraulic geometry to have a low -flow channel, inner berm, and bankfull channel
more representative of reference conditions with less active bank erosion.
• Create bank angles and hydraulic geometry that allow vegetation and root mass to extend
from the water's edge up to the top of the channel banks.
• Improve the stem and root density and species diversity of the riparian buffer immediately
adjacent to LSC.
• Reduce the BEHI scores along the reach from high, very high, or extreme to low.
• Reduce incision, erosive velocities, and high -shear stress by adding a floodplain bench
(where constraints allow).
• Create local slope and bed -depth variability (i.e. habitat transitions) by adding instream
structures like rock and log vanes, J-hook vanes, boulder and log riffles, and toe wood.

Kimley»>Horn
Page 4
• Increase dissolved oxygen concentrations through in -stream structures and the turbulence
they produce in pools.
• Stabilize stream banks using bioengineering and/or specific natural channel design
techniques for each reach based on constraints and opportunities.
• Reduce bank source sediment by implementing bank stabilization and natural channel design
techniques. We will retrofit some off -site sediment sources, such as point source outlets and
ditches, with pocket wetlands, level spreaders, or RSCs.
Introduce woody structures such as log vanes, log sills, and toe wood by adding wood and
detritus into the system.
Control the invasive exotics by pretreatment, removal during construction, and implementing
an invasive species control plan.
Protect infrastructure
Implement best management practice (BMP)/stormwater control measures (SCM)
opportunities to stabilize stormwater outfalls.
Improvements in the higher functions of water quality and biology may not be fully achievable given
the urban land use and point and non -point discharges that outfall into LSC. However, improving the
underlying stream hydraulic and geomorphic functions of the channel would better support these
improvements in higher functions if watershed conditions allow.
Based the objectives above, a specific detailed stream rehabilitation plan was completed. Each reach
has a tailored approach/plan that takes advantage of the opportunities to improve geomorphic and
hydraulic functions given the constraints.
In addition to the restoration activity occurring on LSC, the project proposes to relocate an 165 If
existing UT to Little Sugar Creek to remove the stream from a maintained utility corridor and create
separation from N. Polk Street. The existing condition of the UT consists of vertical, exposed banks
with limited bedform diversity and a riparian buffer dominated by invasive species. Natural channel
design techniques will be implemented in order to stabilize the channel bed and banks, improve water
quality and establish a native riparian a buffer area.
The project will result in 7,415 linear feet of permanent, no -net loss of potential non -wetland WoUS
from bank stabilization (NWP 13) activities and 1,450 linear feet of permanent, no -net loss of
potential non -wetland WoUS from in -stream enhancements (NWP 27) necessary to meet me the
goals and objectives described above.
The project will result in 46 linear feet of permanent of potential non -wetland WoUS from the
installation of a permanent stream ford (NWP 14) necessary to provide property access for current
land owners. This impact will not result in functional loss of Little Sugar Creek
Greater than 500 linear feet of bank stabilization is proposed for this project. Stabilizing the banks
with a mix of natural and hard -armoring techniques will greatly reduce stream bank erosion and
sediment pollution resulting in improved downstream water quality; therefore, discharges associated
with this activity will result in no more than minimal adverse environmental effects. We request that
the 500 linear foot limit for NWP 13 be waived for this project.

Kimley»>Horn
GREENWAY IMPACTS
Page 5
As part of the storm drainage network, culverts and associated outfalls are proposed at twenty-two
(22) locations perpendicular to the proposed greenway (Figure 5). Rip -rap outfall protection is
necessary at each culvert in order to meet non -erosive design criteria. Fourteen (14) outfalls will be
placed in areas of bank stabilization, contiguous with the proposed grade of bank stabilization, to
prevent future bank instability and erosion. Eight (8) outfalls will be improved along the existing bank.
Lengths and widths of outlet protection have been minimized to the greatest extents practicable. The
careful placement of the outfalls will impact Little Sugar Creek below the plane of the OHWM but is
necessary to prevent future bank instability and erosion. Rip -rap aprons at each impact location will
be installed so that the finished elevation of the rip -rap does not exceed that of the existing channel
bed elevation along Little Sugar Creek. 133 linear feet of permanent — no net loss impacts to
potential non -wetland waters of the US is proposed as a result of the rip -rap outlet protection.
Overall, impacts associated with the construction of the greenway will result in 133 linear feet of
permanent impacts to potential non -wetland waters of the US.
AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION
Construction of the stream side retaining walls, rock toe protection, brush mattress protection, stream
bank grading, constructed riffle installation, boardwalk installation, and/or pedestrian bridge
installation may require the contractor to temporarily work in the wet. Temporary low water ford
crossings may be implemented as well. All mechanized equipment operated in or near surface waters
will be inspected and maintained regularly to prevent contamination of surface waters from fuels,
lubricants, hydraulic fluids, or other toxic materials. Exposure of equipment to surface waters will be
minimized to the maximum extent practicable.
Timber mat temporary stream crossings will be utilized as needed for construction equipment at some
locations where the greenway crosses existing tributaries to minimize impacts to the streams.
Special stilling basins and gravel construction pads will also be used during the bridge and boardwalk
construction for erosion control.
Because the project proposes to traverse through the Little Sugar Creek floodplain and cross Little
Sugar Creek and several tributaries to Little Sugar Creek, bridge and boardwalk options will be used
at these locations to avoid impacts to potentially jurisdictional non -wetland waters.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION
Mitigation is not proposed as part of this project as the impacts result in a total of 133 LF to potential
non -wetland waters of the US, below the mitigation threshold. These impacts include rip -rap bank
stabilization/outlet protection which may result in some functional loss within the stream -side zone of
Little Sugar Creek; however, the impacts will not result in a total loss of waters of the US and are
necessary to prevent future bank erosion.

Kimley»>Horn
Please feel free to contact me at [phone] if you have any questions, or if additional
information is necessary.
Sincerely,
KIMLEY-HORN AND ASSOCIATES, INC.
Chris Tinklenberg, PWS
Environmental Scientist
Attachments
Cc: Karen Weston -Chien
Charlotte -Mecklenburg Storm Water Services
3205 Freedom Drive, Suite 101
Charlotte, NC 28202
Page 6