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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20042019 Ver 3_Other Agency Comments_20110128 DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS 69 DARLINGTON AVENUE WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 28403-1343 REPLY TO ATTENTION OP: Regulatory Division Action ID No. SAW-2006-41244 January 25, 2011 Wetland and Natural Resource Consultants, Inc. Attn: Mr. Christopher Huysman Post Office Box 1492 Sparta, North Carolina 28675 Dear Sir: ~t~ ~ _ ~ 0 Q~c~~anr~~ JAN 2B 2011 DENR -WATER QUALITY WETIAEVDS AND STDRMWATT:R BRANCFI Please reference your request for a Department of the Army authorization and a State Water Quality Certification to discharge fill material into 1,5121inear feet of perennial stream channel, 1,191 linear feet of intermittent stream channel and 12.98 acres of adjacent wetlands for the construction of the Anderson Creek South development and associated infrastructure and 40 acre amenity lake. The project area is adjacent to South Prong Anderson Creek and is located on the east side of Ray Road and Nursery Road, north of Overhills Road, south of Lemuel Black Road, west of Country Time Lane, and to the north of Spring Lake, Harnett County, North Carolina (N 35.28363, W -78.97333). On February 6, 1990, the Department of the Army (DA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) establishing procedures to determine the type and level of mitigation necessary to comply with Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines. This MOA provides for first, avoiding impacts to waters and wetlands through the selection of the least damaging, practical alternative; second, taking appropriate and practical steps to reduce impacts on waters and wetlands; and finally, compensation for remaining unavoidable impacts to the extent appropriate and practical. To enable us to process your application, in compliance with the MOA, we request that you provide the following additional information: As stated in your application, the purpose of the project is to construct a unique public recreational amenity within Anderson Creek to increase marketability. Although it is implied in the application, the project purpose does not include the development of a residential subdivision even though some impacts are related to the infrastructure of such development. Without the residential subdivision and infrastructure, there would be nothing to market and therefore the residential subdivision appears to be the primary purpose of the project. As such, please revise the purpose and need statement. Permits for work within wetlands or other special aquatic sites are available only if the -2- proposed work is the least environmentally damaging, practicable alternative. Please furnish information regarding any other alternatives, including upland alternatives, to the work for which you have applied and provide justification that your selected plan is the least damaging to water or wetland areas. Specifically, please address more thoroughly the following alternatives: a. Please include a comparison of the costs, logistics, impacts to waters of the U.S. and other factors, in detail, of all alternatives. b. For the preferred alternative, please provide further information and documentation on size and depth requirements for the use of the lake for a sail boat school. c. Please provide your analysis of other unique amenities besides the 40 acre lake. d. Please provide further information on off-site alternatives. During a quick search of aerial maps, several impoundments were observed which could potentially be used, either in the current condition or enlarged, to facilitate the proposed alternative of a 40 acre lake and would potentially result in less environmental impact. Please provide further information on an alternative that involves obtaining property that already has or is adjacent to an existing impoundment that can be utilized and/or expanded to meet the needs of this project. e. Please provide further information on an alternative to facilitate the 40 acre lake that involves expanding the existing impoundments on-site by either altering the existing dam to expand the impoundments or using adjacent uplands to create larger impoundments. £ Please provide information on an alternative to facilitate the 40 acre lake that involves locating the proposed lake upstream of its currently proposed location potentially resulting in less environmental impact. Please Note: The above includes examples of items expected in the alternative analysis and is not all inclusive. Depending on your response and on the comments that will be received upon closure of the notice period, the alternatives may need to be discussed further. 3. The application indicates that the proposed alternative, the amenity lake, will be open to the public in the same way that all the amenities at Anderson Creek are. Please elaborate on how the public will be able to access the lake. 4. It is necessary for you to have taken all appropriate and practical steps to reduce wetland losses. Please show all that you have done, especially regarding development and modification of plans and proposed construction techniques, to reduce adverse impacts. 5. The application indicates that impacts are calculated using approximations of stream size and assumptions. Please provide actual proposed impacts using hard data as opposed to assumptions and approximations. 6. The MOA requires that appropriate and practicable mitigation will be required for all unavoidable adverse impacts remaining after all appropriate and practicable minimization has been employed. Your application indicates that the project restoration consultant has identified numerous mitigation opportunities for the project sufficient to replace wetlands and streams at a 1.5:1 ration, inclusive of all perennial stream impacts. Please provide further information on the mitigation proposal to include the rationale behind the proposed 1.5:1 mitigation ratio for impacts and any data or site analysis supporting the proposal. You -3- should be aware that a minimal of a 2:1 ratio will be required for all permanent impacts associated with road fill and dam construction for all wetlands and perennial streams. Additionally, although the application indicates that the consultant has "identified numerous mitigation opportunities," prior to the issuance of a permit, a mitigation plan will have to be finalized, with the location, acreage and other details submitted for our approval. 7. Additionally, please provide an overall site plan that shows the entire property boundary with all jurisdictional areas and isolated wetlands overlain by the project plans to include all proposed road crossings, utility lines and the proposed impoundment and dam. Additionally please provide a detailed plan of the impoundments and cross-section views of road crossings. The aforementioned, requested information is essential to the expeditious processing of your application and should be forwarded to us within two (2) weeks of your receipt of this letter. Also, you should be aware that State and Federal commenting agencies may recommend design modifications and comments will be forward to you upon the 2/4/2011 closure of the notice period which also may need to be addressed. If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me at (910) 251-4170. Sincerely, Crystal Amschler Regulatory Specialist Wilmington Regulatory Field Office Copies Furnished: Anderson Creek Partners, LP, Attn: Mr. David Levinson 125 Whispering Pines Drive Spring Lake, North Carolina 28390 Ms. Becky Fox U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -Region 4 1307 Firefly Road Whittier, North Carolina 28789 4 • r -4- Ms. Jennifer Derby Wetlands Protection Section -Region IV Water Management Division U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 61 Forsyth Street Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Ian McMillan 401 Oversight/Express Review Permitting Unit North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Water Quality 2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Suite 250 Raleigh, North Carolina 27604 John Ellis U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Post Office Box 33726 Raleigh, North Carolina 27636-3726 Molly Ellwood Southeast Permit Coordinator North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 127 Cardinal Drive Extension Wilmington, North Carolina 28405