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:
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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
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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
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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
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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