20191577 Ver 1_Biltmore Farms Letter_20200109

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BiLTmoREFARms
Established 1897
January 9, 2020
Mr. Byron Hamstead, US Fish and Wildlife Biologist
USFWS Asheville Field Office
160 Zillicoa Street, Suite B
Asheville, NC 28801
RE: Project Ranger
USACE Action ID 2019-01867
Buncombe County, NC
Dear Mr. Hamstead,
We are writing to provide you with an update on Project Ranger in advance of our meeting scheduled for January
17, 2020. As has been discussed in our previous meetings, Project Ranger is an economic development project with
an extremely sensitive time schedule. As you may know, the Company has selected the Buncombe County site for
their proposed expansion. To meet the Company's prescribed schedule, we are going to have to complete clearing
and grading for the first portions of the building pad no later than May 15, 2020. To meet this deadline, we plan to
start work as soon as possible.
No work will be done in jurisdictional areas prior to issuance of 40 and 404 permits for the project. We will
incorporate all mitigation measures we have discussed on the project, and we will continue coordination with you
and the other agencies as the project progresses forward.
A couple of key points:
• Tree clearing and grading for the building pad will begin on January 20, 2020. The building pad
is located 0.5 miles from edge of clearing to the Blue Ridge Parkway bridge over the French
Broad River
• Road clearing from the building pad to the river will likely begin around January 15, 2020.
• We intend to complete the road clearing and bridge clearing by April 15, 2020.
• The BO for the NCDOT 1-26 improvements project demonstrated that the Gray Bat activity on
the property is from April 15 — October 15.
Beginning construction prior to completion of all consultation and coordination is not a standard practice for our
company. However, in this case we believe this this is the best course of action based on the known timing of the
Gray Bat activity on the site (The USFWS Biological Opinion for the NCDOT I-26 project indicates that the Gray
Bat activity doesn't begin before April 15). The Biological Assessment prepared by Three Oaks Engineering, Inc.,
and submitted to you on December 6, 2019, demonstrates that the proposed clearing and grading work within that
time frame is not expected to result in adverse effects to the Gray Bat. The Gray Bats on the property reside
primarily on and under the Blue Ridge Parkway Bridge. The proposed clearing and grading will not impact that
area. So long as the clearing and grading work is done before April 15, 2020, there should be no adverse effects to
the Gray Bats' nesting and reproducing areas on the property.
If construction is delayed until the BA and BO are completed and accepted, construction could likely not begin until
late fall at the end of the season for Gray Bat activity. This would be too late to begin construction and meet project
requirements and would likely result in Project Ranger moving to another site in another State.
We look forward to continuing our consultation and coordination with you on this project. We've attached a list of
the consultation history to date. The work was completed in good faith, and we intend to continue those efforts.
COMMERCIAL + COMMUNITIES HOMES + HOTELS
One Town Square Boulevard, Suite 330, Asheville, NC 28803-5007 • PO Box 5355, Asheville, NC 28813-5355 • Phone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
fee. Thomason III
Vice President
Biltmore Farms, LLC
Cc: Amanda Fummeler
US Army Corps of Engineers
Andrew Moore
North Carolina Division of Water Resources
Project Ranger
CONSULTATION HISTORY
• October 9, 2019 — Three Oaks contacted USFWS to schedule a meeting to discuss project details.
• October 16, 2019 — Three Oaks sent project information to USFWS.
• October 23, 2019 - interagency pre -application meeting with Biltmore Farms, USFWS, USACE, NPS,
NCWRC, NCDEQ, NCDOT, TGS Engineers, WGLA, and Clearwater.
• October 28, 2019 — Biological Assessment coordination meeting with Biltmore Farms, USFWS, NCWRC,
TGS Engineers, WGLA, Clearwater and Three Oaks.
• October 30, 2019.— email exchange between USFWS and Three Oaks regarding project details.
• November 1, 2019 — email exchange between USFWS and Three Oaks regarding project details.
• November 7, 2019 — on -site meeting with Biltmore Farms, NCWRC, USFWS and Clearwater.
• November 11, 2019 — Three Oaks sent USFWS project description.
• November 12, 201.9 — Three Oaks discussion with USFWS about project details.
• November 1.9, 2019 — Three Oaks sent proposed conservation measures to USFWS.
• DRAFT Biological Assessment submitted the USFWS on December 61".
• In early December requested a meeting with USFWS early January to discuss the DRAFT BA
• Meeting scheduled for January 17, 2020 to address outstanding issues from DRAFT BA
The Biological Opinion for the NCDOT 1-26 indicates that the Gray Bat activity doesn't begin before April 15.