20110314 Ver 1_USACE Correspondence_20110705

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DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
69 DARLINGTON AVENUE
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 28403-1343
REPLY TO
ATTENTION OF:
Regulatory Division
Action ID No. SAW-2011-00379
Mr. John Lister
Highland Shores HOA
1002 Club Court
Belville, North Carolina 28451
Dear Mr. Lister:
June 29, 2011
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By copy of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(NCDENR) letter to you dated June 22, 2011 (copy enclosed), we have learned that the North
Carolina Coastal Management Consistency Certification for your proposed plans to reconfigure
and extend the existing 30-slip docking facility and to install a boatlift within each of the slips at
the Highland Shores Subdivision, of Club Court, adjacent to the Brunswick River, in Bellville,
Brunswick County, North Carolina have been denied. The Coastal Zone Management Act
provides that no Federal permit may be issued for an activity within the coastal zone where the
State has denied a consistency certification. Accordingly, your Department of the Army
application is hereby denied, without prejudice, and your file has been retired.
Should you appeal and receive a North Carolina Coastal Management Consistency
Certification, the Department of the Army will review your project again for Federal
authorization.
Mr. Dave Timpy of the Wilmington Regulatory Field Office staff is available to answer any
questions may have or to assist you in developing a revised plan. Mr. Timpy may be reached at
[phone].
Sincerely,
l?
Jefferson M. Ryscavage
Colonel, U.S. Army
District Commander
Enclosures
Copies Furnished (with enclosures):
Mr. Doug Huggett
Division of Coastal Management
North Carolina Department of
Environment and Natural Resources
1638 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1638
Ms. Deborah Wilson
North Carolina Department of
Environment and Natural Resources
127 Cardinal Drive Extension
Wilmington, North Carolina 28405
Mr. Pete Benjamin
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Fish and Wildlife Enhancement
Post Office Box 33726
Raleigh, North Carolina 27636-3726
-2-
Mr. Ron Sechler
National Marine Fisheries Service
Habitat Conservation Division
Pivers Island
Beaufort, North Carolina 28516
Ms. Becky Fox
Wetlands Regulatory Section - Region IV
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
61 Forsyth Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Ms. Cyndi Karoly
Division of Water Quality
/ North Carolina Department of
'v/ Environment and Natural Resources
2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Suite 250
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1650
Laura Stasavich
Land Management Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2522
Wilmington, North Carolina 28402
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NCDENR
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Division of Coastal Management
Beverly Eaves Perdue James H. Gregson
Governor Director
Dee Freeman
Secretary
June 22, 2011
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Mr. John Lister
Highland Shores HOA
1002 Club Court
Belville, NC 28451
DECEIVED
JUN 2 4 2011
REG. WILM. FLD. OFC.
Dear Mr. Lister:
This letter is in response to your application for a Major Permit under the Coastal
Area Management Act (CAMA), in which authorization was requested to reconfigure/extend
the length of the existing 30-slip docking facility and to install a boatlift within each of the
slips adjacent to the Brunswick.River in Belville, Brunswick County. Processing of the
application, which was received as complete by the Division of Coastal Management's
Wilmington Office on March 25, 2011 is now complete. Based on the state's review, the
Division of Coastal Management has made the following findings:
1) The existing docking facility, which received a CAMA Major Permit on May 14,
1999, extends approximately 378 feet into the Brunswick River, as measured from
the waterward edge of the Coastal Wetlands fronting the property.
2) Water depths in the vicinity of the existing slips are approximately -1 foot relative
to the normal low water elevation.
3) The waters of the Brunswick River at this location are designated as a Primary
Nursery Area by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission. Primary Nursery Areas
are those areas in the estuarine and ocean system where initial postlarval
development of finfish and crustaceans takes place.
4) 15A NCAC 07H. 0208(b)(1) of The Rules of the Coastal Resources Commission
prohibit excavation of new canals, channels, and boat basins within Primary
Nursery Areas.
400 Commerce Ave., Morehead City, NC 28557-3421 One
Phone: [phone] FAX: [phone] Internet: www.nccoastalmanNoment.net NorthCarolliina
An Equal Opportunity 1 Affirmative Action Employer Naturally
Mr. John Lister
Highland Shores HOA RECEIVED
June 22, 2011
Page 2 JUN 2 4 2011
REG. WILM. FLD. OFC.
5) The proposed project would extend the existing docking facility an additional 114
feet into the waters of the Brunswick River for a total distance of 492 feet. The
width of the Brunswick River at the proposed project location has been calculated at
1,494 feet. Therefore, the proposed project would extend approximately 119 feet
beyond one-fourth the width of the waterbody. Water depths in the area of the
proposed slips range from -2 to -12 feet relative to the normal low water elevation.
6) Based upon the above referenced findings, the Division has determined that the
proposed project is inconsistent with the following rules of the Coastal Resources
Commission:
a) 15A NCAC 07H.0208(b)(6)(J)(iii), which states that pier length shall be
limited by: "not extending more than one-fourth the width of a natural
water body, or human-made canal or basin. Measurements to determine
widths of the water body, canals or basins shall be made from the
waterward edge of any coastal wetland vegetation which borders the
water body..."
Given the preceding findings, it is necessary that your request for issuance of a CAMA
Major Permit under the Coastal Area Management Act be denied. This denial is made pursuant
to N.C.G.S. 113A-120(a)(8) which requires denial for projects inconsistent with the state
guidelines for Areas of Environmental Concern or local land use plans.
If you wish to appeal this denial, you are entitled to a hearing. The hearing will involve
appearing before an Administrative Law Judge who listens to evidence and arguments of both
parties and then makes a recommendation to the Coastal Resources Commission. Your request
for a hearing must be in the form of a written petition, complying with the requirements of
§150B of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and must be filed with the Office of
Administrative Hearings, 6714 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-6714, within twenty
(20) days from the date of this letter. A copy of this petition should be filed with this office.
Also, you are advised that as long as this state permit denial stands, your project must be
deemed inconsistent with the N.C. Coastal Management Program, thereby precluding the
issuance of federal permits for this project. The Federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA)
gives you the right to appeal this finding to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce within thirty days of
receipt of this letter. Your appeal must be on the grounds that the proposed activity is (1)
consistent with the objectives or purposes of the CZMA, or (2) is necessary in the interest of
national security, and thus, may be federally approved.
Mr. John Lister RECEIVED
Highland Shores HOA
June 22, 2011 JUN 2 4 2011
Page 3 REG. WILM. FLD. OFC.
Members of my staff are available to assist you should you desire to modify your
proposal in the future. If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact Mr.
Doug Huggett at [phone], extension 212.
Sincerely,
J H. Gregson
cc: Colonel Jefferson Ryscavage - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC
David Kennedy, Director - OCRM/NOAA, Silver Spring, MD
David Timpy, ACOE