20201795 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20210308

9 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 9
Cameron Ingram, Executive Director
March 8, 2021
Ms. Amanda Fuemmeler
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
151 Patton Avenue, Room 208
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006
SUBJECT: Hazel Mill Road
UTs to French Broad River and wetland, Buncombe County
Dear Ms. Fuemmeler:
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an
application to culvert 91 ft of unnamed tributaries (UTs) to the French Broad River, permanently
impact 0.099 acre of wetland, and temporarily impact 0.044 acre of wetland in Buncombe
County. Our comments on this application are offered for your consideration under provisions
of the Clean Water Act of 1977 (33 U.S.C. 466 et. seq.) and Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
(48 Stat. 401, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 661-667d).
Project activities should not impact wild trout reproduction and a trout moratorium is not
required.
The project involves construction of a condominium building, parking lot, and road. Two
streams will be culverted with HDPE culverts. Temporary wetland impacts will be minimized
by working from wooden mats, with the impacted areas ripped/disked if the area is compacted
before seeding with a native wetland seed mix. Part of the building will occur in the 100-year
floodplain.
We offer the following recommendations for the project to minimize impacts to fish and wildlife
resources:
1. In -channel work should be accomplished as quickly as possible and vigilance used in
sediment and erosion control during site preparation, construction, and clean up. Disturbed
areas around streams should be seeded, mulched and/or matted as soon as possible,
preferably at the end of each work day.
2. Sediment and erosion control measures should be installed prior to any land clearing or
construction. These measures should be routinely inspected and properly maintained.
Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Hazel Mill Road Page 2 March 8, 2021
UTs French Broad R, Buncombe County
Excessive silt and sediment loads can have numerous detrimental effects on aquatic resources
including destruction of spawning habitat, suffocation of eggs, and clogging of gills of
aquatic species.
3. Any erosion control matting used should be free of nylon or plastic mesh, as this type of
mesh netting frequently entangles wildlife and is slow to degrade, resulting in a hazard that
may last for years.
4. The application proposes to use HDPE culvert. We recommend against using smooth -walled
HDPE material, as this slick material is less likely to hold stream substrate and provide for
movement of aquatic organisms like fish and salamanders.
5. The NCWRC does not support commercial or residential development within the 100-year
floodplain. The filling of floodplains increases the potential for flooding and degrades in -
stream habitats for fish and other aquatic organisms.
Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this project. Please contact me at
[phone] if you have any questions about these comments.
Sincerely,
Andrea Leslie
Mountain Region Coordinator, Habitat Conservation Program
ec: Britten Yant, C1earWater Environmental
Andrew Moore, NC Division of Water Resources