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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20051672 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20051108® North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Richard B. Hamilton, Executive Director MEMORANDUM To: Lillette Granade USACE P. O. Box 1890 Wilmington, NC 28402-1890 And Cyndi Karoly NC DENR/DWQ From: Steven H. Everhart, PhD ~+'`~'" Southeastern Permit Coordinator 127 Cardinal Drive Ext. Wilmington, NC 28405 Date: November 8, 2005 RE: Action ID# 200500470; McKnight, Buckhead S/D, Fayetteville, Cumberland County; After- the-Fact Public Notice Dated September 23, 2005. Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) have reviewed the subject application for impacts to wildlife and fishery resources. Our comments are provided in accordance with provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (48 Stat. 401, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 661 et. seq.), and Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act (as amended). The subject property is located at 4427 Ferncreek Drive, designated LOT 205, adjacent to Buckhead Creek. The approximately 0.3 acre lot is the applicant's primary residence and the rear one-fourth of the lot is within the Buckhead Creek Floodway Easement. These waters are Mailing Address: Division of Inland Fisheries 1721 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1721 Telephone: (919) 707-0220 Fax: (919) 707-0028 McKnight -Lot 205 Buckhead S/D 2 November 8, 2005 classified as Class C Waters by the NC Division of Water Quality. Waters protected for secondary recreation, fishing, wildlife, fish and aquatic life propagation and survival, agriculture and other uses suitable for Class C. Secondary recreation includes wading, boating, and other uses involving human body contact with water where such activities take place in an infrequent, unorganized, or incidental manner. There are no restrictions on watershed development or types of discharges. The PN states that the applicant proposes keeping 0.036 acre of unauthorized wetland fill for the development of a backyard for asingle-family home. The fill is in violation of NWP 26 issued by USACE to the original subdivision developer Dohn Broadwell on December 31, 1997. As mitigation for wetland impacts, Mr. Broadwell was required to place a Deed Notification on certain lots to prevent future impacts to wetlands. The property owners have applied for an After-the-Fact Individual Permit to keep the unauthorized fill and have stated that a backyard is critical for the functionality of this lot as a family residence. They are willing to mitigate, but no mitigation plan has been provided. We have the following comments/concerns: We are concerned with any loss of riparian wetlands as they perform many functions that are essential to maintaining and improving water quality. In addition, we routinely recommend the maintenance or creation of 100 ft native vegetated buffers on both sides of streams and wetlands in a project area. 2. Flood control is another important function of riparian wetlands. The placement of fill in the Buckhead Creek floodway has likely caused changes in the flow regime and is causing flooding problems upstream of the site. This could result in the need for additional flood control devices in Buckhead Creek. Additional flood control devices will have a detrimental effect on the ability of aquatic organisms to move within their natural home ranges thereby disrupting population controls/parameters. We recommend remediation of the site by manual removal of the unauthorized fill and replanting with native vegetation common to the impacted area. Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this application. If you have any questions or require additional information regarding these comments, please call me at (910) 796-7436. CC: Pete Benjamin, USFWS John Dorney, NCDWQ