20061820 Ver 1_More Info Received_20071031

LTS Expansion and Upgrade Project Final Mitigation Plan
Subject: LTS Expansion and Upgrade Project Final Mitigation Plan
From: "Belcher, Bob" <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:18:03 -0400
To: <[e-mail]
CC: "Shaver, Brad E SAW" <[e-mail]>
Ian
In order to mitigate for the unavoidable permanent impacts associated with the LTS Expansion and Upgrade
Project, the City proposes a combination of on-site wetland preservation and off-site wetland restoration.
The City proposes to compensate for 25.56 acres of permanent forested wetland loss by preserving
approximately 566 acres of wetlands with 73 acres of upland inclusions within Parcels 2, 3, and 23 [Ben
Williams Pocosin Preservation Area (Figure 1 and 2)] and by purchasing 25.6 credits from NCEEP. The
combination of preservation on Parcels 2, 3, and 23 and the purchase of credits from NCEEP provide 1 acre of
restoration and approximately 22 acres of wetlands preservation for each acre of permanent impact plus the
ecological value of the upland inclusions.
To mitigate for the permanent conversion of approximately 5.54 acres of forested wetlands the City proposes to
preserve approximately 52 acres of wetlands with 38 acres of upland inclusions on Parcels 11 and 12 [Venters /
Barber Bottomland Preservation Area (Figure 1 and 3)]. Preservation of the 52 acres of wetlands represents
greater than a 9:1 mitigation ratio for permanent conversion. The above-referenced acreage also provides buffer
along one side of Southwest Creek and Stewart Branch for approximately 4,900 and 4,350 linear feet,
respectively. The buffers vary in width from 30 to 1,300 feet wide along the two streams.
As noted above, preservation ratios for both sites did not include upland acreage in the calculations. We
provided these numbers as a courtesy to allow a direct comparison between the impacts to State Waters and the
proposed wetland preservation acreage. However, the upland inclusions are an integral part of both of these
systems and greatly increase the ecological function (diversity, breeding and nesting habitat, etc.) of the
preservation areas and, as such should be considered a$ an,important part of the total mitigation package. If total
preservation acreage (wetland + upland) was considered the mitigation ratios would be:
• Parcels 11 and 12 16:1
. Parcels 2,3 and 23 25:1
Stream mitigation if any, beyond the buffer perseveration on Stewart Branch and Southwest Creek discussed
above will be determined after a stream assessment is conducted by Chad Coburn on November 7th
Please let me know if you have any questions or need hard copies of any of this material.
Bob
Robert T. Belcher, PWS, CE
Project Scientist /Wetlands Ecologist
Federal and Industrial Environmental Restoration
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.
701 Town Center Drive, Suite 600
Newport News, VA 23606-4296
Office: 757-873-8700
Direct:757-873-4493
Fax: [phone]
bbelcher(a~pirnie.com
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