20050266 Ver 5_More Info Received_20080904

September 3, 2008
North Carolina Division of Water Quality
Attn: Ms. Cyndi Karoly
ENVIRONMENTAL 1650 Mail Service Center
PROFESSIONALS
INC Raleigh, NC 27699-1650
PLANNING FOR Dear Ms. Karol
A BETTER y,
ENVIRONMENT
SEF 4 2008
DEW-'!1iAi ??QI),Li 1'
? ; ?7tJ,tl?_`S r
This letter is with reference to Corolla Bay, LLC DWQ Project #05-2066 vs 5 and your letter of July 11,
2008 requesting avoidance and minimization at the project. Attached you will find specific information
regarding efforts to avoid and minimize impacts to wetlands which spans the history of this project starting
in 1989. I also included a summary of the reductions in impacts for simplification of the accounting of the
reduction in residential lots and wetland impacts.
Successful residential projects occur because of the project proponent's ability to balance economic,
design, and environmental considerations. This includes balancing these matters within the subdivision as
well as in the surrounding area. As you are aware, a moratorium for development was in place for
approximately nine years until the approval for a new wastewater facility. This facility, which is funded in
part by Corolla Bay, LLC, negates the need for a separate wastewater treatment plant to be built for Corolla
Bay. The successful completion of this wastewater facility has also negated many requests for fill in
wetlands in the surrounding area to meet setbacks for on-site wastewater options. Cost for this plant rose
from $5.7 million to a construction cost of $9.5 million when constructed in mid September 2007. Since
Corolla Bay, LLC is responsible for 50% of this cost, the density of residential and commercial
development is integral to offset these increased costs.
Finally, when the site was purchased, a signed survey from the Corps depicted no wetlands on the east side
of NC 12. Reliance on this designation resulted in a purchase price with expectations to use the entire tract
on the east side of NC 12 without permits to fill or mitigation costs. At this time, "isolated" wetlands were
unregulated by the Division, and it was not until amendments to 15A NCAC 02B and 02H that these areas
were regulated. In fact, the Division of Water Quality authorized site improvements, including fill for the
wastewater disposal facility on the east side of NC 12. This new regulations resulted in a constraint to the
development densities required to make this project an economically successful venture as well as a
"Notice of Violation" for fill placed in wetlands that had previously been permitted for the construction of
the wastewater facility. In addition, mitigation costs are now necessary to be considered. I believe when
the attached records are reviewed, you will find that Corolla Bay, LLC has worked diligently with the
County, the Corps, and DWQ to resolve environmental concerns in the area, including sewage disposal
concerns and wetland impacts.
The owners of Corolla Bay, LLC feel that they have reached that balance between economic, design, and
environmental considerations with the current proposal. Further reductions would only jeopardize the
ability of Corolla Bay, LLC to make the environmental improvements for the area in general and remain
fiscally sound.
Thank you for your careful consideration of this additional information. I would like to request a meeting
so that we may review this information and answer any questions you may have regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
Envir mental Pr fessi n s, Inc.
A
orge H. Wood, CE , PWS
cc: Mr. Al Hodge
Attachments: a/s
P.O. BOX 3368 • KILL DEVIL HILLS, NORTH CAROLINA 27948-3368 • 252-441-0239
FAX: [phone] • EMAIL: environmental pro®earthlink.net
Acres Units
90 224
20 50
70 174 Units
10
60
7.3
52.7
52.7
52.7
52.7
THE AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIATION OF
PHASE III MONTERAY SHORES
Monteray Shores, Inc. received County approval for 224 homes for the 90 acres known
as Phase III Monteray Shores or a reduction from the 3 units/acre approved in the PUD
to 2.5 units/acre.
20 acres of the 90 acres were sold to Jim Stritzinger which would have yielded 50 units.
25 Corolla Bay purchased the remainder and subdivided the property into 4 parcels and sold
149 Units 10 acres to Currituck County.
18 Corolla Bay seeks County approval to reduce from the 149 units approved to 115 units with the
131 Units remainder open space and 7.3 acres commercial (which would have yielded 18 units)
36 Phase I was approved for 36 units, and the 7.3 acre commercial development.
95 Units
76 Units Corolla Bay is currently seeking approvals for a further reduction from the County approved
95 units available to 76 units to further avoid impacts to wetlands.
"COROLLA BAY"
AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION DOCUMENT
COROLLA. BAY, LLC
General H'istorv
Currently, a group of limited liability companies (LLC's), holds title to the Corolla
Bay property on both the east and west sides of NC 12, creating 4 separate
parcels totaling approximately 57.4 acres. Please see title information below.
The original development proposal was known as Monteray Shores. The
Monteray Shores Planned Unit Development (PUD) was approved in 1987 at a
density of 3 units/acre or 608 lots. Throughout the 1990's, portions were sold to
different developers. The development configuration over the acreage has been
adjusted over time to address environmental issues.
This docurnent contains an overview of site ownership and an outline of the
avoidance and minimization measures incorporated overtime.
-4 parcels, 4 LLC's - As of 1014106 on Currituck County website:
Lot# Name pin # /Parcel
acres
4] Corolla Commer- 9936 53 0706 10.00 ac
cial, LLC 0115-000-3XD-0000
3] Corolla Ocean- 9936 52 1845 12.85 ac
Side, LLC 0115-000-3XC-0000
2] Corolla Sound- 9936 41 8865 14.35 ac
Side;, LLC (Sec.ll) 0115-000-3XB-0000
1] Corolla Bay, 9936 42 2717 20.21 ac
LLC_(Sec. I ) 0115-000-3XA-0000
Total tax card listed acreage 57.41ac
Generalized Avoidance and Minimization Timeline
'1989 - (AVOIDANCE) The initial location of Hwy 12 was decided upon
through input from previous landowners and Bissell Engineering. The
road aligned on highground in an effort to avoid wetland impacts. A
yield plan of 608 lots was planned by the Monteray Shores designers
for the parcel(s).
'1999 - (MINIMIZATION) Monteray Shores density approval given by
Currituck County reduced the number of lots to 598 lots from
previously-approved 608 lots. **Survelr plats showed no wetlands on
the east side of Hwy 12 at that time. Wetland areas were not
considered severely limiting at that time in the development
considerations by the county.
March 2002 - Benchmark Surveying depiction of onsite wetlands on
west side of NC Hwy 12. The wetland alignment was flagged by an
unknown consultant and the 404 Jurisdictional Determination was
signed by Tom Walker on 3/21/02; plat dated 2/27/02.
All wetlands on east side of Hwy 12 were deemed "isolated" by a
IJSACE tear sheet. Questions remained as to whether the isolated
ivetland designation applied to the non-surface water connected
wetlands on the west side of Hwy. 12 due to the vagueness of the tear
sheet(s).
2002 - (MINIMIZATION) The development was offered for 224 homes,
fewer than were permitted original, and approved by Currituck County.
May 2003 - (AVOIDANCE and MINIMIZATION) Plans were
reconfigured with avoidance and minimization applied to a layout of
'140 proposed lots, broken out into Sections.
?kugust 2003 - (AVOIDANCE and MINIMIZATION ) Applicant received
Planning Board approval for 36 homesites in Section I and 7.32 acres
commercial development. A Master subdivision sketch plan was
approved by Currituck County for an even further-reduced 121
homesites on the west side of Hwy. 12. This rendering has
incorporated adjusted lot lines to avoid the wetlands in the Benchmark
delineation and the non jurisdictional or isolated wetlands previously
determined (by the USACE tear sheet) on the east side. Remaining
impacts were further minimized by providing two of the three open
space areas on this plan which contained large wetland areas.
,August 2003 - (MINIMIZATION) Isolated wetlands on east side of
Hwy 12 were flagged. It appears the line was not previously surveyed
because development was not immediately planned for that area.
Development efforts were being concentrated on the west side of Hwy
'12.
;2004 - (MINIMIZATION) Erosion and Sedimentation Control and
stormwater management plans were drafted and submitted for
approval for roads and infrastructure. Minimization efforts were
incorporated into these plans as notes, required by the Land Quality
Section of DLM (15A NCAC Ch 4) and NCDWQ stormwater
comments.
Feb. 2005 - (AVOIDANCE) Applicant applied for a Stormwater
Management Permit from NC DWQ with 115 lot scenario, reduced
from 121 lots. Stormwater permit (SW# 7050220) issued June
27,2006.
l4ugust 2005- (MINIMIZATION) The wetland alignment on the west
side of Hwy. 12 was re-flagged to more accurately define soundfront
wetlands. Plat signed by signed by William Wescott on 8/22/05 to
clarify only those wetland areas that were re-flagged. USACE
representative and consultant noted that other wetland lines were in
need of revisions prior to a permit application.
December. 2005
Further clarification/re-flagging of wetland alignment by the consultant.
The Jurisdictional Determination was updated on plat signed by Tom
Steffens 12/28/05. (superseded JD #2005 11 822 signed by William
Wescott on 8/22/05) Survey of wetlands sent in with NW 14
application on 7/5/06.
December 28. 2005 - Nationwide permit #14 (Action ID #2006 10 338)
was approved for 0.1268 acres of fill for Cruz Bay Lane on the west
:side of Hwy. 12. A wetland delineation update was received with
permit. Mitigation was accomplished through the purchase of
mitigation credits from the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program
(NCEEP).
Between August 2005 and January 2006 - (MINIMIZATION and
AVOIDANCE) The wetland alignment represented on the soundfront
and north end of Phase I was corrected and adjusted per Applicant's
request. A redesign resulted in a further avoidance and minimization
through realignment of lots and roadway shift to the east which
resulted in a better open space arrangement and a reduction on the
number of lots down to 76 lots (further reduction from the previously
proposed 115 homesites in 2005). Designation of open space was
included for county zoning.
April- May 2006
All remaining (non - re-flagged) wetlands on the west side of Hwy. 12
were re-flagged by Environmental Professionals, Inc.
Tom Steffens of the USACE reviewed and approved alignment in the
field on 5/03/2007. Plats and data sheets were mailed to USACE on
7/15/2007.
IVlay 2006 - (MINIMIZATION) Many lots were rearranged for a
proposed DWQ submission. Efforts were focused on revisions in
Section II to realign lots, change building envelopes, and change lot
accesses, while simultaneously meeting minimum road standards and
Currituck County zoning requirements. (These efforts constitute
minimization through lot reconfiguration under new PUD
requirements).
?kugust 2006-Initial Individual Permit Application
Individual permit application was submitted by applicant (for west side
only) for 2.98 acres of 404 wetland impacts, no isolated wetland
impacts were requested at this time.
April 2007 (MINIMIZATION) An "after the fact"' Isolated Wetlands
permit was granted for fill on Lot 4. It was placed under elevation
requirements for the planned wastewater treatment plant as required in
the WWTP permit for the subject site development (DWQ ND Permit #
WQ0023872 expires 7/31/09).
A "commitment of capacity" has been agreed to by the permit holder of
the Monteray Shores WWTP for this development. A collection system
and lift station installation will be required by above-referenced
capacity agreement.
ikpril 2007 to December 2007
Applicant and engineer continued to work in conjunction with Currituck
County on a site layout that meets Currituck County zoning
requirements and continued to meet requests by the state and federal
agencies to avoid and minimize impacts to wetlands in the layout, the
potential build-out of the project property was to be shown on the entire
plan prior to further applications.
(AVOIDANCE and MINIMIZATION) An interagency meeting on
August 14, 2007 resulted in further modifications of the plan and the
applicant removing the request to fill wetlands adjacent to the Currituck
Sound, except for Fill Area "A" 754 SF and Fill Area "M" 367 SF,
behind the proposed bulkhead and nearly all of the riparian/adjacent
wetland fill requested in Section I, (excepting two small areas totaling
1,121 sq. ft.). Further minimization was designed by the project
engineer which resulted in a decrease of approximately 0.88 acres of
wetlands from previous plans.
CURRENT PROPOSAL
404 Jurisdictional Wetlands Impacts:
The avoidance and minimization efforts by the applicant and project
engineer to meet requests by state and federal agencies has reduced
impacts to 404 wetlands on the west side of Hwy. 12 from an original
request of 2.98 acres down to 1.322 acres.
Nearly all of the wetlands fill adjacent to Currituck Sound has been
removed except for Fill Area "A" (754 SF) and Fill Area "M" (367 SF)
behind the proposed bulkhead.
Section 10 Waters Impacts
Limited to 1854 SF of fill along bulkhead alignment (2 ft average and 5
ft maximum waterward of NWL) to end erosion and sloughing of bank
along an erosion escarpment. Areas of submerged aquatic vegetation
were avoided by the proposed alignment.
Two community access piers are proposed, but no motorized boat
access will be allowed or afforded by these piers as water depths are
too shallow for access of vessel to the piers.
Isolated Wetlands Impacts:
Proposed Isolated Wetlands Impacts shown are derived from a
projected build-out of Section 3. This projection of the Isolated
Wetlands Impacts was requested by the NC Division of Water Quality
during initial individual permit application submittal from August 2006.

MITIGATION PROPOSAL
"rhe applicant has submitted an In Lieu Fee Request form to the North
Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program for the following impacts
for the proposed development impacts:
Won-Riparian Impacts: 2.877 acres
• 404 Jurisdictional Fill Areas B to L (56,464 SF)
• All Isolated Impacts --Fill and Excavation (68,869 SF)
Riparian Impacts: 0.068 acres
• 404 Wetland Fill Areas A and 10, totaling 1121 SF
• Bulkhead Backfill of 1854 sq. ft. of Section 10 Waters for a 2
ft average and 5 ft maximum alignment waterward of the
NWL
PREVIOUS IMPACTS:
0.1268 acres of 404 Wetlands filled (Nationwide#14 permit)
0.41 acres of Isolated Wetland filled (NCDWQ Project Number 05-2066, Letter
version 4)