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Home My WebLink About20052146 Ver 5_USACE Correspondence_20090501Regulatory Division DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS PO BOX 1890 WILMINGTON NC 28402-1890 April 29, 2009 Action ID No. SAW-2005-777 Mr. Sheldon Tucker Coastal Communities, Inc. 131 Ocean Boulevard West Holden Beach, North Carolina 28462 Dear Sir: J5 1? ?0 D??f?uV MAY 01 2009 *6XM64ND 3 T? iiii RA?vCH On December 22, 2008, this office received your application for Department of the Army (DA) authorization to construct phases 12-17 and a marina to complete the planned-unit development (PUD), Seawatch at Sunset Harbor, near Oak Island in Brunswick County, which would involve impacts to 2.049 acres of jurisdictional wetlands and 80 linear feet of stream channel. The purpose of this letter is to provide comments from resource agencies for rebuttal purposes and provide comments generated by this office as a part of the project review. Your proposal was advertised by public notice dated January 16, 2009. Comments in response to the notice were received from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service by letter dated March 19, 2009. The comments received are enclosed for your information and to provide you with the opportunity to address any of the stated concerns. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) also has similar concerns. It is the policy of the DA to provide an applicant the opportunity to furnish a proposed resolution and/or rebuttal to all objections from government agencies before a final decision is made on a proposed project. In this regard, I would appreciate receiving any comments that you have on this matter. In this regard, I would appreciate a written response of your intentions within 30 days of your receipt of this letter. On February 6, 1990, the Department of the Army (DA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) establishing procedures to determine the type and level of mitigation necessary to comply with Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines. This MOA provides for first, avoiding impacts to waters and wetlands through the selection of the least damaging, practical alternative; second, taking appropriate and practical steps to reduce impacts on waters and wetlands; and finally, compensation for remaining unavoidable impacts to the extent appropriate and practical. To enable us to process your application, in compliance with the MOA, we request that you provide the following additional information: -2- 1. Permits for work within wetlands or other special aquatic sites are available only if the proposed work is the least environmentally damaging, practicable alternative. Please furnish information regarding any other alternatives, including upland alternatives, to the work for which you have applied and provide justification that your selected plan is the least damaging to water or wetland areas. 2. It is necessary for you to have taken all appropriate and practicable steps to avoid and minimize wetland losses. Please indicate all that you have done, especially regarding development and modification of plans and proposed construction techniques, to avoid and minimize adverse impacts. a. If the roads will not serve as main arteries through the development (Impact Areas 2- 7, 9, 11, 15, 22-24) please provide evidence that a greater than 85 foot wide impact area is necessary for each of the road crossings. b. Impact Area 18 appears to be unnecessary for movement within the development. Please provide evidence that it is not practicable to avoid this impact or remove it from the plans and re-submit. c. Impact area 24 appears to be a historical wetland connection, please evaluate installing a culvert at this location to restore flow and circulation. d. Based on the cross section drawings, several of the crossings appear to be a tributary and wetland crossings. Please clarify. e. Based on the information submitted it appears that some of the proposed culverted road crossings are tidally influenced. Please clarify which crossings are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide and specific measures you have taken to avoid and minimize impacts to these areas. f. Please evaluate the use of bridges, retaining walls, 2:1 slopes and minimizing the road width to further avoid impacts to waters and wetlands. g. Allowing the maintenance of vegetation on wetlands throughout the development does not illustrate minimization of cumulative and secondary impacts. Vegetation management for reasons other than fire management, storm damage or danger to life, limb or property can have a considerable impact on the function of waters and wetlands. Please provide evidence that it is not practicable to leave un-impacted waters and wetlands in their natural state in perpetuity or submit a new proposal. 3. The MOA requires that appropriate and practicable mitigation will be required for all unavoidable adverse impacts remaining after all appropriate and practicable minimization has been employed. Please indicate your plan to mitigate for the projected, unavoidable loss of waters or wetlands or provide information as to the absence of any such appropriate and practicable measures. You must also comply with the Corps Final Rule on Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources (33 CFR 332). -3- a. Please be aware that if vegetation management in waters and wetlands is proposed for reasons other than fire management, storm damage or danger to life, limb or property, those areas and anything interior to them will not be considered by this office for mitigation of impacts. b. In addition to full preservation of all remaining waters and wetlands onsite, this office recommends 2:1 payment to a mitigation bank or in-lieu fee program for proposed impacts. Further, this office recommends preservation of upland buffers to provide protection to preserved wetlands and enhance their functions. c. Please provide information pertaining to the categorization of each of the crossings for determination of compensatory mitigation. Specifically, are the crossings coastal marsh, riparian or non-riparian wetlands? Based on the N.C. Ecosystem Enhancement Program acceptance letter submitted to this office, it appears that you believe most of the proposed crossings are non-riparian. However, it appears based on the information you submitted that most of these crossings are either coastal marsh or riparian areas (33 CFR 332.2). Please clarify. 4. In order to evaluate your proposal, please provide more detailed plan view and cross section drawings illustrating specific road design, boundaries of waters and wetlands, location of utilities, location and size of any rip rap dissipaters, sidewalks and/or medians. 5. Please be aware that the Regulatory Branch of the Corps is actively coordinating with the Navigation Branch of the Corps to determine any impacts the project may have on the Federal Channel. If any concerns are raised, this office will contact you immediately. 6. This office is concerned that Phase I survey for the presence of archaeological and/or historic resources was not completed for the entire PUD. We are consulting with the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office to determine what if any additional documentation/surveys may be required to ensure the project does not have an adverse effect on archaeological and/or historic resources (33 CFR 325 Appendix Q. 7. Please be aware that although you are proposing to place 485 acres of wetlands into a Conservation Easement with the State of North Carolina, those areas may not count toward your mitigation for the proposed impacts to 2.049 acres of wetlands if NC Million Acre Initiative receives federal monies for the acquisition and management of wetlands and administration of the program. The aforementioned, requested information is essential to the expeditious processing of your application and should be forwarded to us within 30 days of your receipt of this letter. -4- I am responsible for processing your application and available to assist you in coordinating with the review agencies. If you have any questions you may call me at (910) 251-4482. Sincerely, Kimberly Garvey Regulatory Specialist Wilmington Regulatory Field Office Copies Furnished: Ms. Kim Williams Land Management Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2522 Wilmington, North Carolina 28402 Ms. Noelle Winstead Cape Fear Engineering, Inc. 151 Poole Road, Suite 100 Belville, North Carolina 28461 Mr. Doug Huggett Division of Coastal Management N..C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources 127 Cardinal Drive Wi mington, North Carolina 28405 s. Cyndi Karoly Division of Water Quality N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources 2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Suite 250 Raleigh, North Carolina 27604-2260 Mr. Chad Coburn Division of Water Quality N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources 127 Cardinal Drive Wilmington, North Carolina 28405 Mr. Eric Galamb N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources 1601 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1601 Mr. Howard Hall U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Post Office Box 33726 Raleigh, North Carolina 27636-3726