20041713 Ver 1_WRC Comments_20050329

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91 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 9
Richard B. Hamilton, Executive Director
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mickey Sugg
Wilmington Regulatory Field Office
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
and
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MAH 2 9 2005
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Cta1di Karoly n S?? ?Q 1"'
40I/Wetlands Unit, Division of Water Quality
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
FROM: Maria Tripp, Northeast Coastal Region Coordinator,
Habitat Conservation Section
DATE: March 24, 2005
SUBJECT: USAGE 404 Permit application / Section 401 Water Qualitv Certification for Lewis
Holding, The Nassau Corporation, Emerald Isle, Carteret County, North Carolina.
Action ID No. 200401077
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (Commission) reviewed the
application with regard to impacts of the project on fish and wildlife resources. The project sites are
located within Dolphin Ridge and Royall Oal<s subdivisions off of Coast Guard Road, adjacent to Bogus
Sound in Emerald Isle, NC and were visited on March 18, 2005. Our comments are provided in
accordance with provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (48 Stat. 40 L as amended, 16
U.S.C. 661 et. seq.) and the Clean Water Act of 1977 (as amended).
The applicant proposes to place approximately 625 cubic yards of fill into 0. 117 acres of
jurisdictional wetlands. The fill will be placed within Lots 9, 12, and 93 of Dolphin Ridge and Lots 2 and
6 of Rovall Oaks. The subdivisions are located within a developed maritime ridge and swale forest system
with the lots lying between exiting homes. As part of the USAGE authorization for both developments,
the permits were conditioned to incorporate covenants, which Nassau has recorded with the Carteret
Count}, Register of Deeds, to restrict and prohibit additional impacts to jurisdictional waters and
wetlands. This current proposal would modify the original permit conditions as it pertains to restrictive
covenants, or declarations, relating to activities in wetlands within both developments. Both residential
subdivisions were constructed between 1989 and 1992.
The Commission has previously responded to a public notice for an after-the-fact 404 permit
application by the applicant Lewis Holding and has also requested a 401 Water Quality Certification not
Mailing Address: Division of Inland Fisheries • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh. NC 27699-1 72 1
Telephone: [phone] ext. 281 0 Fax: [phone]
Lewis Holding / The Nassau Corporation Page 2 March 24, 2005
Action ID No. 200401077
be issued (Deaton, 9 August 2002). We are concerned with the direct and cumulative impacts the
proposed fill on five lots may impose on the system. Lots 2 and 6 within Royall Oaks were both well
inundated and should be considered freshwater swamps. These areas provide excellent habitat for great
blue heron (Ardea herodias), American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), and variety of other birds,
amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. They also serve as natural stormwater detainment and treatment areas
for the adjacent developed lots within the subdivision. Lots 2 and 6 are in the natural swales of the
maritime ridge and swale forest system. Runoff from nearby impervious residential lots drains to these
areas and is detained and treated prior to reaching the estuarine wetlands and the designated Outstanding
Resource Waters of Bogue Sound. Placing fill in these wetland systems and increasing impervious
surfaces with associated residential construction would severely reduce these wetlands' capacity to
perform their current function and may greatly increase the flooding potential of these and other low lying
areas. We also have concerns that Lot 6 within the Royall Oaks subdivision would use an individual
septic system while all other lots mentioned in this proposal will be connected to an established sewer
system. Lots 9, 12, and 93 within the Dolphin Ridge subdivision are similar to Lots 2 and 6 in Royall
Oaks. Lot 93 was mostly inundated during the site visit and is surrounded by retaining walls from the
adjacent developed lots. One alternative to wetland fill for this lot could be combining adjacent
undeveloped Lot 94 with Lot 93 to provide a buildable lot without needing additional wetland fill.
The Commission does not believe the proposed mitigation will compensate wetland impacts. The
USACE recommends mitigation of wetland impacts by means of wetland creation be done at a 3:1 ratio:
the proposed mitigation is only a 1:1 ratio. Therefore, due to the adverse impacts the proposed fill will
have on wetland f inctions and the inadequate mitigation measures, we request the original permit
conditions be upheld and no filrther 404 permits be issued for additional wetland fill in these two
subdivisions.
We appreciate the opportunity to review and comment on this permit application. If you need
further assistance or additional information, please contact me at [phone].
cc: Lutheran, N. - NC Division of Water Quality
Benjamin, P. - US Fish and Wildlife Service