20041713 Ver 1_Other Agency Comments_20050324

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-i_:_1 North Carolina Wild?lif I?esouoce C? mmission: El
Richard B. Hamilton, Executive Director
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mickey Sugg
Wilmington Regulatory Field Office
U,S. Army Corps o£.Engineers
and
C-ndi Karoly
40 L/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: USACE 404 Permit application / Section 40.1 Water Quality Certification for Lewis
Holding, The Nassau Corporation, Emerald Isle, Carteret County, North Carolina.
Action ID No. 20040.1077
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (Commission) reviewed the
application with regard to impacts of the project on fish and wildlifc resources. The project sites are.
located within Dolphin Ridge and Rovall Oaks Subdivisions off of Coast Guard Road. adjacent to Boguc
Sound in Emerald Isle; NC and were visited on March l8, 2005, 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 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 US ACE authorization for both developments,
the permits were conditioned to incorporate covenants, which :Nassau has recorded with the Carteret
County 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 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] cxt, 281 - Fax: [phone]
Win" ( llie. Nnsa .i Corporation
Action No. 200401077
be issued (Deaton, 9 August 2002). We _li olacerlied with tit:; direct and clu1t1-rl,d tyC iWI acts the
proposed fill on five lots may irupose on llr: svstrng Lots ?. and G within Roy ;l l Oal ti-v 'e both well
inundated -,nd should be considered fresli atcr sNwimps. Th,,,x %,!,as, provid( ("wo'llc11, hnlhit it ti great
blue heron (Arden heroclias), Ancc,rican 'tlligator (Alligator mississippjensis), and variety of othct :girds,
ounphibians, reptiles, and wangm;tls. Tic also sc, vc as natural :;« %vatcr detainment and trcati? nt area:,
1..6r the adjacent developed lots within tho: subdi . ion. Lots 2 ?- d !? :ire in the natural swales of ih",
niaritinic ridge ugd swale forest system. Runoli irom nearby inlpol-Vious residential lots drains to inese
areas and is detained and dented prior to reaching the estuarine vx.tlands and the designated Out?,;guiding
Resource Waters of Bogu Sound. Placing fill in thesc wetland s? stems and increasing iriperviox
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. V'fe also have concerns that I •ot 6 within the Royall 0nl,:s subdivision woidd use an individual
septic; :>.ystcrn while all other lots mentioned in this proposal .111 be connected , all established sewer
system, Lots 9, 12, and 93 w-ithin the Dolphin Ridge subdivision are similar to ots 2 and 6 in Royall
Oaks. Lot 93 was mostly inundated during the site visit and is surrounded by rciaiuing 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 functions and the inadequate mitigation measures, we request the original permit
conditions be upheld and no further 404 permits be issued for additional wetland fill in these two
subdivisions.
We appreciate the opportunity to review and comment oil this permit application. If you need
further assistance or additional inforn-ration. please contact me at [phone].
cc: Lutheran, N. - NC Division of Water Quality
Benjamin, P. - US Fish and Wildlife Service