20060197 Ver 1_USACE Correspondence_20060227

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DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
PO BOX 1890
WILMINGTON NC 28402-1890
February 22, 2006
Regulatory Division
Action ID No. 200501184
Helmsdale Investors, LLC
Attn: Mr. Thad Moore
Preston Development Company, LLC
100 Weston Estates Way
Cary, North Carolina 27513
Dear Mr. Moore:
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Please reference your request for the Department of the Army (DA) authorization permit to
discharge fill material into 0.295 acre of Section 404 wetlands and 721inear feet of unnamed
tributary to Howe Creek, a tributary to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, associated with the
construction of the proposed Helmsdale at Landfall residential subdivision. The proposed
project is located along the southside of Arboretum Drive, in the Landfall community, in
Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina.
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 fer
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:
a. 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.
b. It is necessary for you to have taken all appropriate and practicable steps to minimize wetland
losses. Please indicate all that you have done, especially regarding development and modification of
plans and proposed construction techniques, to minimize adverse impacts.

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c. The MOA requires that appropriate and practicable mitigation will be required for all
unavoidable adverse impacts remaining after the applicant has employed all appropriate and
practicable minimization. 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.
The aforementioned, requested information is essential to the expeditious processing of your
application; please forwarded this information to us within two (2) weeks of your receipt of this
letter. In addition, you should be aware that State and Federal commenting agencies might
recommend design modifications.
If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me at [phone].
Sincerely,
Jennifer S. Frye
Regulatory Specialist
Wilmington Regulatory Field Office
Copies Furnished:
Ms. Kim Williams
Land Management Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2522
Wilmington, North Carolina 28402
Mr. Doug Huggett
Division of Coastal Management
N.C. Department of Environment
and Natural Resources
1638 Mail Service Center
Ms. Becky Fox
Wetlands Regulatory Section -Region IV
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1349 Firefly Road
Whittier, North Carolina 28789
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1638
Cyndi Karoly
Division of Water Quality
N.C. Department of Environment
and Natural Resources
1650 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1621
Mr. Pete Benjamin
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Fish and Wildlife Enhancement
Post Office Box 33726
Raleigh, North Carolina 27636-3726