Public Notice Notifications

The Jacksonville District currently has five categories of public notice notification mailing lists. If you wish to receive email notifications when new public notices are added to this page, please send a request to Regulatory Webmaster.  Each category is described below. Be sure to specify which list(s) you want to be included on.

Florida - This includes all public notices for projects being reviewed for Standard Permits within the State of Florida.

Antilles - This includes all public notices for projects being reviewed for Standard Permits within the Antilles area (this includes Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands).

Tropical Storms & Other Emergencies - These public notices provide information on procedures for emergency permitting requirements due to specific tropical storm events or other emergency situations.

Special Issues - These are public notices that involve the Regulatory program but which are generally not limited to one particular geographic area. These would include public notices for the establishment or modification of Restricted Areas/Danger Zones, re-issuance of General Permits or Nationwide Permits, changes to guidance and policies, etc.

Administrative Penalty - These public notices provide information associated with Administrative Penalties. An Administrative Penalty can be assessed to address violations associated with issued Department of the Army permits.

SAJ-2015-03741(SP-AG)

Published Oct. 18, 2017
Expiration date: 11/8/2017

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:  The Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has received an application for a Department of the Army permit pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §1344) as described below:

 

APPLICANT:        AMB Codina Beacon Lakes LLC

                              c/o Travis Harvey

                              8355 Northwest 12th Street

                              Doral, FL 33126

 

WATERWAY AND LOCATION:  The project would affect surface waters of the United States.  The Beacon Lakes Entrance to Houndstooth roadway project is located west of the Homestead Extension to Florida’s Turnpike (HEFT), north of Northwest 12th Street and State Road 836/Dolphin Expressway, within Section 36, Township 53 South, Range 39 East, in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida (portion of Folio No. 30-3936-000-0105).

 

Directions to the site are as follows: From Take I-95 to Exit 3A and exit onto FL-836 W. Continue on FL-836 W for approximately 7.5 miles and take the FL-985 S / NW 107th Avenue / Homestead Extension of Florida’s Turnpike exit. Continue toward NW 12th Street and follow signs for Florida Turnpike N / Ft. Lauderdale / Orlando. Take Exit 27, following signs for NW 12th Street. Turn right (west) onto NW 12th street and continue for approximately ½ mile. The destination will be on the right.

 

APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:

Latitude:               25.785211°

Longitude:           -80.390719°

 

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic: The basic project purpose is to construct an access roadway roadway to a permitted development. 

Overall:  The overall project purpose is to construct an access roadway associated  Houndstooth, a permitted development in western Miami-Dade County.

 

EXISTING CONDITIONS:  The approximate 5.86-acre project site consists of approximately 3.32 acres of disturbed upland (herbaceous dry prairie and upland shrub and brush) and approximately 2.54 acres of surface waters.  The surface waters are part of a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) retention lake bordered by limestone outcropping and opportunistic vegetation.  The upland area surrounding the lake embankment is generally flat with elevations five to eight feet above the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929.  The project site surface water depths are variable, ranging from seven to 22 feet below land surface.  The retention lake lacks a palustrine fringe, and the sharp relief prohibits a littoral shelf.  No wetlands jurisdictional to the Corps are located on-site.

 

The USDA NRCS soil survey completed in 2012 for Miami-Dade County indicates the majority of the project site historically contained Biscayne marl-rock outcrop complex.  However, historical analysis indicated the presence of former structures, roadways, and agricultural land in the late 1970s through the 1990s, as well as the creation and alteration of the retention lake between 2004 and 2007.  These disturbances have completely altered the native soils and hydrology throughout the project site. The current soils are friable and predominantly consist of topsoil above limerock in the area around the retention lake.

 

PROPOSED WORK:  The applicant seeks authorization to install 84,235 cubic yards of fill over approximately 2.54 acres of surface waters for construction of the proposed roadway.

 

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION INFORMATION:  The applicant has provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment:

The entrance road project proposes the construction of a roadway to connect the permitted Houndstooth development located to the northeast and the MDX planned connector road (NW 122nd Avenue) to NW 12th Street.  As required by Miami-Dade County, the alignment of the proposed roadway must match the planned MDX connector road.  If the roadway were adjusted to the east or west it would not allow for proper alignment with the planned MDX connector road.  The use of box culverts was reviewed to reduce the amount of fill within the retention lake; however, this added over $1,000,000 to the project fees making this cost prohibitive. It was determined that design modifications to eliminate and/or reduce impacts were not practicable as the project needs to align with the proposed MDX connector roadway.

This project will include the placement of approximately 84,235cubic yards of fill to accommodate the construction of the roadway and associated runout slopes. 

The potential for habitat corridors does not exist, and no wetland areas will be impacted by the project.

 

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION:  The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:

No wetlands will be lost due to this project. Standard erosion control measures will be installed as applicable.

 

CULTURAL RESOURCES:  The Corps is not aware of any known historic properties within the permit area.  By copy of this public notice, the Corps is providing information for review.  Our final determination relative to historic resource impacts is subject to review by and coordination with the State Historic Preservation Officer and those federally recognized tribes with concerns in Florida and the Permit Area. 

 

ENDANGERED SPECIES:  The Corps has determined the proposed project will have “no affect” on the Florida Bonneted Bat (Eumops floridanus), American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), Everglade snail kite (Rostrahmus sociabilis plumbeus), wood stork (Mycteria Americana), and eastern indigo snake (Rostrahmus sociabilis plumbeus) because the project area provides no suitable habitat for these species.  .

The Corps has determined the proposal would have no effect on any other listed threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat.

 

ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT (EFH):  This notice initiates consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on EFH as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996. The project is located in an isolated freshwater retention lake and would have no impacts on tidally influenced waters. Therefore, the proposed action would have no impact on EFH or Federally-managed fisheries within Biscayne Bay. The final determination relative to project impacts and the need for mitigation measures is subject to review by and coordination with NMFS.

 

NOTE:  This public notice is being issued based on information furnished by the applicant.  This information has not been verified or evaluated to ensure compliance with laws and regulation governing the regulatory program.  The jurisdictional line has been verified by Corps personnel.

 

AUTHORIZATION FROM OTHER AGENCIES:  Water Quality Certification may be required from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and/or one of the state Water Management Districts.

 

COMMENTS regarding the potential authorization of the work proposed should be submitted in writing to the attention of the District Engineer through the Miami Permits Section, 9900 S.W. 107th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, Florida 33176 within 21 days from the date of this notice.

 

The decision whether to issue or deny this permit application will be based on the information received from this public notice and the evaluation of the probable impact to the associated surface waters.  This is based on an analysis of the applicant's avoidance and minimization efforts for the project, as well as the compensatory mitigation proposed.

 

QUESTIONS concerning this application should be directed to the project manager, Patrick Gaughran, in writing at the Miami Permits Section, 9900 S.W. 107th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, Florida 33176; by electronic mail at Patrick.M.Gaughran@usace.army.mil or, by telephone at (305) 779-6058. 

 

IMPACT ON NATURAL RESOURCES: Coordination with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Marine Fisheries Services, and other Federal, State, and local agencies, environmental groups, and concerned citizens generally yields pertinent environmental information that is instrumental in determining the impact the proposed action will have on the natural resources of the area.

 

EVALUATION: The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits, which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal, must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors which may be relevant to the proposal will be considered including cumulative impacts thereof; among these are conservation, economics, esthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historical properties, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food, and fiber production, mineral needs, considerations of property ownership, and in general, the needs and welfare of the people. Evaluation of the impact of the activity on the public interest will also include application of the guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, EPA, under authority of Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act or the criteria established under authority of Section 102(a) of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972.  A permit will be granted unless its issuance is found to be contrary to the public interest.

 

The US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, State, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other Interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps to determine whether to issue, modify, condition, or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.

 

COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: In Florida, the State approval constitutes compliance with the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan. In Puerto Rico, a Coastal Zone Management Consistency Concurrence is required from the Puerto Rico Planning Board, in the Virgin Islands, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources permit constitutes compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Plan.

 

REQUEST FOR PUBLIC HEARING: Any person may request a public hearing. The request must be submitted in writing to the District Engineer within the designated comment period of the notice and must state the specific reasons for requesting the public hearing.