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-2018-01478 (SP-TLW)

Published Feb. 11, 2019
Expiration date: 3/11/2019

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) and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. §403) as described below:

APPLICANT:  Mr. Leo M. Sand

                         Sand Holdings, LLC

                         366 10th Avenue

                         Waite Park, Minnesota 56387

WATERWAY AND LOCATION:  The project would affect waters of the United States associated with St. Andrews and St. Joseph Bays and Lower Lost Creek.  The project site is located at 8501 Panama City Beach Parkway in Panama City Beach, Bay County, Florida.

Directions to the site are as follows:  From Panama City, take Highway 98 west to Panama City Beach. The site is located on the south side of Highway 98 between Cauley Avenue and Allison Avenue approximately 1 mile west of Wildwood Road/Thomas Drive.

APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:    Latitude  30.188419°

                                                                            Longitude -85.781230°

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic:  Commercial development

Overall:  To construct a commercial development that includes hotels, a sporting goods store and bank to provide services to tourists and users of the new sports complex in Panama City Beach.

EXISTING CONDITIONS:  The wetland system consists of a wet flatwoods freshwater system.  The onsite vegetation consists of Mesic Flatwoods habitat has an open canopy of slash pine with a groundcover of herbs and shrubs.  The mesic flatwoods are fire-suppressed and have a deep layer of duff.  Vegetation observed includes: Slash pine (Pinus elliottii), southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), water oak (Quercus nigra), gallberry (Ilex glabra), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), fetterbush (Lyonia lucida), Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), sawtooth blackberry (Rubus argutus), cat greenbriar (Smilax glauca), and muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia).

The Wet Flatwoods have been hydrologically altered by nearby ditches and long-term drainage of the site.  The habitat is fire-suppressed and has invasive exotic species.

Vegetation observed includes:  Slash pine (Pinus elliottii), sweet bay (Magnolia virginiana), titi (Cliftonia monophylla and Cyrilla racemiflora), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), large gallberry (Ilex coriacea), myrtle-leaf holly (Ilex myrtifolia), fetterbush (Lyonia lucida), sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), netted chainfern (Woodwardia areolata), fascicled beaksedge (Rhynchospora fascicularis) yelloweyed grass (Xyris stricta), foxtail club-moss (Lycopodiella alopecuroides), sandweed (Hypericum fasciculatum), Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum), laurel greenbriar (Smilax laurifolia).

Ditches

There is a ditch that runs along Highway 98 on the northern boundary of the site.  The ditch  receives  untreated  stormwater  runoff  from  Highway  98  and  older  residential

 developments located west of the project site such as Allison Trace and Emerald Coast RV Park. Vegetation includes sod and weedy and ruderal species commonly found in maintained road rights-of-way. 

PROPOSED WORK:  The applicant seeks authorization to place fill material in 2.09 acres of jurisdictional waters including wetlands in order to construct a retail development and access road. The applicant proposed temporary impacts to 0.07 acre of jurisdictional area associated with reshaping of existing drainage ways.  

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:

Avoidance was accomplished by selection of a project site that had less wetland coverage than the other sites considered and had no known listed species habitat or observed listed species. Based on the alternative site analysis, development of the project site will result in the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative, while meeting the purpose of the project. Minimization was accomplished by limiting impacts to a ditch and a fire-suppressed wetland that has been fragmented in the landscape by previous development in the area.

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

Credits will be purchased from a mitigation bank to off-set impacts associated with the project.

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 may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the eastern indigo snake or its designated critical habitat.  The Corps will request U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concurrence with this determination pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. 

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 not 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 Panama City Permits Section, 1706 East 5th Street, Panama City, Florida 32401 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 wetlands.  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, Tracey Wheeler, in writing at the Panama City Permits Section, 1706 East 5th Street, Panama City, Florida 32401; by electronic mail at tracey.l.wheeler@usace.army.mil; or, by telephone at (850) 784-4576. 

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 determination, comments are used to assess impacts to endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. 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.