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: LG NNN, LLC
Taraz Darabi
P.O. Box 357742
Gainesville, Florida 32635
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with the St. Johns River. The project site is located at on US 17, approximately 756 feet northwest of the Governors Creek Bridge, in Section 37, Township 6 South, Range 26 East, Green Cove Springs, Clay County, Florida.
Directions to the site are as follows: From downtown Jacksonville, travel west on Interstate (I) 95 and cross the St. Johns River. Merge onto I-10. Exit onto US 17 South. Travel south until reaching City of Green Cove Springs. The site is located on the east side of US 17, 856 feet northwest of the Governors Creek bridge.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES: Latitude 30.007930°
Longitude -81.693152°
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: The basic project purpose is commercial development.
Overall: The project purpose is to construct a commercial structure in the City of Green Cove Springs, Florida.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The wetland system consists of a palustrine forested wetland system. The property comprises real estate parcel #37-06-26-015721-000-00 located in Section 37, Township 6 South and Range 26 East in the northern part of Green Cove Springs in Clay County (Figures 1 and 2). The property is bordered to the southwest by US 17, to the northwest and southeast by existing commercial development, and to the northeast by forested wetlands (Figure 3). The area southeast of the project site is a public parking area supporting a public dock, boat ramp, and finger piers. Additionally, according to the applicant’s consultant, there is a tidal creek that flows west from the St. Johns River and towards the project site. It is from this tidal creek that the adjacent wetlands were measured from to determine if there would be impacts within 300 feet of retained waters. There is a culvert on site that connects the wetlands on the site to the tidal creek. The proposed work would have impacts in wetlands adjacent to this tidal creek within 300 feet of the creek; therefore, this project is being retained by the Corps.
The site conditions have been characterized pursuant to the Florida Department of Transportation publication Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System (FLUCFCS) as depicted on Figure 4 and described below.
A. Uplands 0.59 acre
1. Open Land/Gravel (FLUCFCS 190) 0.40 acre: The property had previously been developed for commercial use. Most of the upland comprises a level area of gravel.
2. Open Land/Old Fill (FLUCFCS 190) 0.17 acre: The remaining uplands were filled many years ago and subsequently revegetated/reforested. The existing vegetation includes such species as cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia) sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), Carolina laurel cherry (Prunus caroliniana), blackberry (Rubus sp.), muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia), dogfennel (Eupatorium sp.), and bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum).
3. Road (FLUCFCS 814) 0.02 acre: The property contains a section of old roadbed that extends offsite to the north. The onsite portion of this road crosses a relatively narrow wetland drain and has a culvert at this crossing. The road surface is concrete at the crossing and turns to lime rock and dirt elsewhere. The original purpose of this road may have been to provide access for the adjacent property owner to the north to US 17. However, this road has been abandoned for many years. There is a 12-inch-diameter PVC pipe under this road which allows water to flow from west to east and maintains a hydrologic connection downstream to Waters of the United States (WOTUS).
B. Wetlands and Other Surface Waters 0.18 acre
1. Wetland Forested Mixed (FLUCFCS 630) 0.17 acre: The wetlands on the property comprise a combination of hydric hardwood hammock and bottomland swamp. The canopy in these areas includes such species as cabbage palm, red maple (Acer rubrum), American elm (Ulmus americana), Carolina ash (Fraxinus caroliniana), laurel oak, blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum). The shrub layer and ground cover vegetation include such species as buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), wax myrtle (Morella cerifera), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), and royal fern (Osmunda regalis). The hammock areas are wet due largely from ground water seepage but also occasionally are inundated. The lower area of swamp is regularly inundated.
2. Ditch (FLUCFCS 510) 0.01 acre: The property contains a section of upland-cut ditch near the southwest corner. The vegetation in this ditch includes such species as saltbush (Baccharis halimifolia) and wax myrtle. This area intercepts the seasonal high water table and may periodically carry stormwater runoff from the adjacent uplands.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to place 2,740-cubic-yards of clean fill into 0.15-acre of waters of the United States (palustrine forested wetlands adjacent to tidal) to construct a commercial structure to support a Taco Bell restaurant with a circular one-way drive for drive-through service, eighteen parking spaces for customers and employees, trash dumpster, and a stormwater vault under the pavement.
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:
“Impact to wetland in northeast corner of property avoided.” Additionally, on August 18, 2023, the applicant notified the Corps that an additional 0.01-acre of wetlands would be avoided.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:
“The proposed wetland impacts have been evaluated pursuant to the Uniform Mitigation Assessment Methodology (UMAM). As mitigation for the proposed wetland impacts, the permit applicant will purchase UMAM credit from St. Johns Mitigation Bank.”
CULTURAL RESOURCES:
The Corps is aware of recorded historic resources within or adjacent to the permit area and is evaluating the undertaking for effects to historic properties as required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. This public notice serves to inform the public of the proposed undertaking and invites comments including those from local, State, and Federal government Agencies with respect to historic resources. Our final determination relative to historic resource impacts may be subject to additional coordination with the State Historic Preservation Officer, those federally recognized tribes with concerns in Florida and the Permit Area, and other interested parties.
ENDANGERED SPECIES:
The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couperi). The Corps utilized the Eastern Indigo Snake Programmatic Effect Determination Key January 25, 2010, addendum August 13, 2013, which resulted in the sequence A > B > C > not likely to adversely affect as there are no gopher tortoise burrows, holes, cavities or other refugia where a snake could be buried or trapped or injured during project activities. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) previously indicated that they concur with determinations of not likely to adversely affect based on that key; and, that no additional consultation is required.
On 21 August 2023, the Corps executed a Resources at Risk Report (RAR) from the National Regulatory Viewer. The RAR indicated that the Atlantic Sturgeon could be located within the 0.06-mile filter area. However, there is no proposed in water work so this species would not be impacted. Additionally, the RAR listed Clay County Information for Planning and Consultation (IPAC) Species such as the Eastern Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis spp. jamaicensis), West Indian Manatee (Trichecus manatus), and Whooping Crane (Grus americana). There is no habitat for any of the IPAC species; therefore, there would be no impacts to these species. The RAR did not indicate that the site is utilized by, or contains habitat critical to, any federally listed threatened or endangered species, other than those mentioned above. The Corps also reviewed geospatial data and other available information. The Corps has not received or discovered any information that the project site is utilized by, or contains habitat critical to, any federally listed, threatened, or endangered species, other than those mentioned above.
ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT (EFH): This notice initiates consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service on EFH as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996. There would be no essential fish habitat impacted by the proposed work.
Navigation: The proposed activity is not located in the vicinity of a federal navigation channel.
SECTION 408: The applicant will not require permission under Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act (33 USC 408) because the activity, in whole or in part, would not alter, occupy, or use a Corps Civil Works project.
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.
COMMENTS regarding the potential authorization of the work proposed should be submitted in writing to the attention of the District Engineer through the Jacksonville Permits Section, 701 San Marco Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida 32207 within 30 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, Terri M. Mashour, in writing at the Jacksonville Permits Section, 701 San Marco Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida 32207; by electronic mail at Terri.M.Mashour@usace.army.mil; or, by telephone at (904) 251-9179.
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.
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.
WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: Water Quality Certification may be required from the St. Johns River Water Management District.
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.