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: Howard Dvorkin, Manager
Diamond Sands Marina LLC
6360 NW 5th Way
Suite 302
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The proposed project is located in waters of the United States along State Road A1A (A1A) within the Indian River Lagoon adjacent to Hutchinson Island, Sections 22 and 27, Township 36 South, Range 41 East, St. Lucie County, Florida.
Directions to the site are as follows: To access this site from St. Lucie County, travel north on U.S. Highway 1 to Jensen Beach Boulevard. Travel east on Jensen Beach Boulevard to A1A. Travel north on A1A to the Diamond Sands development entrance. The site is located west of A1A from the residential development on South Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:
Latitude: 27.31551°
Longitude: -80.22511°
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: The basic project purpose is to provide water access to an existing multi-family development.
Overall: The overall purpose of the project is to provide water access to residents of Diamond Sand development in St. Lucie County.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The site is located adjacent to State Road A1A on South Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County within the Indian River Lagoon. A submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) survey was performed by the applicant’s consultant over 4 days in June 2016. The SAV present within the project area included Syringodium filiforme, Halodule wrightii, Halophila decipiens, and Halophila johnsonii. The dock accessway, terminal platform, and 5 boat slips are located over seagrasses. The shoreline consists of 3,891 linear feet and consists of an upland retaining wall installed by FDOT in the right-of-way of A1A, as well as scattered vegetation landward of the mean high water line. No exotic vegetation exists on site and no mangroves or other vegetation will be impacted by the proposed dock access walkway. The site is bordered by residential developments and undeveloped land to the north and south, a permitted residential development to the east, and the Indian River to the west. The site is to serve the Diamond Sands subdivision which contains 45 single family lots located east of Highway A1A.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to construct a 31-square foot multi-family wood docking facility with 45 slips for the Diamond Sands development that consists of the following structures:
1. Access walkway approximately 440 -feet by 6-feet,
2. Turnaround platform approximately 24-feet by 24-feet, terminating in a T-head measuring approximately 510-feet by 10-feet,
3. Four (4) finger piers measuring 4-feet by 35-feet,
4. Two terminal finger piers measuring 6-feet by 100-feet including handcart turnarounds, and two pedestrian staging turnarounds along the access walkway measuring 10-feet by 10-feet,
5. Install 19 finger piers measuring 3-feet by 30-feet,
6. Install 5 boat lifts,
7. All structures will be elevated 5-feet above mean high water (MHW), and all decking material will be wood planking no more than 8 inches wide, with at least ½-inch spacing between. Wooden piles will be painted, wrapped, or otherwise made from non-leaching materials.
Project History: This project was previously proposed in April 2006, during which time the previous applicant proposed a 14,220-square foot docking facility and an overwater helipad, which was subsequently removed from the project. A Biological Assessment was produced and submitted to federal agencies in support of the project in November 2007. The project parcel changed ownership in 2008, after which time, there was a nationwide economic downturn and the project was abandoned. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) issued a Denial without Prejudice in September 2009. In 2016, the applicant renewed efforts to design and permit a multi-family docking facility.
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: A SAV survey was performed in June 2016 in order to site/reconfigure the facility to avoid seagrasses. The structure largely avoids seagrasses, with the exception of the dock access walkway, and five of the 45 boat slips occur over seagrasses; boat lifts are proposed in the slips occurring over seagrasses (1-5% coverage) to minimize shading impacts. To minimize shading impacts to seagrass, all structures will be elevated 5-feet above MHW, and all decking material will be wood planking no more than 8 inches wide, with at least ½-inch spacing between. All vessels will maintain at least 1 foot of clearance with the sandy bottoms or the tops of any seagrasses. Floating turbidity curtains will be used and the project will comply with the “Standard Manatee Conditions for In-Water Work -2011”, and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s “Sea Turtle and Smalltooth Sawfish Construction Conditions” dated March 23, 2006. All construction will take place during daylight hours.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment: All structures over SAV have been elevated 5 feet above MHW in order to avoid shading impacts. Furthermore, all slips that contains SAV are proposed to have a boatlift to avoid and minimize shading impacts to SAV. The applicant has determined that no impacts to SAV are anticipated and therefore no compensatory mitigation has been proposed.
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. A cultural resources survey was performed at the site in 2007 and the accompanying report indicated that “no shape or images…indicated the presence of a shipwreck or a sunken prehistoric site.”
ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the threatened West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), and would not adversely modify its designated critical habitat. The project has been found to be in compliance with Martin County Manatee Protection Plan. The Corps has obtained prior concurrence from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for this determination and no further consultation is required.
The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the endangered smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), swimming sea turtles: the endangered green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), the endangered hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), the endangered leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), the threatened loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), and the threatened Johnson’s seagrass (Halophila johnsonii) but would not adversely modify its designated critical habitat. The Corps will request concurrence with theses determinations from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Protected Resources Division pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act by separate letter.
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. Approximately 0.27 acres of seagrass and sandy bottom habitat in the Indian River are proposed to be impacted. The project as proposed will not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or federally managed fisheries based on the applicant’s implemented avoidance and minimization measures. Our final determination relative to project impacts and the need for mitigation measures is subject to review by, and coordination with, the National Marine Fisheries Service.
NOTE: This public notice is being issued based on information furnished by the applicant. This information has 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 Palm Beach Gardens Permits Section, 4400 PGA Boulevard, STE 500, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410, 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, Ms. Linda C. Knoeck, in writing at the Palm Beach Gardens Permits Section, 4400 PGA Boulevard, STE 500, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410; or by electronic mail at Linda.C.Knoeck@usace.army.mil; or, by telephone at (561)472-3520.
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.