Public Notice Notifications

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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-2023-01061(SP-KHN)

USACE Jacksonville District, Regulatory Division
Published June 28, 2023
Expiration date: 7/19/2023
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 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. §403) as described below:

APPLICANT: 49th Street Townhouse Condominium, Inc
℅ Frederick McMurtrey
3040 NE 49th Street
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with a residential canal at 3040 NE 49th Street, Fort Lauderdale (Section 18, Township 49 South, Range 43 East), Broward County, Florida.

Directions to the site are as follows: I-95 to Commercial Boulevard. East on Commercial Boulevard to Bayview Drive. South on Bayview Drive to NE 49th Street. East on NE 49th Street.

APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:
Latitude: 26.188486°
Longitude: - 80.105497°

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic: The basic project purpose is to improve water access for a private docking facility.

Overall: The overall project purpose is to improve water access for a private docking facility at 3040 NE 49th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The upland property is a condominium with a 24-slip private docking facility that consists of 648 linear feet of seawall and 16 individual PVC docks. The docks consist of: one (1) 30 feet by 4 feet marginal dock, one (1) 70 feet by 4 feet marginal dock, one (1) 130 feet by 4 feet marginal dock, one (1) 16 feet by 4 feet marginal dock, four (4) 6.5 feet by 4 feet docks, four (4) 8 feet by 4 feet docks, one (1) 475 square feet irregular marginal dock, one (1) 62 feet by 6 feet marginal dock, and two (2) 16 feet by 4 feet marginal docks.
A benthic survey was conducted around docks 11-13 and did not identify any aquatic resources within the survey area. The substrate was described as silty muck devoid of any submerged aquatic vegetation.

PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to improve water access for a condominium’s 24-slip private docking facility. No increase of slips are proposed. The proposed work will involve:

1. Removal and replacement of one (1) 30 feet by 4 feet PVC marginal dock, one (1) 70 feet by 4 feet PVC marginal dock, one (1) 130 feet by 4 feet PVC marginal dock, one (1) 16 feet by 4 feet PVC marginal dock, four (4) 6.5 feet by 4 feet PVC docks, and four (4) 8 feet by 4 feet PVC docks on existing piles;
2. Removal of two (2) 16 feet by 4 feet PVC marginal docks;
3. Construction of one (1) 57 feet by 4 feet PVC marginal dock on existing piles and one new wood dock pile.

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:

Most of the docking structures will be replaced within the same footprint, where the existing structures already shade the substrate, except for the two dock extensions between docks 11-13. The dock extensions are proposed in areas devoid of aquatic resources. Additionally, turbidity curtains will be used to minimize the negative effects from the turbidity generated from the in-water work.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has provided the following explanation why compensatory mitigation should not be required:

Aquatic resources are not expected to be present in the footprint of the existing structures due to the shading caused by those structures. Additionally, no aquatic resources were observed within the survey area and the proposed dock extensions. The proposed work is not expected to adversely affect aquatic resources; therefore, no mitigation should be required.

CULTURAL RESOURCES:

The Corps 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 threatened West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) and would not adversely modify its designated critical habitat. Use of the Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, and the State of Florida Effect Determination Key for the Manatee in Florida (the key) dated April 2013 and the May 2019 addendum, results in the following sequential determination: A-B-C-G-N-O-P, paragraph 3 “may affect, not likely to adversely affect.” The applicant will adhere to the “Manatee Construction Conditions.” The Corps has received programmatic concurrence from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, no further coordination is required.

The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the Giant Manta Ray (Mobula birostris), swimming green, Kemp’s Ridley, and loggerhead sea turtles, (Chelonia mydas, Lepidochelys kempii, and Caretta caretta), and the Smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata). The Corps will request concurrence from National Marine Fisheries Service with this determination 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. The proposal would impact, through shading, approximately 0.033 acres of unvegetated substrate within estuarine waters, which are utilized by various life stages of penaeid shrimp complex, reef fish, stone crab, spiny lobster, migratory/pelagic fish, and snapper/grouper complex associated with mud, shell, sand and rock substrate and water column EFH. Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or Federally managed fisheries in the ICW. 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.

NAVIGATION: The proposed structures are 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 Palm Beach Gardens Permits Section, 4400 PGA Boulevard, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 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, Kyle Nichols, in writing at the Palm Beach Gardens Permits Section, 4400 PGA Boulevard, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410; by electronic mail at Kyle.H.Nichols@usace.army.mil ; by facsimile transmission at (561) 626-6971; or, by telephone at (561) 785-5644.

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.

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.