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:
Jefferson Apartment Group
C/o Mr. Greg Lamb
112 Lake Avenue
Orlando, Florida 32801
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with the Indian River. The project site is located at the southwest corner of 37th Street and Indian River Boulevard in Vero Beach .
Directions to the site are as follows: From the Cocoa Section head south on I-95 to Exit 156. Head east towards Sebastian and turn right on 90th Avenue. Continue onto 85th Street and turn right onto US-1 S. After approximately 5.4 miles turn left onto 45th Street then turn right onto Indian River Boulevard. After approximately 1.4 miles the project site will be on the SW corner of the intersection of Indian River Boulevard and 37th Street.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES: Latitude 27.6581°
Longitude -80.3859°
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: Residential development
Overall: Construction of a multifamily housing development in central Indian River County.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: Mixed Hardwoods (438): Approximately 3.16 acres of the Property contains this forested upland land use classification. It appears portions of this area were used in the past as citrus groves or for other agricultural use. Vegetation within these areas is dominated by live oak, laurel oak, cabbage palm, Brazilian pepper, shoebutton ardisia, shiny coffee, and catbriar.
Mangrove Swamps (612): Portion of the eastern Property and southern extent consist of +7.35 acres of mangrove swamp which appears to connect, via ditches, to the Indian River to the east. The vegetation within this area is dominated by white mangroves, black mangroves, red mangroves, cabbage palm, giant leather fern, and Brazilian pepper.
Exotic Wetland Hardwoods (619): Approximately +13.44 acres of the Property contains this forested wetland land use classification. It appears portions of this community had been used for agricultural purposes in the past but have reverted to wetlands since the land was left fallow. This area is lower in quality overall than the mangrove swamp community. Vegetation is dominated by Brazilian pepper, cabbage palm, Carolina willow, wax myrtle, giant leather fern, and swamp fern.
Saltwater Marshes (642): A +2.16 acres area of salt marsh is present within the central eastern extent of the Property. The vegetation within this area is dominated by saltgrass, glasswort, and sea-oxeye daisy along with scattered juvenile mangroves.
The existing area surrounding the project area consists of a golf course to the south and a medical center to the west.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to impact 11.33 acres of waters of the United States for a multifamily residential housing complex with associated infrastructure. 9.49 acres are to the exotic wetland hardwoods, 1.42 acres are to the mangrove swamps, and .42 acres of impact are to the saltwater marshes.
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:
“Due to the limited space available on the project site, the applicant cannot minimize impacts to the on-site wetlands. With this having been said, the applicant has minimized impacts to the on-site higher quality wetlands and is proposing to impact primarily the wetlands dominated by invasive species. The on-site wetlands are abutting development and roadways on all sides, much of which has led to past secondary impacts. As such, the applicant proposes to utilize the available out provision allowing for impacts to the on-site wetlands. The east access is the only public roadway connection available for access into the parcel pursuant to Indian River County regulatory criteria. Access to 37th Street in the north is not possible since it does not meet the intersection distance criteria. Also, Indian River County is also improving the 37th Street/Indian River Boulevard intersection and moving the section of 37th fronting the site further north as well as constructing a pond between the project parcel and the new road for the roadway drainage. Other properties were considered. However, none of the available properties met the needs of the proposed development.”
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:
“To compensate for the proposed 4.239 FL freshwater forested units, the applicant is proposing to provide 4.24 forested credits at Basin 22 mitigation bank. To compensate for the proposed 1.949 FL estuarine units, the applicant is proposing to provide 1.95 credits at the CGW mitigation bank.”
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:
Eastern Indigo Snake: The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, not likely to adversely affect the Eastern Indigo Snake and its designated critical habitat. Based upon review of the Corps and Service’s Eastern Indigo Snake Programmatic Effect Determination Key (dated August 1 2017), the proposed project resulted in the following sequential determination: A (The project is not located in open water or salt marsh.) >B (The permit will be conditioned for use of the Service’s Standard Protection Measures for the Eastern Indigo Snake during site preparation and protection construction.) >C (The project will impacts less than 25 acres of eastern indigo snake habitat) >D (Project has no known holes, cavities, or refugia) = “not likely to adversely affect” for eastern indigo snake. The Corps has FWS concurrence for the proposed activities through the use of the aforementioned determination key.
Wood Stork: The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the Wood Stork and its designated critical habitat. The Corps completed an evaluation of the project based upon the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) South Florida Ecological Services Field Offices Programmatic Concurrence for use with the Wood Stork (January 2010). Use of the Key for Wood Stork resulted in the following sequential determination: A (The project is more than 0.47 miles from a colony site.) > B (Project impacts SFH > 0.5 acres) >C (Project impacts to SFH within a Core Foraging Area of a colony site) >d (Project impacts to SFH have been avoided and minimized to the extent practicable, and compensation (Service approved mitigation bank or as provided in accordance with Mitigation Rule 33 CFR Part 332) for unavoidable impacts is proposed in accordance with the CWA section 404 (b)(I) guidelines and habitat compensation replaces the foraging value matching the hydroperiod of the wetlands affected and provides foraging value similar to, or higher than, that of impacted wetlands) = “not likely to adversely affect” for wood storks. The Corps has FWS concurrence for the proposed activities through the use of the aforementioned determination key.
Based on existing habitat types, the Corps preliminarily determined the project will have no effect on Audubon’s Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus audubonii), Florida scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens), and Eastern Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis).
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 approximately 1.42 acres of mangroves and .42 acres of saltwater marsh utilized by various life stages of summer flounder and bluefish. Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or Federally managed fisheries in the Indian River. The applicant has minimized impacts to the above habitat types to the maximum extent practicable and has proposed to purchase mitigation credits from the appropriate estuarine mitigation bank in this area 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.
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.
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 Cocoa Permits Section, 400 High Point Drive, Suite 600, Cocoa, Florida 32926 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, Brandon J. Conroy, in writing at the Cocoa Permits Section, 400 High Point Drive, Suite 600, Cocoa, Florida 32926; by electronic mail at brandon.j.conroy@usace.army.mil; or, by telephone at (321) 504-3771 x 0011.
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.