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:
Achilles Holdings, LLC.
c/o Mr. Bill Holt
8203 North Lagoon Drive
Panama City Beach, Florida 32408
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with Grand Lagoon. The project site is located at 7801 North Lagoon Drive, in Section 8, Township 4 South, Range 15 West, Panama City Beach, Bay County, Florida.
Directions to the site are as follows: From Panama City, head west on Hwy 98 over Hathaway Bridge to Thomas Drive. Turn left on Thomas Drive to N. Lagoon Drive. Turn right on N. Lagoon Drive. Property is on south side of N. Lagoon Drive at the intersection of N. Lagoon Drive and Country
Place.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES: Latitude 30.16271°
Longitude -85.76871°
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: Residential Development
Overall: To construct a small residential development within Panama City Beach.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The 2.52 acre parcel contains approximately 1.67 acres of uplands and 0.85 acres of wetlands. The wetland system consists of a hydric pine flatwood freshwater system. The onsite vegetation consists of slash pine (Pinus elliottii), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), popcorn tree (Sapium sebiferum), sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana), Muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia), rattlebush (Sesbania herbacea), sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), southern dewberry (Rubus trivialis), cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta), and catbrier(Smilax laurifolia). The existing area surrounding the project area consists of Grand Lagoon to the south, a residential development to the west, and single family residences to the north and east.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to discharge approximately 1,678 cubic yards (CY) of clean fill into approximately 0.68 acres of hydric pine wetlands to allow for the construction of (8) single-family residences with supporting infrastructure, utilities, and stormwater management areas.
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:
The project has been designed to avoid 0.17 acre of wetlands and provide a wetland setback buffer to Grand Lagoon. To offset wetland impacts, the applicant would purchase credits from Horseshoe Creek Mitigation Bank.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:
To offset the direct impacts associated with the project, the applicant is proposing to mitigate for the functional loss of 0.68 acre of direct fill impacts and 0.13 acre of secondary impacts via
the purchase of 0.41 palustrine forested credits from the Horseshoe Creek Mitigation Bank (SAJ-2014-01308).
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 Wood Stork (Mycteria americana), Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus), Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa) and Eastern Indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couperi). The Corps will consult existing programmatic keys and consultations for these species pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.
ESSENTIAL 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. Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or Federally managed fisheries in the
Gulf of Mexico. 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 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 to Erin Campbell, Regulatory Project Manager, at 1325 J Street, Sacramento, California 95814, by electronic mail at erin.m.campbell@usace.army.mil, or by telephone at (916) 557-5263 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, Erin Campbell at 1325 J Street, Sacramento, California 95814, by electronic mail at erin.m.campbell@usace.army.mil, or by telephone at (916) 557-5263.
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, floodhazards, 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)(1) of the
Clean Water Act.
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 Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The project is being reviewed under FDEP application no. 0437228-001-SFI.
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.