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: Mr. Andrew D. Carlson, Palmas Town Center GP/LP LLC
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect wetlands. The project site is located on Palmas del Mar Drive between the Candelero Drive Intersection and Country Drive Sector, Palmas del Mar, Candelero Abajo Ward in the Municipality of Humacao, Puerto Rico.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES FOR PROJECT:
Latitude 18.090013°
Longitude -65.803839°
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES FOR MITIGATION SITE:
Latitude 18.091897°
Longitude -65.803047°
PROJECT PURPOSE: The purpose of the project is to meet the needs of the growing Palmas del Mar community by bringing businesses and services closer to residents and visitors.
PROPOSED WORK: Palmas Town Center GP/LP LLC would deposit fill material over approximately 0.67 acre of wetlands within the project site to construct 60,000 square feet of retail and commercial buildings, restaurants, and galleries as well as plazas and parking spaces.
AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION INFORMATION: To minimize impacts to wetlands, the applicant has designed the project to align the development along the existing road in order to minimize fill in wetlands. The footprint of the proposed development in wetlands has been reduced from 3 acres to 0.67 acres. The applicant will manage stormwater and will implement comprehensive Best Management Practices (BMPs) during construction. To protect the adjacent wetlands during torrential rain, the project includes a retention pond with a passive level spreader system that allows slow and uniform stormwater flow.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant submitted a Conceptual Wetland Mitigation Plan, Palmas, Town Center, to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment. Proposed mitigation actions involve the enhancement of degraded emergent wetland areas dominated by exotic vegetation, located to the east of the project site. The compensatory mitigation would expand the existing Pterocarpus officinalis forest. The actions will include a two-acre expansion of the westernmost side of the Pterocarpus forest. This represents a mitigation ratio of 3:1. The mitigation would result in the creation of a heterogeneous habitat with swales and shallow water ponding areas and earthen mounds, followed by the planting of desirable emergent and canopy species.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project area is located within an 8.32 acre parcel at a central location in Palmas del Mar. Its topography is mostly flat with an approximate elevation of 2 to 4 meters amsl. The wetlands on the site are classified as Palustrine Wetlands (PEM1A-Palustrine, emergent, persistent, temporarily flooded). Wetland areas are mostly dominated by vegetation from the species: Paspalum fasciculatum (FACW), Urochloa mutica (FACW), Mimosa casta (FACW) and Ipomea tiliacea (UPL); while upland areas are mostly dominated by the species Megathyrsus maximus (FACU), Sphagneticola trilobata (FACU) Cenchrus purpureus (FAC) and Ipomoea tiliacea (UPL). Based on the Soil Survey of the Humacao Area of Eastern Puerto Rico from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service, the Project Area contains four soil types: Candelero loam 2 to 5 percent slopes (CdB), Candelero loam 5 to 12 percent slopes (CdC2), Teja gravelly sandy loam 12 to 40 percent slopes (TeE) and Wet alluvial land (Wa); the series CdB y Wa are present at the mitigation site.
The areas that met the three wetland criteria of hydrology, hydric soils and hydrophytic vegetation are on the west side of the project area and are part of Palustrine Emergent Wetland areas associated with a marsh area that eventually transitions with a Pterocarpus officinalis forest to the west and outside of the project area. Two stormwater drainage ditches, one covering approximately 0.19 acres to the north and another covering approximately 0.22 acres to the south, enter the project area from its western boundary. These ditches eventually connect to emergent wetland areas outside the project area. They are considered ephemeral features because they function as stormwater control measures.
Palmas del Mar is a master-planned community that offers luxury living in a gated residential/tourist neighborhood that includes approximately 3,500 residences, two championship golf courses, the largest tennis & pickleball center in the Caribbean, a beach club, an athletic club, a private STEM-focused academy, a 107 key Wyndham Golf & Beach Resort, and a private marina & boat haul-out. There is an average of 21,000 people in the area during weekdays and more on weekends. Palmas del Mar's only means of transportation to get needed goods and services is by car in the town on Humacao. The services offered by the proposed project, which include a market for groceries, will be easily and safely accessible by golf cars and bicycles and within walking distance of some communities, reducing car footprints in the greater area.
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, Commonwealth, 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 and other interested parties.
ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the Puerto Rican Boa. The Corps will request U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concurrence with this determination pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act or will consult programmatically through the Informational for Planning and Consultation (IPAC) website. The project proponent will be expected to implement conservation measures during construction for the protection of this species.
WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources issued a Water Quality Certificate for this project on December 15, 2023.
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: The Puerto Rico Planning Board issued a Federal Consistency Certificate with the Puerto Rico Coastal Zone Management Program dated March 13, 2024, and signed on April 18, 2024.
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. A jurisdictional determination has not been completed by Corps personnel.
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, aesthetics, 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 Environmental Protection Agency under authority of Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act.
The 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.
Coordination with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and other Federal, Commonwealth, 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.
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.
REQUEST FOR PUBLIC HEARING: Any person may request a public hearing. The request must be submitted in writing within the designated comment period of the notice and must state the specific reasons for requesting the public hearing. Please submit public hearing requests to: karen.m.urelius@usace.army.mil.
COMMENTS: Comments regarding the potential authorization of the work proposed should be submitted in writing through the Antilles Permits Section to: karen.m.urelius@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, they may be mailed to the address at the top of this public notice. Comments must be submitted within 30 days from the date of this notice.
QUESTIONS: Questions concerning this application should be directed to the project manager, Karen Urelius at karen.m.urelius@usace.army.mil or by telephone at
(787) 370-8359.