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: John Z Ferrell
Preferred Coastal Properties LLC
736 Driftwood Drive
Lynn Haven, Florida 32444
AGENT: Scott Davis
Garlick Environmental Associates, Inc.
Post Office Box 385
Apalachicola, Florida 32329
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect aquatic resources associated with the Gulf of Mexico. The project site is located south of North 15th Street approximately one quarter-mile northwest of the intersection of U.S. Highway 98 and North 15th Street, and south of the intersection of St. Charles Street and North 15th Street (Parcel IDs 04175-010-000, and 04175-020-000), in Section 24, Township 6S, Range 12W, at Latitude 29.941986 and Longitude -85.403617 in Mexico Beach, Bay County, Florida.
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: The basic project purpose is to provide housing.
Overall: The overall project purpose is to provide housing in Mexico Beach, Florida to meet the housing demands of the local community.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to discharge fill material which would result in the loss of 4.77 acres of wetlands for the construction of a 9.48-acre single family residential development, including associated roads, infrastructure, and stormwater management facilities.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The wetland system consists of 4.77 acres of low quality/degraded freshwater forested wetlands which flow via runoff into a drainage ditch along the southwest boundary of the project site. A smaller ditch borders the southeast boundary of the site and feeds into the large drainage ditch. The large drainage ditch, originating and conveying drainage from upstream of the site, converges with another large drainage ditch approximately 775 feet southeast of the site before emptying directly into the Gulf of Mexico. The existing area surrounding the project is primarily residential, consisting of both developed and undeveloped parcels.
AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION: The applicant has provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment: “All wetland areas or other surface waters that are outside the specific limits of the proposed construction will be protected from erosion, siltation, scouring, excess turbidity, dewatering, and/or any other action which may negatively impact the water quantity or water quality of those wetlands and other surface waters.”
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment: “Mitigation for the wetland impacts will be by purchase of 2.09 credits at Horseshoe Creek Mitigation Bank.”
CULTURAL RESOURCES: Pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Appendix C of 33 CFR Part 325, and the 2005 Revised Interim Guidance for Implementing Appendix C, the District Engineer consulted district files and records and the latest published version of the National Register of Historic Places and initially determined that No resources listed in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places are known to be present in the vicinity of the proposed work; however, the permit area has not been formally surveyed for the presence of cultural resources. Additional work may be necessary to identify and assess any cultural resources that may be present. This notice serves as a request to SHPO, THPO, and/or other interested parties to provide any information they may have regarding historic properties.
The District Engineer’s final eligibility and effect determination will be based upon coordination with the SHPO and/or THPO, as appropriate and required, and with full consideration given to the proposed undertaking’s potential direct and indirect effects on historic properties within the Corps-identified permit area.
ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has performed an initial review of the application, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southeast Regional Office Section 7 Mapper, and the NMFS Critical Habitat Mapper to determine if any threatened, endangered, proposed, or candidate species, or proposed or final designated critical habitat may occur within the boundary of the proposed project. Based on this initial review, the Corps has made a preliminary determination that the proposed project may affect gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi), eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi), tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), Florida skullcap (Scutellaria floridana), Godfrey’s butterwort (Pinguicula ionantha), Telephus spurge (Euphorbia telephioides), and white birds-in-a-nest (Macbridea alba). No other ESA-listed species or critical habitat will be affected by the proposed action.
Pursuant to Section 7 ESA, any required consultation with the Service(s) will be conducted in accordance with 50 CFR part 402. The Corps is the lead Federal agency for ESA consultation for the proposed action.
This notice serves as a request to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service for any additional information on whether any listed or proposed to be listed endangered or threatened species or critical habitat may be present in the area which would be affected by the proposed activity.
ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT: Pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996, the Corps reviewed the project area, examined information provided by the applicant, and consulted available species information.
The Corps has determined the proposal would have no effect on any Essential Fish Habitat (EFH). No EFH was identified within the project area. Therefore, no consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service on EFH as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996 is required. 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 structure or 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.
WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: Water Quality Certification may be required from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, because the activity involves the discharge of fill material into waters of United States.
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: In Florida, the State approval constitutes compliance with the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan.
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.
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.
COMMENTS: 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.
The South Atlantic Division Technical Regional Execution Center (TREC) will receive written comments on the proposed work, as outlined above, until July 23, 2024. Comments should be submitted to Taylor Parks at taylor.c.parks@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, TREC, Attention: Taylor Parks, 100 West Oglethorpe Avenue, Savannah, Georgia, 31401. Please refer to the permit application number in your comments.
Any person may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider the application. Requests for public hearings shall state, with particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing. Requests for a public hearing will be granted, unless the District Engineer determines that the issues raised are insubstantial or there is otherwise no valid interest to be served by a hearing.