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: 4906 Flagler Drive LLC
2850 Tigertail Avenue, Suite 800
Miami, Florida 33133
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect tidal waters of the United States associated with the Lake Worth Lagoon. The project site is located within Lake Worth Lagoon adjacent to 4906 N. Flagler Drive in Section 3, Township 43 South, Range 43 East, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:
Latitude: 25.755213°
Longitude: -80.050920°
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: The basic project purpose is to provide safe moorage for a multi-family residence and create a navigable path to the existing channel for vessel traffic.
Overall: The overall project purpose is to provide a multi-family docking facility within Lake Worth Lagoon and provide navigable access to the closest existing navigable channel.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project site is located adjacent to a multifamily residence in the Lake Worth Lagoon located in Palm Beach County, which are tidal waters accessible to swimming sea turtles, smalltooth sawfish, manatees, and other aquatic organisms. A benthic resource survey conducted August 19, 2022 reported seagrasses are located throughout the entire project footprint beginning at the existing seawall and extending up to 500-feet waterward. Seagrass species include Shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) at coverages between 15-75%; Johnson’s seagrass (Halophila johnsonii) a coverages between 15-50%; and Paddle grass (Halophila decipiens) at coverages between 5-60%. Benthic substrate consists of compacted sand and silt. No hardbottom or hardbottom communities were identified within the project footprint or surrounding areas. A detailed overlay of the seagrasses and proposed work are provided in the attached drawings.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to provide improved vessel mooring and improve navigation by dredging a new access route to an existing channel. Specifically, the applicant proposes to:
1. Remove an existing wooden finger pier (350-square feet);
2. Install a new T-shaped wooden dock with a 250-linear foot by 5 foot access walkway and a 33-linear foot by 6-foot terminal platform with ½-inch deck spacing to accommodate 9 vessel slips (1,450 square feet total);
3. Install four (4) exclusion piles and seven (7) channel markers;
4. Dredge approximately 28,590 square feet (3,177 cubic yards) to a depth of -4 Mean Low Water (MLW) with slide slops of 2:1.
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 proposed mooring facility was reduced from a proposed 25 slips to 9 slips. The project was modified to avoid an additional 8,700 square feet of seagrasses within the dredge footprint. Floating turbidity curtains would be utilized during all in-water work and would remain in place until all erodible sediment has stabilized. The applicant agrees to abide by the “Standard Manatee Conditions for In-Water Work” and “Sea Turtle and Smalltooth Sawfish Construction Conditions.”
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has provided the following explanation why compensatory mitigation should not be required:
The applicant has stated “Given the significant changes to the initial project design to minimize impacts to seagrass, compensatory mitigation is not proposed. If the Corps requires mitigation for the unavoidable remaining impacts, Ocean Consulting will provide a plan. The preferred mitigation option for this project will be the purchase of estuarine intertidal group federal mitigation bank credits at the FPL Everglades Mitigation Bank”.
The corps is evaluating the need and availability of appropriate compensatory mitigation.
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 that the proposed project may adversely affect swimming sea turtles: Loggerhead (Caretta caretta), Green (Chelonia mydas) (including designated habitat), Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and Kemp’s Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii); Smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata); and the Giant Manta Ray (Mobula birostris). The Corps will evaluate the proposed work and request concurrence from the National Marine Fisheries Service by separate letter.
The Corps has determined the project may affect the West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus). The Corps will evaluate the proposed work and request consultation from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 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 0.6 acre project footprint contains submerged substrate known to contain seagrass and is utilized by various life stages of penaeid shrimp complex, reef fish, stone crab, spiny lobster, migratory/pelagic fish, and snapper/grouper complex. The project proposes to directly impact several species of seagrasses and benthic substrate by removal and shading within the project area, therefore, the Corps’ initial determination is that the proposed action would have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or Federally managed fisheries in the South Atlantic Region. 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: Based on the Florida State Plane coordinates provided by the applicant, the waterward edge of the proposed project is approximately 135-feet away from the near bottom edge of the Intracoastal Waterway federal channel.
SECTION 408: The Corps has determined 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, Suite 500, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 within 30 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 waters. 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, Jennifer L. Alexander, in writing at the Palm Beach Gardens Permits Section, 4400 PGA Boulevard, Suite 500, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410; or by e-mail at Jennifer.L.Alexander@usace.army.mil.
IMPACT ON NATURAL RESOURCES: Coordination with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, 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 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.
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.