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: Walton County Public Works
c/o Charles Cotton
117 Montgomery Circle
DeFuniak Springs, Florida 32435
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect mixed flatwood wetlands associated with Churchill Bayou/Choctawhatchee Bay. The project site is located at the intersection of Chat Holly Road and Nellie Drive in Walton County, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida 32459.
DIRECTIONS TO THE SITE: From Pensacola take I-10 East toward Tallahassee for +/- 72 miles to exit 85, turn right (south) onto US-331 South, and continue for +/- 23.7 miles. Turn right (west) onto Chat Holly Road and continue for +/- 2.25 miles. The proposed right-of-way (ROW) is on the left (south) side of the road.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES: Latitude: 30.3756597°
Longitude - 86.212053°
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: The basic project purpose is transportation.
Overall: The applicant has stated that the overall project purpose is to construct a new roadway extension/alignment, connecting undeveloped areas south of Choctawhatchee Bay to Highway 98, that would provide an additional emergency evacuation route in the event of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane or a wildfire, and to serve as a future connection road for a school board owned property and future residential and commercial development. The Corps may refine the overall project purpose, if necessary, in coordination with the applicant during evaluation of project alternatives.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The 21.86-acre site consists of approximately 14 acres of upland (140, 190, 434, 441, 443, 740, FLUCCS), 7 acres of mixed flatwood wetlands (625, 646 FLUCCS), and 0.75 acre of small ditches (443, FLUCCS). The areas were mapped using the Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System (FLUCFCS). The site is highly disturbed from years of silvicultural activities and is occupied by pine plantation and timber roads. There is a large ditch running east-west on the north central portion of the site. The canopy within the site is planted slash pine at various stages of growth with a mixed understory. The uplands are comprised of southern magnolia, hardwood oaks, saw palmetto, bracken fern, broomsedge, gallberry, yaupon, and other xeric upland species indicative of mesic flatwoods. The wetland vegetation includes sweetbay magnolia, tupelo, red maple, myrtle-leaf holly, large gallberry, lyonia, bog buttons, hatpins, and obligate grasses, forbs, and rushes indicative of a wet flatwood savanna habitat. The surrounding area consists of undeveloped pine plantation to the east, residential and undeveloped areas to the west, Nellie Drive and Chat Holly Road to the north and commercial and residential areas to the south, including Publix and Hwy 98.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to discharge fill material into 4.43 acres of wetland and 0.29 acre of ditch to construct a new, 1.00-mile roadway extension/alignment to the north from Nellie Road to Chat Holley Road. The new alignment would consist of a two-lane rural roadway section equipped with a curb and gutter collection system. The proposed surface water management system would consist of two hydraulically separate wet detention ponds located along the eastern portion of the roadway alignment. The ponds have been designed to discharge toward either a mosquito control ditch or toward the northern right-of-way of U.S. Highway 98.
AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION: The applicant has designed the proposed project to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment by placing proposed infrastructure within the existing timber road footprint on the north side of the property and utilizing existing timber trails and the disturbed access road footprint.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant is proposing to purchase Corps-approved palustrine wetland credits from Nokuse Plantation Mitigation Bank as compensatory mitigation to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment.
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. In March 2024, Archaeological Consultants, Inc. conducted a Phase I cultural resource assessment survey (CRAS) of the proposed project site, or Area of Potential Effect (APE), and excavated approximately 50-acres of road corridor and pond sites with 35 shovel test pits. As a result, no archaeological sites or historic resources were identified. In June 2024, the Florida State Historic Preservation Officer concurred that the proposed project would have no effect on historic properties listed, or eligible for listing, in the NRHP, or otherwise of historical, archaeological, or architectural value within the surveyed APE.
ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has determined the proposal would have no effect on any federally listed threatened or endangered species or their designated critical habitat.
ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT (EFH): The Corps has determined the proposal would not require consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service on EFH, as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996, because the site does not contain EFH.
NAVIGATION: The proposal is not located in the vicinity of a federal navigation channel.
SECTION 408: The Corps has determined the proposal would 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, via electronic mail, to the project manager, Leah M. Fisher, by electronic mail at leah.m.fisher@usace.army.mil 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, Leah M. Fisher, by electronic mail at leah.m.fisher@usace.army.mil; or, by telephone at (916) 557-6639.
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.
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: An individual Water Quality Certification (WQC) and Environmental Resource Permit (ERP), #IND-131-317438-1, was granted by the Northwest Florida Water Management District on October 3, 2024.
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 this notice and must state the specific reasons for requesting the public hearing.