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Public Notice Notifications

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Florida - This includes all public notices for projects being reviewed for Standard Permits within the State of Florida.

Antilles - This includes all public notices for projects being reviewed for Standard Permits within the Antilles area (this includes Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands).

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SAJ-2024-02006

USACE Jacksonville District, Regulatory Division
Published Nov. 21, 2024
Expiration date: 12/21/2024

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: CMC Concrete Batching Corp.
3261 Cargo St
Fort Myers, FL

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with Charlotte Harbor. The project site is located at 3200 Cooper Street, Punta Gorda, Charlotte County, Florida (Figure 1).

Directions to the site are as follows: From I-75, west on Marion Ave, South on Cooper Street, parcel is at the end of Cooper Street on the left.

APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:
Latitude: 26.90774°
Longitude: -82.03770°

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic: Commercial storage.

Overall: The overall purpose is to construct a self-storage facility in central Charlotte County, Florida that has access to surface transportation.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The wetland system consists of a freshwater and saltwater system. The onsite vegetation consists of disturbed land which includes live oak, Brazilian pepper, primrose willow, ragweed, beggar’s tick, dog fennel, and melaleuca as well as mangrove swamp that includes white mangrove, buttonwood, and willow. The existing area surrounding the project area consists of mixed hardwood wetlands infested with exotic vegetation.

PROPOSED WORK: The applicant is seeking authorization to construct an indoor/outdoor storage facility that would include 1.98 acres of wetland fill and 0.02 acres of other surface water fill. The project will consist of four storage buildings, outdoor storage and parking areas, storm water management areas, and 1.36± acres of wetland and upland mitigation areas as well as 0.52 acres of other surface water preservation (Figure 2).

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION INFORMATION: That applicant indicated that, due to the size and shape of the subject parcel and the area needed for buildings and infrastructure, impacts to wetlands cannot be avoided. The site development plan was designed to preserve and enhance the wetlands and uplands onsite which are adjacent to offsite wetlands that connect to Alligator Creek. The proposed enhancement activities in the mitigation areas including the elimination of the exotic species seed source and replanting with native vegetation will result in a net improvement for the plant communities onsite. The applicant’s Mitigation and Monitoring Plan is available upon request.

The applicant indicated that they evaluated the project’s impacts to waters of the U.S. and determined that, based on the configuration of the site, there is no other design that would fulfill the project’s purpose. The applicant has preliminarily documented that there are no other practicable off-site or on-site alternatives are available and capable of being developed with less adverse impact to the aquatic ecosystem. The Corps will incorporate feedback received in response to this Public Notice to ensure that a reasonable range of alternatives has been considered and that all relevant issues raised by the public have been addressed.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: To compensate for unavoidable impacts to wetlands, the applicant proposes the purchase of 0.13 forested saltwater and 0.67 herbaceous freshwater credits at Little Pine Island Mitigation Bank.

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 preliminarily determined the proposal would have no effect on any listed threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat. The applicant’s consultant conducted a Protected Species Survey in January 2022 and did not observe any federally listed species onsite.

The subject site consists of significantly disturbed uplands and wetlands with a mangrove wetland in the southern portion of the property. Past disturbance to the site has included removing all but a few native trees and root raking, which completely modified the soil conditions. As a result, the site does not contain habitats appropriate for the eastern indigo snake or other federally listed species. The site is surrounded by development to the north, a railroad and US41 to the west, and brackish wetlands to the east and south which are also not habitat for this species.

Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi corais): The project will be conditioned for use of the Service’s most current guidance for Standard Protection Measures For the Eastern Indigo Snake during site preparation and project construction. By use of the Eastern Indigo Snake Key dated July 2017, the project results in a path of A-B-C-D-E, not likely to adversely affect (NLAA).

Wood stork (Mycteria Americana): The proposed project is located within potential foraging areas according to the Resource at Risk report dated 4 May 2022. According to the Habitat Management Guidelines for the Wood Stork in the Southeast Region, written by John C. Ogden, storks feed primarily on small fish between 1-8 inches in length. Successful foraging sites are those where the water is between 2-15 inches deep. Suitable foraging habitat is located in the project footprint; therefore, potential impacts to the threatened Wood stork were evaluated using the South Florida Programmatic Concurrence (Key), dated 18 May 2010. Use of this Key produced the sequential determination A-B-C-D-E, not likely to adversely affect (NLAA).

Florida’s Bonneted Bat (Eumops floridanus): Since the proposed activity is located within the Consultation Area for the Florida bonneted bat, potential impacts to the species were assessed using the Florida Bonneted Bat Consultation Key, 2024. There are no dead trees (snags) or other potential roosts that contain potential cavities on the property. Use of the key resulted in a path of 1A-2A-3C-4B-11A. This determination is based on the lack of roosting habitat in the project area. Therefore, the Corps has determined that the project may affect, not likely to adversely affect the species (MANLAA).

NAVIGATION: The proposed structures are 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 in writing to the attention of the District Engineer through the Tampa Permits Section, 915 Wilshire BLVD Suite 1109, Los Angeles, CA 90017 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 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, Eric R. Sweeney by electronic mail at Eric.R.Sweeney@usace.army.mil or by telephone at (760) 602-4837.

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: Water Quality Certification may be required from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The project has been issued an Environmental Resource Permit under permit no. 43046895.000.

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.

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