SAJ-2024-01541 (SP-LMF)

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:

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect aquatic resources associated with Lake Florence/Jane Green Swamp. The ±76-acre project site is located north of Pluckebaum Road and west of Clearlake Road in Section 31, Township 24 South, Range 36 East, Rockledge, Brevard County, Florida.

Directions to the site are as follows: From State Route 520, turn south on Clearlake Road, then turn west on Pluckebaum Road and the site will be at the northwest corner of Clearlake and Pluckebaum.

PROJECT PURPOSE:  Basic: To provide housing.

Overall: The applicant’s overall project purpose is to construct multi-family housing and associated infrastructure, within Rockledge, Brevard County, Florida.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The site consists of agricultural lands which have been significantly altered over the years and is surrounded by residential and commercial development. Uplands on the site were historically used for citrus production but have become a monoculture of Brazilian pepper. The western and eastern portions of the site contain wetlands dominated by Brazilian pepper and a series of ditches, canals, and furrows can be found across the entire site. The Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System (FLUCCS, 1999) suggests the parcel contains approximately 16 acres of wetlands, including 1.7 acre of freshwater marsh (6410) and 14 acres of mixed scrub-shrub wetland (6460), as well as uplands, including 21 acres of mixed upland non-forested (3300) and 40 acres of shrub and brushland (3200). The land use cover types estimated by the applicant are approximately 30 acres of upland, and 42 acres of wetland (SJRWMD jurisdictional) and 3.5 acres of other surface waters.

PROPOSED WORK: The applicant is proposing to discharge dredged or fill material into approximately 38 acres of wetlands and 3.5 acres of other waters to construct multi-family housing and associated infrastructure. The proposed activities would also indirectly affect approximately 4 acres of avoided wetlands onsite.

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION INFORMATION: The applicant has designed the proposed project to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment by placing the footprint of housing and infrastructure within upland areas on the site.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: To offset the loss of 48.5 acres of wetlands the applicant is proposing to purchase 13 wetland mitigation credits from the Lake Washington 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 within the Corps permit area. 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 other parties interested in activities within the Corps permit area.

ENDANGERED SPECIES:  The proposed project site may contain suitable habitat for the federally listed wood stork (Mycteria americana), Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi), and Audubon’s crested caracara (Polyborus plancus audubonii). No federally listed plant species were identified. Based on this information, the proposed project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the federally listed species identified above. The Corps will request U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concurrence with this determination pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

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 proposed activity 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 Corps’ regulatory program.  The aquatic resources delineation has not been verified by Corps personnel, nor has the Corps finalized its agency review of the applicant’s proposed mitigation.

COMMENTS regarding the potential authorization of the work proposed should be submitted in writing, via electronic mail, to the Corps’ 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 Corps 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 Corps’ 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, 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 Corps’ 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.

We are soliciting comments from the public; federal, state, and local agencies and officials; tribes; and other Interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered and used 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: The applicant has a pending application with the Saint Johns River Water Management District (Environmental Resource Permit 190230-1).

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 Corps’ District Engineer within the designated comment period of the notice and must state the specific reasons for requesting the public hearing.

CLICK HERE for Public Notice and Graphics:  /Portals/44/docs/regulatory/Public Notices/2025 01 January/West Branch/20250129-SAJ-2024-01541-Brevard-0218-LMF.pdf?ver=t0SN3iMRvBPaIuCMk1tUHw%3d%3d