TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Galveston 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) and/or Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. §403). The purpose of this public notice is to solicit comments from the public regarding the work described below:
If you are interested in receiving additional project drawings associated with this public notice, please send an e-mail to the project manager by electronic mail at Kayla.J.Roberts@usace.army.mil.
APPLICANT: Shai Lothan
Florida Ranch Development
1954 1st Street
Suite 181
Highland Park, IL 60035
AGENT: Keith Johnson
Wetland Sciences, Inc.
3308 Gulf Beach Hwy
Pensacola, Fl 32507
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with Escambia River. The project/review area is located on the West side of Morristown Road, approximately 0.5-mile to 0.75-mile between Mims Island Road and Morristown Road in Sections 14, 15, 22, and 23, Township 5 N, Range 30 W; at Latitude 30.943660° and Longitude -87.229848°; in Jay, Santa Rosa County, Florida.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The subject property is characterized into the following ecological communities; upland pine, baygall, upland mesic hardwood forest, and bottomland hardwood forest. The total project boundary is 298 acres and includes approximately 135 acres of wetlands. A portion of Holly Creek and asscoaited wetland complex is located within the project boundary. There is an existing unpaved dirt access road that transverses the project boundary between Morristown Road and Mims Island Road. The project site has been historically impacted by silviculture/ forestry activities.
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: Construction of an access road to residential development.
Overall: To construct an access road to a private residential development and associated support infrastructure in Santa Rosa County.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant requests authorization to discharge fill material into 0.68-acre of wetland for the construction of an access road associated with a portion of a proposed residential development. The proposed Phase 1 of the residential development consists of the construction of a 40-lot rural residential subdivision with an interior right-of-way with cul-de-sacs, common areas, an access driveway connection to Morristown Road, and stormwater infrastructure. The proposed project will result in 0.68-acre of direct impacts and 0.70-acre of secondary impacts to wetlands.
AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION: The applicant has provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment: Wetland impacts are related to the construction and widening of a roadway through the property to bring the roadway up to safety requirements and to provide access to geographically isolated uplands. The roadway is currently in existence, but in the form of an existing dirt forestry/silviculture road. The remaining wetlands on site will remain undisturbed. A wetland buffer is proposed along the perimeter of the remaining onsite wetlands. The project has minimized direct impacts by designing and limiting the project footprint to those necessary to construct the project, the meander of internal roadway, ensuring residential building and facility footprints are located entirely in uplands, and utilization of existing uplands for the stormwater management system.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment: To offset the proposed impacts, the applicant proposes to establish an onsite Conservation Easement for 20.00 acres of wetlands. The Mitigation site is directly connected downstream to the impact areas and appears to be part of the Escambia River floodplain. The applicant proposes a permittee-responsible mitigation plan.
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, federally recognized tribes and other interested parties.
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) to determine if any threatened, endangered, proposed, or candidate species, as well as the proposed and final designated critical habitat may occur in the vicinity of the proposed project. Based on this initial review, the Corps has made a preliminary determination that the proposed project may affect species and critical habitat listed below. No other ESA-listed species or critical habitat will be affected by the proposed action.
Table 1: ESA-listed species and/or critical habitat potentially present in the action area.
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Species Common Name and/or Critical Habitat Name
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Scientific Name
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Federal Status
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Eastern Indigo Snake
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Drymarchon couperi
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Threatened
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Pursuant to Section 7 ESA, any required consultation with the Service(s) will be conducted in accordance with 50 CFR part 402.
This notice serves as request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 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.
NAVIGATION: The proposed structure or activity is not located in the vicinity of a federal navigation channel.
WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: Water Quality Certification was granted on June 19, 2024, from the Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD). The project was reviewed under Individual Environmental Resource Permit Number IND-113-315362-1.
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: Coastal Zone Consistency Concurrence was granted on June 19, 2024, from the NWFWMD. The project was reviewed under Individual Environmental Resource Permit Number IND-113-315362-1. 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 geographic extent of aquatic resources within the proposed project area that either are, or are presumed to be, within the Corps jurisdiction 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. A permit will be granted unless its issuance is found to be contrary to the public interest.
COMMENTS: 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 used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment (EA) and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.
The Galveston District will receive written comments on the proposed work, as outlined above, until April 27, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Kayla Roberts at Kayla.J.Roberts@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, Attention: Kayla Roberts, 2000 Fort Point Road, Galveston, Texas 77551. 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.
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