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). 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 Tracy.E.Hurst@usace.army.mil.
APPLICANT: Mr. Clifford Kelsey
City of Leesburg
550 South 14th Street
Leesburg, FL 34748
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect aquatic resources associated with the Southern Ocklawaha River Basin. The project site is located at 940 Susan Street; at latitude 28.823033° and longitude -81.891166°; in Leesburg, Lake County, Florida.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project site is composed of an existing community park with baseball fields, a football field, tennis courts, racquetball courts and structures associated with these facilities. The land surrounding the project site includes low-density residential development to the north and west, commercial property to the east, and industrial property to the south. There are also two freshwater wetland habitats present on-site including one herbaceous wetland and one forested wetland.
PROJECT PURPOSE: Basic: Establish a rugby sports complex.
Overall: Establish a rugby sports complex within the City of Leesburg.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant requests authorization to establish a rugby sports complex, known as the “Susan Street Sports Complex”, requiring impacts to 0.91 acre of freshwater palustrine wetland (0.67 herbaceous and 0.24 forested).
AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION: The applicant has provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment: “The applicant has provided an environmental narrative detailing the purpose of the project, existing and historical site conditions, the proposed redevelopment, efforts made to avoid and minimize impacts to onsite wetlands as well as efforts to mitigate for unavoidable wetland impacts. The narrative includes an alternative sites analysis detailing four alternative park sites that were within the same region as well as under the ownership of the city. The alternative site analysis concluded that the proposed site was the preferred option for the purposes of the avoidance and minimization of impacts to wetland habitats.”
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment: The applicant proposes to purchase 0.12 freshwater forested credits and 0.4 freshwater herbaceous credits from the Missing Link 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, federally recognized tribes and other interested parties.
ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has performed an initial review of the application, the 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, but is not likely to adversely affect, the species listed below. The site does not contain any critical habitat for any species. No other ESA-listed species will be affected by the proposed action.
Table 1: ESA-listed species potentially present in the action area.
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Species Common 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.
SECTION 408: The applicant will not require permission under Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 USC 408) because the activity, in whole or in part, would not alter, occupy, or use a Corps Civil Works project.
WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: Water Quality Certification is required from the St. Johns River Water Management District and is being evaluating under Application No. 216770-2.
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: Coastal Zone Consistency Concurrence is required from the St. Johns River Water Management District. 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 Jacksonville District will receive written comments on the proposed work, as outlined above, until April 30, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Tracy Hurst at Tracy.E.Hurst@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Attention: Tracy Hurst, 10117 Princess Palm Avenue, Suite 120 Tampa, FL 33610. 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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