SAJ-2024-04313 (SP-EPS)

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 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 edward.p.sarfert@usace.army.mil

APPLICANT:    Med VII LLC

                          c/o Adam Medley

                          420 Airport Blvd.

           Pensacola, FL 32503

AGENT:            Keith Johnson

                          Wetland Sciences, Inc.

                          3308 Gulf Beach Highway

                          Pensacola, FL 32507

WATERWAY AND LOCATION:  The project would affect navigable waters of the United States associated with Bayou Chico.  The project is located at 3088 Barrancas Avenue, approximately 1250 feet southeast of the Barrancas Bridge over Bayou Chico; at Latitude 30.399288° and Longitude -87.244977°; in Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project site is in open waters of Bayou Chico.  The waters here contain a mix of mud and sand bottom with no submerged aquatic vegetation.  The shoreline is unarmored with a narrow band of emergent and shrub vegetation along the narrow peninsula that the project is centered on. This bank of vegetation consists primary of black needle rush (Juncus roemerianus) and salt bush (Baccharis spp.).  There are existing marinas on both sides of the project site.   

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic: marina

Overall:  Construction of a marina in Bayou Chico to provide wet slips for boats from 25 feet to 70 feet long.

PROPOSED WORK:  The applicant requests authorization to construct a marina that would include an approximately 40.5’ x 170’ marginal structure totaling 5365.2 square feet (for fueling facilities and sales office), a 414.7’ x 6’ boardwalk, a 6’ x 23.9’ boardwalk a 6’ x 31.5’ boardwalk, an 8’ x 51’ aluminum gangway, an 8' x 324.8' floating access pier, a 6’ x 128’ floating terminal walkway, a 5’ x 294.6’ access pier, a 6’ x 65’ terminal walkway, a 6’ x 359.5’ access pier, a 6’ x 702.1’ marginal dock, fourteen (14) 4.3' x 40' floating catwalks, two (2) 6’ x 30’ catwalks, nine (9) 3’ x 20’ catwalks, twenty-two (22) 3’ x 30' catwalks and sixteen (16) 3’ x 16’ catwalks.  In lieu of reducing the width of the access pier over emergent vegetation, the applicant would increase the height of the structure over the vegetation.  The proposed structure will be 6' in width and will be elevated 6' above grade upon crossing the vegetation line.  The structure will then ramp back down to 3' above MHW upon crossing the waterward edge of the vegetation.  Slip sizes are described within the table on the plan view drawing.  Total structures over waters of the United States equal 24,629.18 SF.  The facility will require approximately 820 eight-inch wood piles and 25 fourteen-inch steel and concrete pilings to be installed via jetting.

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION: The applicant has provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment:

No loss of aquatic resources is proposed.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:

No loss of aquatic resources is proposed.

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), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Section 7 Mapper, and the NMFS Critical Habitat Mapper 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.

Gulf sturgeon, green sea turtles, Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, loggerhead sea turtles, leatherback sea turtles, hawksbill sea turtles, giant manta ray, and West Indian manatee.

Pursuant to Section 7 ESA, any required consultation with the Services will be conducted in accordance with 50 CFR part 402.

This notice serves as request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries 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.

ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT: Pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996, the Corps reviewed the project area, examined information provided by the applicant, and consulted available species information.

This notice initiates the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) consultation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Our initial determination is that the proposed action may adversely affect EFH and/or fisheries managed by Fishery Management Councils and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Implementation of the proposed project would directly impact approximately 190 square feet of mud/sand bottom. The effects of the project are determined to be minimal and permanent. These habitat(s) are utilized by the following species and their various life stages:

Our final determination relative to project impacts and the need for mitigation measures is subject to review by and coordination with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

NAVIGATION: Based on the Florida State Plane coordinates provided by the applicant, the waterward edges of the proposed structures are 100 feet away from the near bottom edge of the Bayou Chico federal 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 may be required from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: Coastal Zone Consistency Concurrence is required from FDEP. 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 June 27, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Ed Sarfert at edward.p.sarfert@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Attention: Ed Sarfert, 41 N. Jefferson Street, Suite 301, Pensacola FL, 32502.  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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