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) 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 carissa.p.curlee@usace.army.mil .
APPLICANT: EPG 1, LLC
Nicholas Dister
111 S. Armenia Ave. Suite 201
Tampa, FL 33609
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with Hillsborough River. The project/review area is located on the west side of US 301, south of the Pasco/Hillsborough County line in 4, 5, 6, 7 Section, 27 South Township, 21 East Range; at Latitude 28.163030 and Longitude -82.235356; Hillsborough County, Florida.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The Project site totals +/-1,958 acres and includes 537.77 acres of wetlands. The area is currently an undeveloped cattle ranch, consisting of fourteen (14) land use types/vegetative communities, 239 acres of which are wetlands.
These land use types/vegetative communities were identified utilizing the Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System, Level III (FLUCFCS, FDOT, January 1999). The upland land use type/vegetative communities on the site are classified as Improved Pasture (211), Shrub and Brushland (320), Pine Flatwoods (411), Upland Hardwood Forest (420), Live Oak (427), Mixed Hardwoods (434) and Coniferous Plantation (441). The wetland/surface water land use types/vegetative communities on the site are classified as Streams and Waterways (510), Reservoirs less than 10 Acres (534), Stream and Lake Swamps (615), Cypress (621), Wetland Forested Mixed (630), Freshwater Marshes (641) and Wet Prairie (643).
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: To develop a golf course within a single-family residential subdivision.
Overall: To provide residential housing with a golf course to the growing Wesley Chapel/Zephyrhills area to meet the local demand for housing.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant requests authorization to fill 15.682 acres of freshwater herbaceous wetlands, 3.59 freshwater forested wetlands, and 3.852 other surface waters associated with the development of the golf and country club within a residential subdivision, known as “NAME OF PROJECT”.
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 project design includes proposed wetland and upland habitat enhancement, preservation, floodplain compensation and stormwater treatment areas. Preservation areas within the project reflect enhanced (expanded) buffer requirements as well as wildlife corridors. The proposed preservation areas include the forested floodplain areas flanking the Hillsborough River State Park property to the south, the onsite central “slough” wetland system that lies upstream of the Hillsborough River floodplain, along with the Indian Creek tributary drainage within the eastern portion of the property. The primary preservation corridors that include these major drainage areas will also encompass the associated upland buffers that, in combination, will serve to form wildlife corridors consisting of a mosaic of various upland and wetland habitat types.
Additionally, most of onsite wetlands that lie outside the limits of the above-described primary wildlife corridors will remain within the post-development landscape and will include expanded/enhanced upland buffer areas. In many cases, wetland buffers consist of improved pasture with little to no native vegetation in the existing condition. The project plan calls for these poor-quality buffers to be enhanced through introduction of native tree, shrub, and/or groundcover plantings. In turn, the vegetated buffer enhancements will also improve the function of the wetlands that they support.
Beyond the natural wetlands and preservation corridors that serve to define the developable envelope for the project, there are other required setbacks and conditions that serve as constraints to the proposed development. These include physical constraints such as the mapped 100-year flood zone and Hillsborough River Floodway, along with property boundary setbacks for buildings, roadways, and landscape buffering.
The Two Rivers Preserve Project, and particularly, the championship golf course, will be designed in conformance with principles of the Audubon International Sanctuary Program, which means that the golf course will incorporate Sustainability and Natural Resource Management elements such as Environmental Planning, Best Management Practices, Integrated Pest Management, Water Conservation Management and Wildlife Habitat Enhancement, among others. This program and associated certification require that specific goals be outlined during the project design phase, with regular monitoring and reporting once the project is operational.
The layout of these development features has been carefully considered through an extensive and thoughtful site planning process, with particular attention to melding of the championship golf course and associated club amenities with the residential elements of the project. A central consideration and initial step in this site planning process included a focus on the preservation of the designated onsite habitat corridors along with avoidance of other (interior) onsite wetlands to the greatest extent practicable. This site planning process resulted in multiple layout iterations before the design team arrived at the current site plan.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:
The applicant proposes to fully offset the functional loss with credits from a federally-approved mitigation bank for the forested and marsh freshwater wetland impacts. The Mitigation Bank credits will be provided as compensation within the Hillsborough River Basin to offset the direct and secondary wetland impacts.
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.
The District Engineer’s final eligibility and effect determination will be based upon coordination with the SHPO and/or THPO, as appropriate and required, and with full consideration given to the proposed undertaking’s potential direct and indirect effects on historic properties within the Corps-identified permit area.
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 corais couperi
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Threatened
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Wood Stork
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Mycteria americana
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Threatened
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Eastern Indigo Snake (may affect) – The project is located within the USFWS the eastern indigo snake (EIS) consultation area. The EIS is one of the largest non-venomous snakes in North America, with individuals often reaching up to 8 feet in length. The EIS is classified as a Threatened species by USFWS (43 FR 4026 4029). No critical habitat has been designated for this species. Over most of its range, the EIS frequents several habitat types, including pine flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods, high pine, dry prairie, tropical hardwood hammocks, edges of freshwater marshes, agricultural fields, coastal dunes, and human-altered habitats (Service 1999). Wherever the EIS occurs in xeric habitats, it is closely associated with the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), the burrows of which provide shelter from winter cold and summer desiccation. The project site would occur on habitat composed of gopher tortoise burrows (more than 25 burrows); therefore, potential impacts to the eastern indigo snake were evaluated using Eastern Indigo Snake Programmatic Determination Key 2013. Use of this key resulted in the sequence A-B-C-D may affect and consultation with USFWS will be initiated with a separate letter.
Wood Stork (NLAA): The proposed activity is within the Core Foraging Area of several rookeries, the closest at 7.23 miles. The project supports Suitable Foraging Habitat (SFH) for the wood stork. Based on the Effect Determination Key for the Wood Stork in Central and North Florida (dated Sep 2008), the Corps has reached a preliminary determination sequence is as follows: A-B-C-D-E, not likely to adversely affect (NLAA) the wood stork.
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 (WQC) is required from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD). The project is being reviewed under SWFWMD Statewide Environmental Resource Permit No. 43034872.002.
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: Coastal Zone Consistency Concurrence is required from SWFWMD. 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. Evaluation of the impact of the activity on the public interest will also include application of the guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, EPA, under authority of Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act or the criteria established under authority of Section 102(a) of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972. 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 July 15, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Carissa Curlee at carissa.p.curlee@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Attention: Carissa Curlee, 10117 Princess Palm Ave., 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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