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 Steven.J.Rabney@usace.army.mil.
APPLICANT: GA- Pinnacle Savanna Lakes, LLC
2970 Luckie Road
Weston, Florida 33331
AGENT: Bridgette Theriault
Passarella & Associates Inc.
13620 Metropolis Ave
Suite 200
Fort Myers, Florida 33912
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with the Tidal Caloosahatchee Basin. The Project site is located in Sections 16, 17, and 18; Township 45 South; Range 27 East; Lee County at Latitude 26.56376° and Longitude -81.64439°. More specifically, the Project site is bordered to the north by Milwaukee Boulevard and Savanna Lakes residential community, to the south by single-family residences and conservation easements owned by Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improved District (f.k.a. East County Water Control District), and to the east and west by single-family residences and undeveloped land.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: A total of 30 vegetative and land cover types (i.e., Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System Codes) were identified on the Project site. The dominant land uses on the property are lakes and disturbed land that occupy 232.22± acres, or 62.50 percent of the site. The site contains disturbed native wetland systems including cypress, cypress/pine/cabbage palm, hydric pine, and wet prairies. The site also contains non-native wetland habitats, such as hydric melaleuca and hydric disturbed land. The native habitats have varying degrees of exotic vegetation but primarily include Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia), melaleuca (Melaleuca quinquenervia), West Indian marsh grass (Hymenachne amplexicaulis), and torpedograss (Panicum repens).
The proposed project contains 44.48± acres of Corps-jurisdictional wetlands, or approximately 12.0 percent of the Project site, while Corps-jurisdictional waters total 76.41± acres (approximately 20.5 percent). The natural sheet flow in the region has been altered due to surrounding development and the creation of man-made canals.
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: The basic purpose of the proposed Project is to construct a residential development.
Overall: The Project’s overall purpose is to construct an economically viable residential development in central Lee County to meet local demand.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant requests authorization to construct a residential development with authorization to discharge dredge or fill material into Waters of the US (WOTUS). The Project will require the discharge of dredged or fill material in 13.36± acres of Corps-jurisdictional wetlands and 37.50± acres of Corps-jurisdictional Waters. The Project will require the excavation of 2.17± acres of Corps-jurisdictional wetlands and 38.44± acres of Corps-jurisdictional Waters. These impacts are primarily from the construction of roads, utilities, graded slopes along the perimeters of development areas, and stormwater-management lakes.
Discharges of dredged or fill material to wetlands occur mostly in areas that are degraded by exotic vegetation, altered hydrology, and frequent off-road vehicle (ORV) disturbance. The site plan has been designed to perpetually preserve, enhance, and restore 65.1 percent of on-site jurisdictional 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:
The proposed site plan has been designed to avoid impacts to wetlands located within the Project site by concentrating development within existing uplands and previously disturbed habitats. The majority of the wetlands proposed for impact have been degraded by exotic vegetation, altered hydrology, and frequent ORV disturbance. The site plan has been designed to perpetually preserve, enhance, and restore 65.1 percent, or 28.95± acres of on-site jurisdictional wetlands that will connect to existing conservation lands off-site. The enhancement and restoration activities will include the removal of exotic vegetation and the installation of native plantings.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:
To offset wetland impacts, the compensatory mitigation plan includes the preservation and enhancement of 28.95± acres of on-site wetlands. Exotic vegetation will be hand-removed from 10.90± acres of wetlands. Mechanical removal of exotics and supplemental plantings will be conducted in 18.05± acres of wetlands. In addition to the wetland mitigation, the Corps conservation area includes 18.91± acres of upland preserve and 0.47± acre of surface water preservation. Thus, the Project’s overall conservation area totals 48.33± acres. The 48.33± acre conservation area will be placed under a conservation easement granted to the SFWMD with third-party enforcement rights granted to the Corps.
In addition to the on-site mitigation, additional mitigation will be provided by the purchase of wetland credits from an approved wetland 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 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.
|
Species Common Name and/or Critical Habitat Name
|
Scientific Name
|
Federal Status
|
|
Eastern Indigo Snake
|
Drymarchon corais couperi
|
T
|
|
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker
|
Picoides borealis
|
E
|
|
Everglade Snail Kite
|
Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus
|
E
|
|
Crested caracara
|
Polyborus plancus audubonii
|
T
|
|
Wood Stork
|
Mycteria americana
|
T
|
|
Florida Panther
|
Puma concolor coryi
|
E
|
|
Florida Bonneted Bat
|
Eumops floridanus
|
E
|
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 may be required from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) via the issuance of an Environmental Resource Permit.
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: Coastal Zone Consistency Concurrence is required from SFWMD. 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. The jurisdictional line has been verified by SFWMD personnel per SFWMD Permit No. 36-111035-P.
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 July 18, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Steven Rabney at Steven.J.Rabney@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Attention: Steven Rabney, 1520 Royal Palm Square Suite 310 Fort Myers, Florida 33919. 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.
Click here for public notice and graphics