FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Commander has received a joint application for Federal and State permits as described below:
APPLICANT
City of Chesapeake
c/o C. Earl Sorey, P.E.
306 Cedar Road, City Hall Building
Chesapeake, VA 2322
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The project is located in wetlands located in the headwaters of Milldam Creek, a tributary to the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River in the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake, Virginia.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The City of Chesapeake proposes to construct approximately 2,900 feet of new roadway west of existing Woodlake Drive to form a 1.4 mile connection between Greenbrier Parkway and Battlefield Boulevard. The Woodlake Drive extension will consist of a two-lane road at the existing Woodlake Drive, transitioning into a four-lane road at Debaun Avenue. The proposed roadway will contain turn lanes, medians, curb and gutter, a closed stormwater system, a ten-foot multi-use path and a stormwater pond. The roadway design will apply access management principles to accommodate future development. The project purpose is to reduce traffic congestion by providing a completed east-west corridor between Battlefield Boulevard and Greenbrier Parkway, and to meet economic development objectives for the Greenbrier area.
As proposed, this roadway project will permanently impact approximately 0.74 acre of palustrine emergent (PEM) wetlands and 4.99 acres of palustrine forested (PFO) wetlands, and will temporarily impact approximately 0.02 acre of PEM wetlands and 0.21 acre of PFO wetlands. This project will secondarily impact approximately 1.75 acres of PFO wetlands because the road will separate these wetlands from the larger contiguous wetland area to the north.
The applicant has avoided and minimized impacts through design changes including reducing the design speed, reducing entrances to adjacent properties, eliminating utility and landscape strips, and reducing fill slopes. These changes have resulted in approximate impact reductions of 2.06 acres. Unavoidable wetland impacts will be compensated for at a commercial wetland bank within the watershed.
In addition to the required Department of the Army permit, the applicant must obtain a Virginia Water Protection Permit from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) assuring that applicable laws and regulations pertaining to water quality are not violated and a permit from the Chesapeake Wetlands Board. Project drawings are attached.
AUTHORITY: Permits are required pursuant to Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act (Public Law 95-217) and Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia.
FEDERAL EVALUATION OF APPLICATION: 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. The decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits which reasonably may be expected from the proposal must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All of the proposal's relevant factors will be considered, including conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, flood plain values, land use classification, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, consideration of property ownership and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people. The Environmental Protection Agency's "Guidelines for Specification of Disposal Sites for Dredged or Fill Material" will also be applied (Section 404(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act).
The Corps of Engineers 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 direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps of Engineers to determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on 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 and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity. Anyone may request a public hearing to consider this permit application by writing to the District Commander within 30 days of the date of this notice, stating specific reasons for holding the public hearing. The District Commander will then decide if a hearing should be held.
Preliminary review indicates that: (l) no environmental impact statement will be required; (2) no species of fish, wildlife, or plant (or their critical habitat) listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (PL 93-205) will be affected; and (3) no known properties eligible for inclusion or included in the National Register of Historic Places are in or near the permit area, or would likely be affected by the proposal. Additional information might change any of these findings. For compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, the applicant must certify that federally licensed or permitted activities affecting Virginia's coastal zone (Tidewater) will be conducted in a manner consistent with the Virginia Coastal Resources Management Program (VCP). For more information or to obtain a list of the enforceable programs of the VCP, contact the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Environmental Impact Review at (804) 698-4330 or e-mail: elirons@deq.virginia.gov.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be made in writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WR-R George Janek), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1096, and should be received by the close of business on November 26, 2012.
PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY: Comments and information, including the identity of the submitter, submitted in response to this Public Notice may be disclosed, reproduced, and distributed at the discretion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Information that is submitted in connection with this Public Notice cannot be maintained as confidential by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Submissions should not include any information that the submitter seeks to preserve as confidential.
If you have any questions about this project or the permit process, contact George Janek at 757-201-7135 or by email at George.a.janek@usace.army.mil.
FOR THE DISTRICT COMMANDER:
Kimberly A. Prisco-Baggett, MBA
Chief, Eastern Virginia
Regulatory Section
Attachment: Drawings