May 12, 2020
CENAO-WR-R
NAO-2013-01821
FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The district commander has received a joint application for federal and state permits as described below:
APPLICANT
Mojax LLC
Attn: Mr. Michael L. Oxman
39207 John Mosby Highway, P.O. Box 58
Aldie, Virginia 20105
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF PROPOSED WORK: The project is located upslope of a tributary to Goose Creek, on about 22.3 acres and four parcels (PIN: 596376405, 596365428, 596359268 and 596366258), north of Snake Hill Road and southwest of its intersection with McQuay Lane in Loudoun County, Virginia.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant proposes to construct a residential subdivision and associated infrastructure at the subject location. The project is called Middleburg Preserve I & II and will impact 1.71 acres of palustrine forested wetlands and 0.12 acre of palustrine emergent wetlands. The impacts are associated with 30 residential lots, driveways, utilities and a stormwater-management facility. The proposed activity will avoid and minimize impacts to the maximum extent practicable, and mitigation for all impacts will be provided by credit purchase from approved wetland and stream banks or the Virginia Aquatic Restoration Trust Fund.
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, assuring applicable laws and regulations pertaining to water quality are not violated. A vicinity map and project drawings are attached and the Joint Permit Application can be found on the Virginia Marine Resources Commission website at: https://webapps.mrc.virginia.gov/public/habitat/search_permits.php?id=20200654.
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 to issue a permit will be based on a probable-impact evaluation, including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest. It will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits that 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, fish, wildlife and flood-plain values; flood hazards, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation; water supply, conservation and quality; energy and mineral needs, safety, food and fiber production, property ownership and, in general, the people’s needs and welfare. 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 proposed activity’s direct, indirect and cumulative impacts. 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 decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, the general environment and other public-interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. They are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and overall public interest in the proposed activity. Anyone may request a public hearing to consider this permit application by writing to the district commander within 30 days of this notice date, stating specific reasons for holding it. The district commander will then decide if a hearing should take place.
Preliminary review indicates: (1) no Environmental Impact Statement will be required; (2) after conducting Norfolk District’s Endangered Species Act Project Review Process, the northern long-eared bat may be affected, but the 4(d) key was completed and no further coordination with the Fish and Wildlife Service is required; (3) known properties eligible for inclusion or included in the National Register of Historic Places are in or near the permit area and would likely be affected by the proposal. Additional information might change any of these findings.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be in writing. They can be sent by email to ron.h.stouffer@usace.army.mil, or regular mail, addressed to: Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers, Northern Virginia Field Office, 18139 Triangle Plaza, Suite 213, Dumfries, Virginia 22026. All comments should be received by close of business June 13.
PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY: Comments and information, including submitter identity, provided in response to this public notice may be disclosed, reproduced and distributed at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discretion. Information submitted in connection with the public notice cannot be maintained as confidential by USACE. Submissions should not include any information the submitter seeks to preserve as confidential.
If you have questions about this project or the permit process, contact Ron Stouffer at 757-201-7124
or ron.h.stouffer@usace.army.mil.
Attachment: Drawings