NAO-2018-01863, Proposed Bow Creek Stormwater Park at 3425 Club House Road (Bow Creek Golf Course)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District
Published Aug. 19, 2022
Expiration date: 9/19/2022

FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Commander has received a joint permit application for Federal and State permits as described below:

APPLICANT
City of Virginia Beach
Department of Public Works
c/o Richard D. Martinec, P.E., DBIA
2875 Sabre Street, Suite 250
Virginia Beach, VA 23452

PROJECT LOCATION:  Proposed Bow Creek Stormwater Park at 3425 Club House Road (Bow Creek Golf Course) in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  

PROJECT SIZE: The project site is approximately 135 acres.  

NEAREST WATERWAY: London Bridge Creek

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE: 36.820537, -76.088534

PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE: The City of Virginia Beach (City) proposes to permanently impact 0.04 acres of palustrine emergent (PEM) wetlands, 1.19 acres of estuarine emergent (EEM) wetlands, 0.01 acres of estuarine scrub shrub (ESS) wetlands, 4.06 acres of open water, 0.16 acres of tidal ditch, and 0.23 acres (1,277 linear feet) of nontidal, jurisdictional ditches to provide stormwater storage for flood mitigation at the Bow Creek Golf Course, 3425 Club House Road in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  The necessary grading and filling associated with the construction of the planned stormwater storage and park amenities will cause the proposed impacts to Waters of the U.S., including wetlands.  

The City constructed the main channel ‘Bow Creek’ located in the center of the project area in the late 1990’s in response to flooding issues at that time. The Corps issued a permit on October 19, 1995, for the widening of 1,285 linear feet of tidal ditching and 2,815 linear feet of non-tidal ditching from existing bottom widths of 15-20 feet to bottom widths of 40-70 feet. The City also created an additional 3,000 linear feet of new ditching through uplands.

The purpose of the Bow Creek Stormwater Park project is to convert an existing City-owned golf course into a multi-faceted stormwater park that will provide the
necessary stormwater storage required to reduce major flooding within the Princess Anne Plaza and The Lakes neighborhoods of Virginia Beach. The stormwater park will also provide a multitude of recreational uses for the general public.
 
AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION:  The City considered three off-site alternatives, but they determined that all other offsite alternatives were not practicable or did not meet the City’s goals.  The City also considered four onsite alternatives, and all were considered not practicable by the applicant, except for the applicant’s preferred alternative.    

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The City proposes to mitigate for the impacts to 0.04 acres of nontidal emergent wetlands at a 1:1 ratio, for impacts to 1.35 acres of emergent tidal wetlands and tidal waters at a 1:1 ratio and for 0.01 acres of scrub/shrub wetlands at a 1.5:1 ratio through the purchase of credits from an approved wetland mitigation bank or an approved in-lieu fee.  Therefore, they would purchase 1.37 acres of tidal credits and 0.04 acres of nontidal credits.

In addition, the applicant must obtain an Individual Section 401 Water Quality Certification or waiver from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) assuring that applicable laws and regulations pertaining to water quality are not violated.   

A copy of the joint permit application can be found on the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s website (JPA 22-0537). 

AUTHORITY: 

(X)     Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403).

(X)    Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act (Public Law 95-217) and 
    Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia.

( )    Section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 
    (33 U.S.C. 1413).

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, 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 (EIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.  Preliminary review of the application indicates that no EIS will be required. 
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.

ENDANGERED SPECIES: after conducting the Norfolk District Endangered Species Act (ESA) Project Review Process, the Corps has made the preliminary determination that: No listed/proposed/candidate species and/or designated/proposed critical habitat under the ESA of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544, 87 Stat. 884), as amended, will be affected.  Based on this “no effect” determination, no further coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is required.  Additional information might change any of these findings.

HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES:  No known Historic Resources eligible for inclusion or included in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) are in or near the Corps permit area or would likely be affected by the proposal.  Additional information may change any of these findings. 

ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-267), requires all Federal agencies to consult with the NMFS on all actions, or proposed actions, permitted, funded, or undertaken by the agency, that may adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat (EFH).

No EFH is listed for the project site; however, EFH may be present in London Bridge Creek.  The habitat which this project would affect consists of subaqueous bottom, and vegetated wetlands.  The proposed project is described in Proposed Work and Purpose, above.  The work may cause temporary impacts.  Erosion and sediment controls will prevent downstream impacts into London Bridge Creek.  Our assessment of the project leads us to a preliminary determination that it will not have a substantial adverse effect on EFH and therefore expanded EFH consultation is not required.  Our rationale for this preliminary determination is based on the expected short-term nature of the direct impacts, minimal increases in turbidity, no changes in water temperature or salinity caused by the proposed work and the absence of submerged aquatic vegetation and anadromous fish spawning habitat.  Based on comments from the National Marine Fisheries Service in response to this public notice, further EFH consultation may be necessary.

VIRGINIA’S COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: For compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended for projects located in Virginia’s Coastal Zone, the applicant must certify that federally licensed or permitted activities affecting Virginia's coastal uses or resources will be conducted in a manner consistent with the Virginia’s Coastal Zone Management Program (Virginia CZM Program), and obtain concurrence from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Office of Environmental Impact Review (OEIR). It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit a consistency certification to the OEIR for concurrence or objection, and proof of concurrence must be submitted to the Corps prior to final permit issuance. A template federal consistency certification can be found in the Federal Consistency Manual here: https://www.deq.virginia.gov/permits-regulations/environmental-impact-review/federal-consistency .  For more information or to obtain a list of the enforceable policies of the Virginia CZM Program, contact the DEQ-OEIR at (804) 659-1915 or e-mail: bettina.rayfield@deq.virginia.gov.  The applicant has submitted concurrence or will submit concurrence soon.

VIRGINIA’S SECTION 401 WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM: The applicant must obtain, from the Virginia DEQ, a Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification for any federal license or permit that authorizes an activity that may result in a discharge into waters of the U.S. (40 CFR Part 121).  As the Certifying Authority, the Virginia DEQ may grant, grant with conditions, or deny a certification request.  Alternatively, the Virginia DEQ may waive, expressly or implicitly, its authority to act on a certification request.  In either case, a written notice of waiver from DEQ (expressly waived) or from the Corps (implicitly waived), satisfies the project proponent’s requirement to obtain certification. 

Pursuant to 33 CFR 325.2(b)(1)(i), this Public Notice serves as the Corps’ CWA § 401(a)(2) notification to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  Pursuant to 40 CFR 121.11-13, the EPA shall notify the Corps, the Virginia DEQ, and the applicant, within 30 days of receipt of the application and certification, if the Regional Administrator determines that the proposed discharge may affect the quality of the waters of any neighboring jurisdiction.  

COMMENT PERIOD:  Comments on this project should be in writing and can be sent by either email to melissa.a.nash@usace.army.mil, or by regular mail, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN:  CENAO-WRR), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, VA  23510-1011, and should be received by the close of business on September 19, 2022.

PRIVACY AND 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 Ms. Melissa Nash at melissa.a.nash@usace.army.mil or 757-201-7489.

Attachments: Drawings, Official Species List and Species Conclusion Table