Wetlands Board Packets

SUFFOLK WETLANDS BOARD AGENDA FOR March 16, 2017 PREPARED BY THE CITY OF SUFFOLK DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING A MEETING WILL BE HELD AT 6:00 P.M. IN THE SUFFOLK CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS IN SUFFOLK CITY HALL PLEASE CALL TO CONFIRM YOUR ATTENDANCE THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT AT 514-4060 PRIOR TO 12:00 NOON ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017 GEOFFREY HINSHELWOOD CHAIRMAN  AGENDA SUFFOLK WETLANDS BOARD March 16, 2017 6:00 P.M. I. Call to Order II. Roll Call III. Approval of Minutes  October 20, 2016 IV. Public Hearings – None V. Restoration Hearings – None VI. Permit Extensions – VMRC #13-1859, submitted by Bob Simon with Waterfront Consulting, Inc., applicant, on behalf of Loretta Willis, property owner, for the installation of 1,627 linear feet of rip rap, construction of a 14-foot by 32-foot concrete boat ramp, and construction of timber stairs for beach access. The project is located at 2527 Bridge Road on the Nansemond River. The subject property is further identified as Zoning Parcel 5*32C, zoned RR, Residential Rural District. VII. Old Business – None VIII. New Business – None IX. Compliance and Inspections – None X. Adjournment  MINUTES SUFFOLK WETLANDS BOARD October 20, 2016 6:00 P.M. The meeting of the Suffolk Wetlands Board was held on Thursday, October 20, 2016, at 6:00 p.m., in the City Council Conference Room of the City Hall Building, 442 West Washington Street, Suffolk, Virginia. MEMBERS: STAFF: Geoffrey Hinshelwood Karla Williams, Associate City Attorney Darius Davenport Robert Goumas, Interim Director of Richard Vroman Planning & Community Development C. Robbie Johnson David Parks, Principal Planner Jeffrey Colley Amanda Beck, Planner II Sidney Hazelwood ROLL CALL: The meeting was called to order by Chairman Hinshelwood. The roll was then called by Mr. Parks and the Chairman was informed that a quorum was present. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as written. PUBLIC HEARINGS: VMRC16-1265, submitted by Richard Bartlett of Professional Construction Consultants, LLC, applicant, on behalf of Raymond Faircloth, property owner and applicant, for the removal of an existing pier and the construction of riprap, new pier with two finger piers, a floating pier, boathouse, and boatlift. This property is located at 6615 Crittenden Road along Chuckatuck Creek; further identified as Zoning Parcel 1 3*10A, zoned A, Agricultural Zoning District. The first item of business was introduced by the Chairman followed by a staff report presented by Amanda Beck, Planner II. Mrs. Beck advised that the applicant proposed to remove an existing pier and boathouse structure and to install riprap, a new open- pile pier with 2 finger piers, a L-head, boathouse, and boatlift. The shoreline along the Faircloth property is defined mostly by upland vegetation, with much of their property along Chuckatuck Creek being non-vegetated wetlands. The northeastern most corner of the property does have some vegetated wetlands, which VIMS estimates is more than 50% Phragmites. The applicant requested to remove the existing pier and boathouse structure and to install 130 linear feet of riprap and a 6-foot by 58-foot open-pile pier with (2) 5-foot by 35-foot finger piers, a 6-foot by 23-foot L-head, a 10- foot by 25-foot floating pier with gangway, and a 14.5-foot by 48-foot boathouse with a 15,000 pound boatlift. The pier and associated structures are outside of the Wetlands Board jurisdiction, and exempted activity, and therefore will be permitted by the VMRC. Of the proposed work, the Wetlands Board will need to consider the approval or denial to permit for the riprap which falls in the Board’s jurisdiction, which will have a permanent impact to 520 square feet of non-vegetated wetlands. It was staff’s opinion that due to the existing conditions on site that the proposed construction of riprap, new pier with two finger piers and L-head, a floating pier, boathouse, and a 2 boatlift is appropriate. Therefore, staff recommended approval of this application with the conditions noted in the staff report. The public hearing was opened and speaking in favor of this application was Richard Bartlett, Professional Construction. There being no speakers in opposition, the public hearing was closed. After discussion by the Board, Mr. Davenport made a motion to approve this application with the conditions, seconded by Mr. Vroman and passed by a recorded vote of 6 to 0. VMRC#16-0300, submitted by Brian D. Smith for the repair of 239’ of existing rip rap, the addition of 150’ of new rip rap, 400 square feet of shoreline repair, and the repair of a 30’x48’ pier along the Nansemond River. This property is located at 1337 River Road along the Nansemond River; further identified as Zoning Parcel 26B*41, zoned RLM, Residential Low Medium Zoning District. The next item of business was introduced by the Chairman followed by a staff report presented by David Parks, Principal Planner. Mr. Parks advised that this proposal is to repair 239 feet of exiting rip rap, as well as installation of an additional 150 feet of rip rap and proposed repair of an existing 30-foot by 48-foot pier. Impacts associated with this request will effect 750 square feet of vegetated wetlands and 2,914 square feet of non-vegetated wetlands. The applicant has not provided any plan for mitigation at this point. VIMS define the existing shoreline as a low exposure shoreline with minimal impact. Recommended action for the shoreline protection would be the enhancement 3 of the buffer and the widening of the marsh along the undefended portion of the shoreline given the low energy of this area of the Nansemond River. VIMS did conduct a site visit and prepared a report advising that best erosion defense for the shoreline would be to provide additional vegetation to establish marsh fringe. SEAS also conducted a site visit and determined the following: 1) the erosion rate for this property is less than 1 foot per year, 2) trees and shrubs growing on the bank and within 10 feet of the bank edge should be selectively cut or trimmed - this would allow additional sunlight exposure and stimulate growth of upland ground cover and marsh fringe, 3) additional vegetative cover should be established - mixture and native grasses or low-growing vegetation, 4) enhancement of marsh grasses will help dissipate wave energy, 5) may consider the construction of a rip rap marsh sill and 6) the consideration for the construction of the rip rap should be considered as an alternative to enhancement of the marsh and the marsh sill. The applicant proposed to repair 239’ of existing rip rap. The existing stone would be removed and filter fabric placed. Stone would be re-installed along with additional stone for erosion protection. Also, proposed to install 150’ of new rip rap in the form of concrete and rock. The new rip rap will be installed along an undefended portion of shoreline with existing vegetated wetlands. The Wetland Laws of Virginia require that any wetland impacts be mitigated either on-site or off-site through a local mitigation bank. Also, in 2008, the 4 Board established an in-lieu fee for impact set at 1% over the cost of mitigation. Given the impacts to vegetated wetlands, this in-lieu fee would be approximately $9,900. The applicant has not provided a mitigation plan with this application. The applicant provided two separate cross sections for the shoreline work. The applicant proposed accessing the property from the driveway. All work is proposed to be completed from the bank with use of heavy equipment. The applicant also requested to repair an existing pier on the property. The applicant previously received a permit from VMRC to construct a pier and covered boathouse. This request will be reviewed by staff as it has no wetlands board impacts. Staff’s opinion that the portion of the shoreline that currently contains rip rap and which has direct access to the Nansemond River is appropriate for the applicant’s proposal of the installation of new stone. The placement of stone shall be directly in the same line or landward of the existing stone so as not to disturb and existing vegetated wetlands. Staff does not recommend approval of the request by the applicant to install rip rap along the undefended portion of the shoreline due to the amount of vegetated wetland impacts, the absence of apparent active erosion, and no mitigation plan in place for the impact to wetlands. The public hearing was opened and speaking in favor of this application was Brian Smith, 1337 River Road, Suffolk, VA. After discussion by the Board, Mr. Johnson advised that the application is not 5 complete; therefore, he made a motion to table this application until #13, 17, 18 and 19 of the Wetlands Board Checklist is complete and receive a good set of drawings, seconded by Mr. Davenport and passed by a recorded vote of 6 to 0. NEW BUSINESS: VMRC05-2245 – Mr. Parks advised that staff was notified by the applicant that they will be continuing maintenance on the pipeline. OTHER BUSINESS: Mr. Hinshelwood requested that he would like to see the buffer restoration plans prior to approving the wetland permit. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. 6  CITY OF SUFFOLK 442 W. WASHINGTON STREET, P.O. BOX 1858, SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA 23439-1858 PHONE: (757) 514-4060 FAX: (757) 514-4099 DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Division of Planning Memorandum To: Suffolk Wetlands Board From: David Parks, Principal Planner RE: Permit Extension Request – VMRC #13-1859, submitted by Bob Simon with Waterfront Consulting, Inc., applicant, on behalf of Loretta Willis, property owner, for the installation of 1,627 linear feet of rip rap, construction of a 14- foot by 32-foot concrete boat ramp, and construction of timber stairs for beach access. The project is located at 2527 Bridge Road on the Nansemond River. The subject property is further identified as Zoning Parcel 5*32C, zoned RR, Residential Rural District. Date: March 16, 2017 The applicant, Bob Simon, on behalf of Loretta Willis, property owner, is requesting an additional permit extension request for VMRC13-1859. This project involves the installation of rip rap, the construction of a concrete boat ramp, and the construction of timber stairs for beach access. This application was originally approved in January 2013 and since then the Board has approved a permit extension request for this project in January 2014. This previous permit extension request validated the permit until 2017. The applicant is now requesting an additional extension to be able to complete the project. I have attached the original Joint Permit Application for your reference.