NAME OF APPLICANT: Highlake Residential, LLC c/o D&S Environmental Services, PO Box 510, French Settlement, Louisiana 70733.
LOCATION OF WORK: Tract of land in Section 39, Township 8 South, Range 1 East and Section 61, Township 8 South, Range, 2 East, at the intersection of Claiborne Road and Edmund Hawes Drive in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in East Baton Rouge Parish, within the Pontchartrain Basin in hydrologic unit (HUC 08070202), as shown on the attached drawings (Latitude 30.343597 N, Longitude -91.057294 W).
The work described below was partially completed prior to obtaining a Department of the Army permit and was in violation of Section 301 of the Clean Water Act. All legal issues concerning the unauthorized work have since been deferred.
CHARACTER OF WORK: The applicant has requested Department of the Army authorization to clear, grade, excavate and deposit fill and/or aggregate material to construct and maintain an 18-lot residential development (Highland Lake Subdivision) to include private concrete roadways, house pads, driveways, green space, utilities, and drainage infrastructure. Approximately 3,450 cubic yards of earthen fill material, 813 cubic yards of road base, and 407 cubic yards of concrete fill will be used to achieve required grade elevation requirements. Approximately 200 cubic yards will also be excavated for the proposed pond expansion and utilized on site. Approximately 3.86 acres of wetlands and approx. 0.20 acre of other waters will be impacted by the project, of which 1.48 acres of wetland and 0.02 acre of other waters will be evaluated after the fact.
The applicant proposes to minimize direct and secondary impacts to the maximum extent practicable by placing large removed vegetative material directly into trucks for disposal at an off-site non-wetland facility, by limiting the construction activity to the designated construction areas onsite, and by utilizing best management practices for erosion and siltation control during and after the construction phase of the project. If authorized, the project will receive approval from all appropriate local drainage authorities and sewerage agencies. As compensation for unavoidable wetland impacts, the applicant proposes to use a Corps approved mitigation bank within the watershed of impact.
The applicant may be required to fully or partially restore the site to pre-project conditions if issuance of a permit is determined to be contrary to the public interest.