NAME OF APPLICANT: Daigle Americana Development, LLC, c/o Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, Attn: Mr. Charles Jones, 5551 Corporate Blvd., Suite 200, Baton Rouge, LA 70808.
LOCATION OF WORK: In Sections 60, 61, 75, & 76, Township 4 South, Range 1 West, located approximately 0.5 mile west of the intersection of LA Highway 64 and LA Highway 964, on the southern side of LA 64, in Zachary, Louisiana, in EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, 30.64549 N and -91.20999 W, as shown on the enclosed drawings. This project is located in USGS Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 08070202-Amite River.
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: Project was previously advertised under a different applicant name (New Towne Development Group, LLC) in a Joint Public Notice, dated July 14, 2008. The previous project proposed to directly impact approximately 78.6 acres of wetlands. Modified project was then advertised on March 25, 2013. The proposed project has since been reconfigured to help facilitate drainage aspects of this proposed development through the proposed construction of a retention earthen berm located around the avoided wetland areas.
The applicant has requested Department of the Army authorization to implement the Americana Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND). The proposed TND will consist of residential housing, shopping centers, health car facilities, grocery stores, offices, and other amenities to meet the needs of residents. The TND will include 1,765 housing units of various types: single-detached homes, townhouses, condominiums, live and work units, and homes for senior citizens. Approximately 520,000 square feet of commercial and retail establishments are proposed with the project which includes: an indoor commercial amusement facility, a 60,000 square foot grocery store, a movie theater, a YMCA, a civic building, and other appurtenances. Approximately 98.55 acres of potentially jurisdictional wetlands and approximately 4.3 acres of Other Waters of the U.S. are located on the 417.37-acre site. Approximately 2,357 linear feet (western earthen berm dimensions: 1,227-foot long x 22-foot wide x 2-foot height; southern berm dimensions: 1,130-foot long x 51-foot wide x 7-foot height) of jurisdictional wetlands will have an earthen berm constructed at the western and southern property boundaries to service the proposed development as an onsite retention area to help facilitate drainage. Approximately 11.66 acres of jurisdictional forested wetlands and approximately 4.3 acres of Other Waters of the U.S. are to be directly impacted via fill placement as a result of project implementation. Approximately 25,799 cubic yards of fill material will be placed onsite as a result of project implementation. The applicant proposes to contract with an approved compensatory mitigation bank to offset impacts associated with the project.
The applicant may be required to fully or partially restore the project site to pre-project conditions, if issuance of a permit is determined to be contrary to the overall public interest