Notice: Notice and Opportunity to Comment - Mr. Greg Betterton

Notice and Opportunity to Comment on Requests for Consistency
Agreement/Concurrence Under the Texas Coastal Management Program

On January 10, 1997, the State of Texas received federal approval of the Coastal Management Program (CMP) (62 Federal Register pp. 1439-1440). Under federal law, federal agency activities and actions affecting the Texas coastal zone must be consistent with the CMP goals and policies identified in 31 TAC Chapter 501. Requests for federal consistency review were deemed administratively complete for the following project(s) during the period of April 18, 2012, through April 25, 2012. As required by federal law, the public is given an opportunity to comment on the consistency of proposed activities in the coastal zone undertaken or authorized by federal agencies. Pursuant to 31 TAC §§506.25, 506.32, and 506.41, the public comment period extends 30 days from the date published on the Texas General Land Office web site. The notice was published on the web site on May 2, 2012. The public comment period for this project will close at 5:00 p.m. on June 1, 2012.

FEDERAL AGENCY ACTIONS:

Applicant: Mr. Greg Betterton

Location: The project site is located 7 miles east-northeast of the intersection of State Highway 185 and Farm-to-Market 1289 in Calhoun County, Texas. The site can be located on the U.S.G.S. quadrangle map titled: Port O’Connor, Texas. NAD 83, Latitude: 28.47038 North; Longitude: -96.43425 West.

Project Description: The project purpose is to construct a large-scale inland marina community with waterfront lots and associated boat access on the middle Texas coast. The proposed 183-acre multi-use development will include 244 waterfront and water-view lots, 9.24 acres of condominium space, 3.79 acres of townhome space, 2.50 acres for a proposed restaurant and marina building complex, a 37.94 acre saltwater basin with an accompanying marina and a 1,720-foot by 100-foot access channel and associated breakwaters for ingress and egress of recreational boats into Matagorda Bay. Approximately 635,000 cubic yards of soils from on-site uplands and interior freshwater wetlands will be excavated for construction of the saltwater basin and marina. Approximately 31,570 cubic yards of bay bottom sediments and unvegetated tidal fringe bottom are proposed to be excavated from Matagorda Bay for construction of the access channel. The project is anticipated to impact 10.97 acres of jurisdictional waters of the U.S. Approximately 3.32 acres of emergent wetlands and 1.30 acres of tidal bottom will be filled. Also, approximately 2.59 acres of emergent wetlands will be graded and excavated. The applicant proposes to perform in-kind mitigation to compensate for impacts to natural resources resulting from construction of the proposed project. Approximately 8.87 acres of freshwater wetlands, 0.015 acre of submerged aquatic vegetation, and 0.15 acre of unvegetated beach will be created on-site or adjacent to the project area.

CMP Project No.: 12-0707-F1

Type of Application: U.S.A.C.E. permit application #SWG-2008-01336R is being evaluated under §10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C.A. §403) and §404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C.A. §1344).

Note: The consistency review for this project will be conducted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality under §401 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C.A. §1344).

Pursuant to <*>306(d)(14) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C.A. <*><*>1451-1464), as amended, interested parties are invited to submit comments on whether a proposed action or activity is or is not consistent with the Texas Coastal Management Program goals and policies and whether the action should be referred to the Coastal Coordination Council for review.

Further information on the applications listed above, including a copy of the consistency certifications or consistency determinations for inspection may be obtained from Ms. Kate Zultner, Consistency Review Specialist, Coastal Coordination Council, P.O. Box 12873, Austin, Texas 78711-2873, or via email at kate.zultner@glo.texas.gov. Comments should be sent to Ms. Zultner at the above address or by email.