ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORT DOCUMENT General RV Expansion Hillsborough County, Florida Submitted to: Southwest Florida Water Management District Tampa Service Office 7601 Highway 301 North Tampa, Florida 33637 717731.000 Environmental Protection Commission 3629 Queen Palm Drive Tampa, Florida 33619 81648.0000 Prepared for: McNeal Engineering, Inc. 15957 North Florida Avenue Lutz, Florida 33549 Prepared by: Environmental Consultants, LLC P.O. Box 919 Thonotosassa, Florida 33592 813.317.5497 October 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1-1 2.0 SOILS, LAND USE/COVER DESCRIPTIONS..................................................2-1 3.0 WETLAND IDENTIFICATION........................................................................... 3-1 4.0 SIGNIFICANT WILDLIFE HABITAT .................................................................4-1 5.0 PROTECTED FLORAL AND FAUNAL SPECIES ............................................5-1 6.0 PROPOSED WETLAND IMPACTS AND WETLAND MITIGATION.................6-1 6.1 WETLAND DESCRIPTIONS .................................................................. 6-1 6.2 WETLAND IMPACTS AVOIDANCE/MINIMIZATION..............................6-2 6.3 MITIGATION PURPOSE ........................................................................ 6-3 6.4 WETLAND MITIGATION ........................................................................ 6-4 6.5 CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE.............................................................. 6-4 7.0 REFERENCES............................................................................................... 7-B1 LIST OF FIGURES Figures Figure 1. Project Location Map Figure 2. Soils Map Figure 3. FLUCCS Map TABLES Tables Table 1. Potential Listed Floral/Faunal Species Table 2. General Faunal and Listed Floral and Faunal Observations PROJECTS\15-09Hi\BG 02\PA\ESD Oct 15.doc i APPENDICES Appendices Appendix A. Wetland Boundary Depiction Appendix B. Project Photographs Appendix C. UMAM Calculation Sheets Appendix D. Mitigation Plan Sheet PROJECTS\15-09Hi\BG 02\PA\ESD Oct 15.doc ii 1.0 INTRODUCTION The purpose of the Environmental Support Document (ESD) is to report the existing natural environmental conditions of the General RV Expansion project for information obtained from readily available databases and on-site investigations. Natural environmental conditions may include, but are not limited to the location and characterization of any wetlands, significant uplands and the potential occurrence and/or habitat of federal- or state-listed faunal and floral species within the project and adjacent areas. The ESD also addresses potential project impacts to these environmental resources and describes proposed actions taken in order to prevent or mitigate any potential harm to these resources. The proposed project consists of an approximately 35.5-acre commercial development. The project is generally located north of East Hillsborough Avenue (East US Highway 92), south of Interstate 4, east of Gallagher Road, and west of Moores Lake Road in Section 29, Township 28 South, Range 21 East, Hillsborough County, Florida (Figure 1). PROJECTS\15-09Hi\BG 02\PA\ESD Oct 15.doc 1-1 2.0 SOILS, LAND USE/COVER DESCRIPTIONS According to the Soil Survey of Hillsborough County, Florida five (5) soil map units were identified within the project boundary: Basinger, Holopaw, and Samsula soils, depressional (#5), Ft. Mead fine loamy sand- 0 to 5 percent slopes (#18), Lake fine sand (#25), Seffner fine sand (#47), and Water (#99) (Figure 2). Basinger, Holopaw, and Samsula soils, depressional is classified as hydric by state and federal agencies. The Water mapping unit is of course classified as hydric by default. All other on-site soil mapping units are classified as nonhydric by state and federal agencies. Existing land use/cover has been classified according to the Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System (FLUCCS), which is widely utilized in development review in Florida (Florida Department of Transportation, 1999). According to Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (SWFWMD) 2010 land use/cover data the land use/cover to the northeast of the project consists of Cropland and Pastureland (FLUCCS 210) and Hardwood-Conifer Mixed (FLUCCS 434), which was recently developed to create the General RV site (Commercial and Services, FLUCCS 140) (Figure 3). Other land use/classification to the north includes Freshwater Marshes (FLUCCS 641) and Wet Prairies (FLUCCS 643), but is believed to be part of the storm water ponds created for the expansion of Interstate 4. Most of the area to the east and west of the proposed project area consists of Low Density Residential (FLUCCS 110), but does include a small area of Hardwood-Conifer Mixed, Reservoirs (FLUCCS 530), and Nurseries and Vineyards (FLUCCS 240). The area south of the proposed project includes US Highway 92 (Transportation, FLUCCS 810) and more Low Density Residential. The proposed project area is primarily classified as Row Crops (FLUCCS 214), and it was planted in strawberries for years. However, the fields are currently fallow and would now be appropriately classified as Fallow Crop Land (FLUCCS 261). The tailwater recovery pond located in the southern third of the project area is classified as Reservoir and Emergent Aquatic Vegetation (FLUCCS 644), which is somewhat similar to its current condition. Another wetland classification Wet Prairie (FLUCCS 643) may be used to describe a small wetland located near the project's northwest corner. Plant species relative abundance within each of the land use/cover classifications units may vary depending on microclimate, soil, hydrology, previous land management, and other natural or anthropogenic factors. Any discrepancies in the 2010 land use/cover data may be discussed is subsequent sections of this ESD. PROJECTS\15-09Hi\BG 02\PA\ESD Oct 15.doc 2-1 3.0 WETLAND IDENTIFICATION The on-site wetlands were delineated by staff of the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County (EPC) and a survey depicting the wetland extent approved by EPC staff is provided in Appendix A. The wetlands and wetland hydroperiods were also reviewed and approved by Southwest Florida Water Management (SWFWMD) staff. PROJECTS\15-09Hi\BG 02\PA\ESD Oct 15.doc 3-1 4.0 SIGNIFICANT WILDLIFE HABITAT None of the project's natural plant communities are mapped as Significant Wildlife Habitat (SWH) by Hillsborough County. The closest mapped habitat is over one (1) mile to the west. PROJECTS\15-09Hi\BG 02\PA\ESD Oct 15.doc 4-1 5.0 PROTECTED FLORAL AND FAUNAL SPECIES Initially, a literature search was conducted to determine if protected species or their critical habitat were present within the study area. Data for protected species was obtained through the Internet for the Hillsborough County Geographic Information System (GIS) database library and the Florida Geographic Database Library (FGDL), which includes a repository of GIS data from the Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI), the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). These data provide the location of protected species and critical habitat. Additional informational resources included; Institute for Systemic Botany. 2015. University of South Florida database; 2011 aerial photography acquired from the Land Boundary Information System (LABINS) administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; and, 1999/2000 National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) maps. From review of the collateral information listed above and professional opinion based on site inspections conducted on September 25 and October 14, 2015 a table of potential listed faunal and floral species that may be found on or adjacent to the project site was created (Table 1). All indications of general and listed floral and faunal species in the project area were recorded in Table 2. The faunal species presented in the table included observations of actual animals or signs of their presence, including tracks, burrows, dens, scat, nests, and calls. The inspections to date have revealed one (1) listed faunal species and no listed floral species to be present on the project site. Any listed species observed and those that may reasonably utilize the on-site resources are discussed below. The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is designated as a SSC by FWC, and listed as Threatened by the USFWS because of its similarity in appearance to the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus). Due to the species' adaptive nature and the number of wetlands and stormwater management features/structures within the local landscape the American alligator may utilize the on-site habitat. However, the project should have a “no effect” determination for American alligator. The wood stork (Mycteria americana) is listed as Endangered (E) by both the USFWS and the FWC. Normally an inhabitant of pristine swamplands, wood storks often forage PROJECTS\15-09Hi\BG 02\PA\ESD Oct 15.doc 5-1 in ditches and ponds. They require concentrations of fish in shallow water where they "grope-feed". The project is located within the 18.6-mile Core Foraging Area (CFA) of several wood stork colonies. Wetland impacts to wetland feeding areas should be mitigated by the creation of wetland compensation areas designed to facilitate the wood stork's feeding behavior, or in the case of diminimus wetland impacts the compensation can be facilitated in the proper design