ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT and TREE CONSERVATION REPORT
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT and TREE CONSERVATION REPORT PROPOSED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT PART of LOTS 7 and 8, CONCESSION IV GEOGRAPHIC TOWNSHIP of GOULBOURN CITY of OTTAWA RIVERBEND SUBDIVISION A report prepared for: 2396251 Ontario Ltd. by Muncaster Environmental Planning Inc. Revised December, 2015 MUNCASTER ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING INC. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1 1.1 Scoping the Environmental Impact Statement .........................................................4 2.0 METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................................................5 3.0 EXISTING CONDITIONS ..................................................................................................6 3.1 Terrestrial Features ..................................................................................................6 3.1.1 Jock River and Dowdall Riparian Corridors ................................................6 3.1.2 Other Terrestrial Features ............................................................................6 3.2 Aquatic Features ....................................................................................................15 3.2.1 Jock River ..................................................................................................15 3.2.2 Dowdall Municipal Drain ..........................................................................16 3.3 Species of Interest ..................................................................................................20 4.0 DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL .........................................................................................23 5.0 POTENTIAL IMPACTS ...................................................................................................23 5.1 Water Quality and Quantity ...................................................................................23 5.1.1 Water Taking .............................................................................................23 5.1.2 Septic Systems ...........................................................................................24 5.2 Terrestrial Habitat ..................................................................................................24 5.3 Aquatic Habitat ......................................................................................................25 6.0 MITIGATION MEASURES and RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................26 6.1 Tree Conservation Report ......................................................................................26 6.2 Aquatic Habitat ......................................................................................................28 6.3 Stormwater Mitigation ...........................................................................................30 6.4 Erosion and Sediment Controls and Monitoring ...................................................30 7.0 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................31 8.0 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................33 FIGURES Map 1: Natural Environment Features with Current Vegetation .........................................2 Map 2: Draft Plan of Subdivision and Proposed Conserved Vegetation .............................3 Figure 3: Butternut Locations in Proximity to Potential Site Disturbances .........................22 APPENDIX A Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Correspondence 14/12/15 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT –– RIVERBEND GOLF Page i MUNCASTER ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING INC. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Rural residential and commercial use is proposed for this 17.67 hectare site is located between Franktown and Copeland Roads to the south and north, respectively, and is bounded by the existing Riverbend Golf and Country Club golf course and rural farms to the east and the Heron Lake rural residential subdivision to the west (Map 1). The site is within part of Lots 7 and 8, Concession IV, in the Geographic Township of Goulbourn, City of Ottawa, Ontario. Since the original Environmental Impact Statement was completed in 2009 the Riverbend Golf and Country Club was sold to new owners (2396251 Ontario Ltd.), who initiated a severance application to separate the golf course area from the subdivision lands. The golf course lands are no longer part of the subdivision application and were transferred to new owner-operators (8300895 Canada Inc.) who continue to run the Riverbend Golf and Country Club. Six of the original golf course holes were realigned to provide a greater setback from the Jock River and to remove golf course play from the proposed subdivision lands. The subdivision lands north of the Jock River were also transferred to the golf course operator, who is now listed as a co-applicant on the Draft Plan of Subdivision. It is intended that Block 19 adjacent to Copeland Road will be transferred back to the subdivision owners while Block 20 will remain part of the playable area of the golf course. A typical house will have a footprint area between 200 and 300 m2 with four to five bedrooms and a garage of 50 m2. Each home will be serviced by an individual water well and private sewage system with a capacity of 3500 L/day. The proposed work also includes modifications to the floodplain of the Jock River through cutting an area in the east portion of the existing golf course in the vicinity of Holes 13 and 14 (see orange line on Map 2) and filling areas in the proposed subdivision in the vicinity of Lots 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 (see purple lines on Map 2). Surrounding land uses to the site include: The existing golf course to the east of the site and south of the north commercial block; Rural farms further to the east, south and north of the site; A 200 metre wide deciduous forest to the north of the site, north of Copeland Road; and, The Heron Lake rural residential subdivision to the west of the site, with active agricultural land and the DND Dwyer Hill Training Centre further to the west, east of Dwyer Hill Road. The site is designated General Rural Area on Schedule A of the City of Ottawa Official Plan (City of Ottawa, 2010). There are no Provincially Significant Wetlands, Rural Natural Features or Natural Environment Areas in proximity to the site. Schedule K and the Schedule L2 Overlay in the Official Plan identifies a landform feature in the vicinity of Franktown Road, approximately 170 metres to the east of the site. This feature is the Jock River Stromatolites, a 14/12/15 REVISED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT – RIVERBEND GOLF Page 1 MUNCASTER ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING INC. Provincially Significant Earth Science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) discussed in Section 3.2. A floodplain and unstable slopes along the Jock River are also shown on Schedule K. There are no other components of the City’s Natural Heritage System on or adjacent to the site as shown on the Schedule L2 Overlay other than a 75 meters wide forest edge south of Franktown Road, approximately 50 metres to the southwest of the southwest corner of the site. The mixed forest to the north of Copeland Road is not part of the Natural Heritage System. The former Region of Ottawa Carleton’s Natural Environment System Strategy did not identify any Natural Areas in the general vicinity of the site (Brunton, 1997). The Jock River is the dominant natural environment feature in the general area. The site is located within the north-central portion of Reach 3 of the Jock River, as identified in the Jock River Watershed Management Plan (RVCA, 2001). The Watershed Management Plan identified environmental features for Reach 3 of the River, but only the Jock River Stromatolites are in proximity to the site (OMNR, 2009, Map 1). The Provincially significant Richmond Fen is in the southeast corner of Reach 3, west of Richmond, and the Marlborough Forest is along the south portions of the Reach, south of the Jock River. White sucker spawning at the Ashton Dam at the upstream end of reach 3 is reported by RVCA (2001). In addition to the Jock River Stromatolites, RVCA (2001) also identified an Earth Science ANSI along Franktown Road in proximity to the Richmond Fen, approximately 5.5 kilometres to the east of the site. The Watershed Management Plan notes that riparian vegetation is lacking in some stretches of Reach 3 and the water quality is impaired with high counts of nutrients and bacteria. Flow and associated water depths are limited in the summer months with much of the Reach reported as non-navigable (RVCA, 2001). Improvement of riparian vegetation was a recommendation in the Watershed Management Plan for the general area of the site. The Jock River in the vicinity of the site provides warmwater aquatic habitat, with limited flows in the summer months. The identified natural environment features of special interest in the Jock River system are not in proximity to the site outside of the Jock River Stromatolites. In addition to the aquatic habitat and other functions of the Jock River system, the Dowdall Municipal Drain joins the Jock River from the west in the middle portion of the site. This Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been completed due the presence of fish habitat within the Jock River and the Dowdall Municipal Drain. 1.1 Scoping the Environmental Impact Statement This EIS was prepared in