Sawgrass Pointe Natural Resource Assessment

Client: Centex Homes

Location: Charlotte County, FL

Summary: Cardno ENTRIX, Inc. provided a broad array of environmental services on the Sawgrass Pointe project after Centex Homes acquired the Riverwood Development of Regional Impact. Prior to the acquisition, Cardno ENTRIX completed an environmental due diligence and constraints analysis of this environmentally sensitive project site on the shores of the Myakka River. Using our Geographic Positioning System (GPS), Cardno ENTRIX demonstrated the accuracy of previous aerial delineations to Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) reviewers, who re-verified the delineations for use in permitting. Cardno ENTRIX provided wetland impact permitting services, including the design of tidal and fresh water mitigation sites, in support of successful applications to the SWFWMD, COE and Charlotte County.

The presence of gopher tortoises, bald eagles, and Florida scrub-jays provided challenges for project permitting and construction. Cardno ENTRIX negotiated successfully with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servcie (FWS) and Charlotte County staff regarding the conservation requirements for these species. Cardno ENTRIX participated in a formal Section 7 consultation between the COE and FWS leading to the issuance of a FWS Biological Opinion, including an Incidental Take Statement authorizing the incidental take of Florida scrub-jays and bald eagles. Cardno ENTRIX obtained a permit for gopher tortoises that provided for on-site Sawgrass Pointe relocation and habitat preservation. Cardno ENTRIX planned and implemented upland habitat management within a 59-acre on-site preserve to maintain scrub and scrubby flatwoods habitats for the project?s gopher tortoises, scrub-jays and bald eagles. Extensive monitoring of scrub-jays facilitated the relocation of resident birds from proposed construction areas into the on-site preserve.

Close coordination between Cardno ENTRIX, Centex Homes, and site contractors, coupled with extensive construction monitoring prevented disturbance of nesting bald eagles and scrub-jays by earthwork and home construction when these activities occurred during the nesting seasons. Cardno ENTRIX coordinated construction activities, including wetland impacts and mitigation construction, and removed nuisance and exotic species from the upland preserve, wetland buffers and wetland preserves. Working with the project archeologist, Cardno ENTRIX coordinated protection measures for an on-site Indian burial mound and stabilization of an historically significant midden at risk from erosion by the Myakka River.