COMMISSION ACTIONS JANUARY 2005

JANUARY 2005 COMMISSION ACTIONS

The following are the agenda items from the Commission's regular January meeting held Tuesday, January 25, 2005 at Commission headquarters. The Commission's action is in bold.

1. MINUTES of previous meeting. The Commission approved the August Minutes by a 4-0 vote with Mr. Robins abstaining and the December Minutes by a 3-0 vote with Mr. Holland and Mr. Cowart abstaining.

2. PERMITS (Projects over $50,000 with no objections and with staff recommendation for approval). The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the permits with staff recommendations.

3. CLOSED SESSION:   None held.

4. MICHAEL JEWETT, #03-0849. Continuation of a formal restoration hearing and consideration of a Commission subcommittee report concerning unauthorized construction activities at a former seafood offloading facility located at the terminus of Lawson Road on Bennett's Creek in Poquoson.  The Commission's subcommittee on Mr. Jewett's case made its report and recommended that the structure be taken down within six months or that Mr. Jewett come up with a plan to bring it up to Code or that the action to make the building conform be undertaken. The Commission voted, 5-0, to accept the subcommittee's recommendation.

5. BEACH COVE VILLAS CONDO OWNERS ASSOC., #04-2277, requests after-the-fact authorization to retain three (3) 90-foot long, T-head, concrete block groins installed at the site of three (3) remnant stone groins in front of their condominium units on the Rappahannock River near Windmill Point in Lancaster County. A commercial waterman who has a pound net adjacent to one of the groins protests the project. The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the after-the-fact permit with triple fees and no civil charges. However, the t-head and the piles must be removed.

6. COLD CHEER FARM ESTATES HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, #04-1854, requests authorization to construct a community pier addition to provide five (5) wet slips at their community property situated along Piscataway Creek in Essex County. Several nearby property owners protest the project. The Commission voted, 5-0, to deny the permit.

7. RONALD W. BOONE, #04-2187, requests authorization to construct a 116-foot long by 42-foot wide building to house a bait shop, rest rooms, a snack bar, and recreational room, with a 12-foot by 12-foot gazebo structure on the roof, and two 24-foot by 16-foot open-sided roofed shelter structures, all to serve activities associated with the reconstruction of Harrison's Fishing Pier situated along the Chesapeake Bay in Norfolk. The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the permit with staff recommendations.

8. BLUEWATER YACHT SALES LLC, #04-1594, requests after-the-fact authorization for the installation of a 245-foot long by 8-foot wide floating commercial pier and mooring piles adjacent to their property situated along Sunset Creek in Hampton. Residents in the vicinity protest the project. The Commission voted, 5-0 to approve the after-the-fact permits with triple fees and no civil charge.

9. JACK W. COLLINS, #03-2064, requests authorization to Cross Wolf Creek near the Town of Hicksville in Bland County with a 10-foot wide by 60-foot long, steel and timber, single span bridge with two (2) concrete footers on the edge of the creek to connect an easement over land belonging to Mr. Harry Thompson and provide for vehicular access from State Route 642 to his cabin. Mr. Thompson objects to the project.  The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the permit with staff recommendations.

10. WILLIAM GEARY, #04-2015, requests after-the-fact authorization to retain an existing culvert crossing constructed over Back Creek in Frederick County and permission to install metal rails along the upstream side of the crossing to help prevent culvert clogging. Construction of the 16-foot wide crossing included laying culverts and concrete over an approximate 40-foot section of State-owned subaqueous bottom and involved filling approximately 100 square feet of subaqueous bottom adjacent to the crossing in an attempt to stabilize the upland. The crossing currently serves as an access route to Mr. Geary's private property. The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the after-the-fact permit.

11. COLUMBIA GAS OF VIRGINIA, #04-2549, requests after-the-fact authorization to retain the installation of a 4-inch replacement gas pipeline for a distance of 20 linear feet, by directional drill method, beneath Lieutenant Run, a tributary to the Appomattox River within the City of Petersburg. The Commission, 5-0, to approve the project with staff recommendations.

12. DOMINION VIRGINIA POWER, ET AL, #04-2241, requests authorization to install overhead power transmission lines, to provide individual electrical service to Mr. Lewis Starkey, over Wards Creek in Prince George County. An adjoining property owner protests the project. The case was withdrawn and will be handled administratively.

13. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Request for a Security Zone in the Area of Plum Tree National Wildlife Refuge.  The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve a regulation to establish the requested security zone.

14. Proposed amendments to Regulation 4VAC20-450-10 et seq., "Pertaining to the Taking of Bluefish".  The Commission voted, 5-0 to approve the amendments.

15. PUBLIC HEARING: Proposed amendments to Regulation 4VAC20-910-10 et seq., "Pertaining to Scup (Porgy)".  The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the amendments

16. PUBLIC HEARING: Proposed amendments to Regulation 4VAC20-252-10 et seq., "Pertaining to the Taking of Striped Bass".  The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the amendments. 

17. PUBLIC HEARING: Proposed amendments to Regulation 4VAC20-950-10 et seq., "Pertaining to Black Sea Bass".  The Commission voted, 3-2, to approve the amendments.

18. SUMMER FLOUNDER: Request for public hearing on proposed amendments to adjust the recreational fishing measures for 2005. The Commission set the public hearing for its February meeting.

19. AMERICAN SHAD RESTORATION: Approval of procurement procedures and public notice.  The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the procurement process.

20. PUBLIC COMMENTS:

As a result of public comments the following action was taken. The Commission voted 5- 0 for emergency regulations:
1) Extend the oyster season in the Rappahannock from Feb. 1 to March 31.
2) Extend the oyster season in the lower James River to hand scraping from Feb. 1 to March 31.
3) Adopted a regulation to allow suspend the regulation on width of teeth in oyster dredges for Pocomoke and Tangier Management Area for the remainder of the 2004-2005 season.

PAGE 2 ITEMS (Projects over $50,000 with no objections and with staff recommendation for approval; Approved in Item 2)

2A. AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER, ET AL, #04-2609, requests authorization to replace an existing, private bridge over Walker Creek in Bland County with a pre-cast, 43-foot long by 20-foot wide, clear-span, bridge to provide equipment access for the installation and maintenance of the previously authorized Wyoming-Jackson Ferry Power Transmission line. Recommend approval with the inclusion of our standard instream permit conditions.

2B. NEW KENT COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES, ET AL, #04-2745, requests authorization to install, by directional bore, a submerged 16-inch sewer line beneath 42 linear feet of Rumley Marsh to provide public sewer to residents of New Kent County.

2C. FAIRFAX COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, #02-2187, requests modification to a time-of-year restriction included in a previously authorized permit for the installation of a sanitary sewer trunk line across four separate crossings of Pohick Creek in Fairfax County, and for the installation at the final two (2) crossings of precast concrete caps over existing sewer trunk lines and six-inch thick gabion mattresses along the streambed to cover all trunk lines. Recommend the previous time-of-year restriction of February 15 - June 30 be revised one time to a new in-stream restriction from March 1 - June 30 to allow completion of the final stream crossing.

2D. LYON SHIPYARD, INC., #04-2341, requests authorization to maintenance dredge, by clamshell, 35,000 cubic yards of State-owned submerged lands, and on an as-needed basis, to provide maximum depths of -20 feet below mean low water at the existing bulkhead sloping to depths of -31 feet below mean low water at their existing drydock facility adjacent to their property situated along the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River in Norfolk. All dredged material will be transported to and disposed within the Craney Island Disposal Facility. Staff recommends a pre-dredge conference and requirement to submit a post-dredge bathymetric survey.

2E. CHESAPEAKE COVE MARINA, #04-2401, requests authorization to remove an existing commercial boathouse, construct a new 115-foot by 50-foot boathouse with six (6) wetslips, 260 linear feet of replacement vinyl bulkhead, a 5-foot by 48-foot open-pile pier with finger piers and mooring piles to provide two wetslips adjacent to their marina situated along Broad Creek in Middlesex County. There will be a net decrease in the size of the boathouse and the reduction of two slips.

2F. WESTERN BRANCH PRESERVE, LLC, #04-2132, requests authorization to construct eight (8) 150-foot long dual-slip community piers, two (2) 175-foot long community piers with six (6) slips and one (1) 170-foot long community pier with eight (8) slips (a total of 11 piers and 36 slips), and construct a 16-foot wide, concrete community boat ramp and associated tending pier which will extend 45 feet channelward of mean low water. The proposed structures are designed to serve a 225-acre waterfront subdivision consisting of 41 lots situated on the Western Branch of the Corrotoman River in Lancaster County. All of the proposed slips will also include uncovered, low-profile boatlift structures. Recommend approval based on the developer's agreement to include deed restrictions that will prohibit any further construction of individual private piers by the subsequent riparian waterfront property owners.



NEXT MEETING:  2/22/05

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