The Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners learned Monday how close they’ve come to getting a project (20 years in the making), started in replacing the courthouse. Making the downtown location work could involve the City of Milton’s help.
Tommy Sinclair, with HOK, presented where the company is today in evaluating the downtown site in terms of wetlands, storm water retention, and permitting. With him were Steve White from Hatchmont McDonald, a civil engineer, and Keith Johnson in wetland sciences.
HOK looked at parcels south of Pine Street, which would be used for parking and storm water retention. However, they only included those currently available. The plan, Sinclair said, still covers 135,000 square feet, three levels, with all departments under one roof.
One of the sticking points during the presentation, among others, were how to mitigate impact on the wetlands. According to HOK, the amount of impact affects permitting time by both the state (through the Northwest Florida Water Management District, NFWMD) and the federal government (through the US Army Corps of Engineers, USACE) and requires the county to prove the site’s necessity versus alternative sites.
If the amount of wetlands impacted by the project can be dropped to under a half acre, a more streamlined permitting process is possible, according to White. “Even if you’re under that half acre threshold, you still have to get a permit through the regulatory agencies for those,” White said.
While this is true of both the state and federal regulatory agencies, federal requirements are more stringent. According to Johnson, the USACE requires an assessment of offsite alternatives for a project if any wetlands are impacted. “The Corps cannot issue a permit if there are practicable alternatives available that result in less environmental impact,” he said.
Milton City Planning Director Randy Jorgenson said the city could acquire one of the lots left out from HOK’s presentation since the county doesn’t own the land. He said, “With our acquisition of lot seven, we have the ability to close Pine from Escambia to Willing if necessary.”
Jorgenson also said, the retention pond, as it is proposed now, requires only mitigation of just over two tenths of one acre. However, he said, “If the pond were reconfigured so it went east/west essentially on the southern portion of the same lot…you would not impact wetlands in any way, shape, or form and have more than adequate parking.”
This presentation, along with the whole planning workshop, is available on the county’s website. The portion of the video pertaining to the courthouse will also be available with this story at www.srpressgazette.com. As the courthouse issue comes up again this month, keep up with the Press Gazette for any new information and decisions.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: City may reduce courthouse wetland impact