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Army Corps extends comment period for Legasus golf course community
By Justin Goble
The deadline for the public comment with regard to a local developer’s application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been extended until this Friday, March 28, at 5 p.m.
Legasus of North Carolina plans to develop a 1,810-acre tract on Cullowhee Mountain into its Webster Creek 828-unit residential community.
According to the plan, Webster Creek, which is one of five developments Legasus collectively calls River Rock, will include two golf courses, including a championship course designed by Phil Mickelson.
Access to the property, which straddles Cullowhee Mountain’s ridgeline, is from Moody Bridge Road in East LaPorte.
Legasus plans some home sites on the Cullowhee Mountain Road side with the golf courses and most of the residential development on the N.C. 107 side, according to the permit application filed with the Corps of Engineers. Legasus proposes to impact 3,890 linear feet of stream channel along Mill and Webster creeks and Mine and Cherry Gap branches, and such waterway disturbance requires Corps approval.
The developer’s application also indicates that .48 acres of wetland will be disturbed, and that most of the planned impacts involve golf course construction and road crossings.
Legasus’ Cullowhee Mountain development is not subject to steep-slope and subdivision ordinances enacted by Jackson County commissioners last summer because Legasus, which announced its plans just days before a moratorium on new subdivisions took effect, proved the non-contiguous River Rock communities had vested rights.
North Carolina statutes require counties to consider the level of investment that has been made on property in advance of new laws that restrict some types of development, according to Jackson County Planning Director Linda Cable.
Jackson County did file comments with the Corps of Engineers last week, however. In a letter to the Corps of Engineers’ Lori Beckwith signed by Commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan, the county raises concerns related to water quality and requests the Corps hold a public hearing on the planned Legasus development. Stream buffers are the best way to protect water quality, which makes the elimination of “almost a mile” of natural stream channel a concern, the letter states. The county’s comment also indicates an environmental impact study might be needed.
“In particular, the county is concerned about the effects of golf-course developments on the water quality and biodiversity of our streams and rivers,” the county comment states. “Jackson County now has 12 golf courses within its jurisdiction, with more, such as the one which is the subject of this public notice, being proposed. Some of the water quality impacts of these golf courses, such as the sedimentation occasioned by stormwater runoff, are visibly evident. Others, such as the introduction of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers into streams are well-known to be associated with golf course construction and maintenance.”
The county also chose to comment based on the large number of citizens who have expressed their concern, the letter states.
Other interested persons may submit written comments to Lori Beckwith, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 151 Patton Ave. Room 208, Asheville, NC 28801, and label it “Corps Action ID# 2008-00492.” E-mail comments will also be accepted and may be directed to Beckwith at Loretta.A.Beckwith@saw02.usace.army.mil with “Corps Action ID# 2008-00492” in the subject line. Legasus’ complete application is available online at http://www.saw.usace.army.mil/wetlands/notices/current_notices.html.
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