Full Public Notice Project Plans
The applicant proposes to bulkhead and fill areas along West Tarpon
Avenue, West Bass Avenue, as well as an undeveloped portion of Oyster Cove that is included
within the Port Isabel Improvement District. The purpose of this project is to develop the area for
residential lots. The project will include the installation of a bulkhead, placement of associated
backfill, installation of infrastructure, and roadway improvements. The project will result in the
permanent filling of 4.955 acres of jurisdictional area, including 0.455 acres of wetlands, 0.13 acres
of shallow water habitat, and 4.37 acres of area classified as sand tidal flat. To account for
jurisdictional area not delineated as wetlands, the applicant included the low lying areas (elevations
below 2.0 feet MSL) as sand tidal flat habitat. The 6,953 feet of bulkhead (3,856 feet along West
Tarpon Avenue, 2,705 feet along West Bass Avenue, and 392 feet along Oyster Cove) will be
constructed along historic shoreline boundaries using ultra composite sheet piling. Upon installation
of the bulkhead, the area between the seawall and the existing mean high tide line would be
backfilled with native soil, thereby bringing the properties to an elevation consistent with the
bulkhead. It is anticipated that the backfill will be placed from the bulkhead to at least 1 foot above
sea level. The proposed bulkhead alignment will be located on or inland of the jurisdictional line
along Oyster Cove, thus no impacts to jurisdictional waters are anticipated. The applicant
anticipates temporary impacts during the construction of the bulkhead, which will extend 5 feet
waterward from the location of the bulkhead, due to the method of construction involving driving
the sheetpile. This will result in temporary wetland impacts to 0.32 acres on West Tarpon Avenue
and 0.15 acres on West Bass Avenue.