The state is seeking public input on a permit application to allow permanent impacts to a stream on the slopes of Aetna Mountain for ongoing development of the River Gorge Ranch residential project in southeast Marion County.
According to the state Department of Environment and Conservation notice issued Wednesday, the permit application filed by Chattanooga developer John “Thunder” Thornton’s company, Thunder Enterprises, seeks to allow permanent impacts on about 800 lineal feet of an unnamed stream on the southern slope of the mountain, and the company plans to offset those impacts with wetland mitigation credits it has or will purchase.
The stream, which discharges when flowing into the Tennessee River on Nickajack Lake, is adjacent to the already-constructed entry road leading up the mountain to Thornton’s upscale housing project and a restaurant, according to permit documents. Dane Bradshaw, president of Thunder Enterprises, is seeking the aquatic resources alteration permit on behalf of the company.
(READ MORE: Riverdance restaurant opens in John ‘Thunder’ Thornton’s River Gorge Ranch)
The stream involved starts about a half-mile up River Gorge Ranch’s entry road to the development, where Thunder Enterprises proposes unavoidable permanent impacts of about 2,600 square feet, or less than one-tenth of an acre, of wetland stream bed, according to permit documents. To offset permanent impacts, the company previously purchased about 120 lineal feet of wetland mitigation credits from the Smoky Run Mitigation Bank along the Tennessee River in Roane County and will purchase an additional 357 feet of credits from the Porterhouse Valley Mitigation Bank in McMinn and Monroe County on the Hiwassee River.
HOW TO COMMENT
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is seeking public comments on a proposed permit action. People wishing to comment on the proposal are invited to submit written comments to the agency. Written comments must be received within 30 days following distribution of the approved public notice materials. Comments will become part of the record and will be considered in the final decision. The applicant’s name, Thunder Enterprises Inc., and permit number NRS26.018 should be referenced. Comments can be sent by email to eric.shiflett@tn.gov or mailed to the permit coordinator:
Eric Shiflett
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Water Resources, Natural Resources Unit
Davy Crockett Tower
500 James Robertson Parkway, 9th Floor
Nashville, TN 37243
You may also comment via email to ARAP.permits@tn.gov.
Source: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
A mitigation bank is a wetland, stream or other aquatic resource that has been restored, established, enhanced or preserved for the purpose of providing compensation for unavoidable impacts to aquatic resources, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Bank credits are used by developers, contractors and other entities to offset the adverse environmental impacts of their projects.
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The purpose of the associated project is to construct housing and associated infrastructure for the development, documents said. The company has sold about 780 of the 2,250 home lots available in River Gorge Ranch, which sprawls across 7,500 acres on Aetna Mountain.
The comment period ends 30 days after the notice is publicly published. The notice was published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Wednesday, so 30 days would run out June 5.
After the agency makes a final permit determination, a permit appeal may be filed by the applicant or by any participant in the public comment period, whose appeal is based on comments given to the agency in writing during the public comment period or in testimony at a formal public hearing. Anyone who has trouble reading, speaking or understanding English can receive free translation services by contacting Brian Canada at 615-979-1406 or brian.canada@tn.gov.
Contact Southeast Tennessee reporter Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.