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<br /> North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission <br />Ingram Cameron, Executive Director <br /> <br />Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721 <br />Telephone: (919) 707-0220 • Fax: (919) 707-0028 <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />TO: Lyn Biles, Environmental Assistance and SEPA Coordinator <br /> NCDENR Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Services <br /> <br />FROM: Olivia Munzer, Western Piedmont Coordinator <br /> Habitat Conservation <br /> <br />DATE: 13 May 2024 <br /> <br />SUBJECT: Environmental Assessment and Special Use Permit Application for the Childs Pace <br />Properties, LLC – Erwin Road Montessori in Chapel Hill, Orange County, North <br />Carolina. DEQ No. 24-0274. <br /> <br /> <br />Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission (NCWRC) have reviewed the subject <br />document. Comments are provided in accordance with provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination <br />Act (48 Stat. 401, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 661-667e) and North Carolina General Statutes (G.S. 113-131 <br />et seq.). <br /> <br />Summit Designs and Engineering Services, on behalf of Childs Pace Properties, LLC, has prepared a <br />Special Use Permit Application and Environmental Assessment for the installation of a new septic system <br />to increase the capacity of the Erwin Road Montessori School located at 735 Erwin Road, Chapel Hill, <br />Orange County, North Carolina. <br /> <br />The site drains to New Hope Creek in the Cape Fear River Basin. According to the documents provided, a <br />stream flows through the site. We have records for the state threatened creeper (Strophitus undulatus), <br />and state significantly rare eastern creekshell (Villosa delumbis) and chameleon lampmussel (Lampsilis <br />sp.2) in New Hope Creek. We have known records for the state endangered and federal proposed <br />endangered tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) in Orange County and potentially suitable habitat may <br />occur on the site. We recommend contacting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that any issues <br />related to this species are addressed. <br />We offer the following recommendations to further minimize impacts to aquatic and terrestrial wildlife <br />resources: <br />1. We recommend not clearing the entire site, but rather maintaining the maximum amount of native <br />vegetation as possible. <br />2. The project footprint should be surveyed for wetlands and streams to ensure there are no impacts <br />to surface waters. In addition to providing wildlife habitat, wetland areas and streams aid in flood <br />165