The Town of Beaufort, the third oldest town in North Carolina and the official repository for artifacts from the wreckage of Blackbeard’s flagship Queen Anne’s Revenge, is popular among visitors seeking the relaxation of coastal living. Beau Coast is a roughly 283-acre waterfront development within the White Oak River Basin designed to mingle work and play on the water.
WithersRavenel has provided a range of civil engineering, design and other professional services for the multi-phased residential project, including surveying, permitting, landscape architecture, and the design of roadway, water, sewer, storm drain, and stormwater control measures (SCMs).
Because the development is bounded on the north by Turner Creek and on south by Taylor Creek, with additional discharges to Town Creek and approximately 44 acres of wetland areas, the developer turned to WithersRavenel to prepare the environmental permit application.
WithersRavenel evaluated impacts to onsite coastal marsh, Section 404 wetlands, and isolated wetlands within the 75-foot Area of Environmental Concern (AEC) for the entire project under the Coastal Area Management Authority (CAMA) application. Construction-level design was completed for all proposed wetland impact areas to verify that additional wetland impacts will not result from construction of future phases.
The project as a whole was permitted as a low-density project, but areas such as the clubhouse and multi-family residential units were permitted as pockets of high-density, which require structural SCMs to control and treat runoff generated by 1.0 or 1.5 inches of rainfall. Depending on location, WithersRavenel designed the SCMs as constructed wetlands or wet ponds. Portions of the site also feature curb-and-gutter with catch basins connected to pipe networks. For the remaining low-density areas, vegetated swales convey stormwater to outfalls.
The overall design of Beau Coast includes 11 parcels divided into 794 residential lots and a suite of community amenities. While WithersRavenel has completed design services for all current project phases, there are still new homes being built in Beau Coast and Beau Coast West which are available for purchase.
The aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly waterfront development offers homeowners Traders Lake, a manmade waterway for recreational kayaking, and an adjacent meeting house, general store, pool, and clubhouse. Residents also have access to nearby Freedom Park, a Carteret County public park.
