The St. Joe Company selected Icarus as their environmental consultant for the Bay – Walton Sector entitlements process which covered approximately 110,00 acres in Bay and Walton Counties. This included the environmental assessment, existing West Bay Sector, methodology summaries, permit approvals history, environmental analysis and conclusions submitted to local governments and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO). Icarus assessed surface water features, listed species, wetlands, habitats, subbasins, vegetative communities, direct, secondary, and cumulative impacts. Spatial data were groundtruthed via pedestrian and ATV transects.
Icarus coordinated extensively with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Sector Plan development. Focul species were identified by state and Federal agencies and included in the Sector analysis. Icarus staff participated in meetings with public agencies, workshops and public open houses as part of the Sector process. Regionally significant conservation lands were identified, along with conservation corridors and greenspace linkages. The final submittal included; statutory requirements, wildlife and vegetation resource report, transportation analysis, water supply impact analysis, fiscal analysis, wastewater impact analysis, stormwater management analysis, community facilities analysis, historical and archeological analysis, the text amendment and county application. This Sector plan was the first to be submitted and approved under the new revisions to 163.324 F.S