May 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 34

L AW R E V I E W

FDOT and the St. Lucie Transportation
Planning Organization (TPO). Alternative 1C received the highest score on
both rounds, while Alternative 6A received the second-highest scores. This
thorough scoring process contributed to
the city's selection of Alternative 1C as
the LPA (Locally Preferred Alternative).
Cumulative Adverse Impacts
As cited by the federal appeals court, pursuant to applicable regulations, 23 C.F.R.
§ 774.17, " an alternative is not prudent
if it involves multiple factors that, while
individually minor, cumulatively cause
unique problems or impacts of extraordinary magnitude. " In this particular
instance, the appeals court found the
Section 4(f) analysis had detailed a series
of negative impacts associated with Alternative 6A that would have a collective
adverse social impact to the neighborhoods on both sides of the NFSLR,
" even if design and construction issues
were resolved. "

peals court noted the Supreme Court had
also acknowledged, " Congress clearly
did not intend that cost and disruption
of the community were to be ignored. "
Applying these principles to this particular instance, the federal appeals court
held that the FHWA had acted well
within its discretion in concluding that
the cumulative harms rendered Alternative 6A imprudent. In so doing, the federal appeals court found the Section 4(f)
analysis had " yielded sound reasons "
for the FHWA's decision to reject Alternative 6A as imprudent.
Least Harmful Alternative
Having concluded that " the FHWA acted
within the scope of its authority in deciding that no feasible or prudent avoidance
alternatives existed for avoiding Section
4(f) properties, " the federal appeals court
also considered " whether the FHWA's
ultimate selection of Alternative 1C as
the least-harm alternative was arbitrary,
capricious, or an abuse of discretion. "

The regulatory intent of such balancing is to total " the
harm caused by each alternate route to Section 4(f) areas "
and select " the option which does the least harm. "
In particular, the appeals court noted
the FHWA's concerns with Alternative
6A stemmed from the route's construction of a new six-lane highway through
an established residential neighborhood.
Moreover, according to FHWA, Alternative 6A was also the only alternative
with the " potential for affecting neighborhoods with a higher-than-average
number of minority households. "
While the U.S. Supreme Court in
" Overton Park " had recognized that
" protection of parkland is to be given
paramount importance, " the federal ap32

Parks & Recreation

The Section 4(f) evaluation in the Final Environmental Impact Statement
had included a " least harm " analysis as
required by Section 4(f). This analysis
had relied on other portions of the Final
EIS, and it measured the harms associated with the various build alternatives
against the seven factors drawn from the
applicable federal regulation, 23 C.F.R. §
774.3(c)(1):
First, it considered the ability to
mitigate adverse impacts to each § 4(f)
resource. All of the alternatives were
equal on this point, because the mitiga-

| M AY 2 0 1 7 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

tion plan provided for the addition of
108.55 acres to the SPSP that would
more than counterbalance the acreage
used by any alternative.
Second, it considered the relative
severity of the remaining harm to the
protected areas after mitigation. Again,
all of the alternatives were equal because
the mitigation plan would result in a net
improvement to natural resources.
Third, it considered the relative significance of each § 4(f) property - all of the
affected properties are important natural
communities that provide recreational
opportunities and the AP is, additionally, an important fish habitat.
Fourth, it considered the views of
the officials with jurisdiction over the
AP and the SPSP - in this case, the
Florida Department of Environmental
Protection, which 'agreed that the mitigation plan compensates fully for the
impacts and provides substantial benefits to the SPSP.'
Fifth, it considered the degree to which
each alternative would meet the project's
purpose and need, and concluded that
Alternative 1C met the project's purpose
and need more efficaciously than any
other alternative.
Sixth, the least-harm analysis devoted
the most time to...the magnitude of adverse impacts from each build alternative
on non-§ 4(f) properties after reasonable
mitigation.
Seventh, costs were determined to be
substantially similar for all of the alternatives.
The Section 4(f) analysis of these factors had concluded that Alternative 1C
would result in " considerably less overall
non-Section 4(f) impacts compared with
all other build alternatives. " Specifically, the Alternative 1C pathway for the
bridge " would not pass near or through
any existing neighborhoods on the east
side of the river and would be aligned
with existing streets on the west side of



May 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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