Agency solicits input on Kelleys Island project

3/20/2003

KELLEYS ISLAND — A federal agency is seeking public comment on a plan to protect the habitat of the endangered Lake Erie water snake while allowing construction of a proposed residential development on Kelleys Island.

A notice published Monday in the Federal Register gives interested parties 60 days to comment on the plan and a permit application from the Long Point Homeowners Association, which wants to build seven homes on 15 acres on the northernmost tip of the island.

Under the association’s permit application, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would allow the proposed development to affect some snake habitat but would require measures to minimize the overall impact. The Lake Erie water snake, gray-colored and about 3 feet long, is found only around the western Lake Erie islands, Johnson Island, and limited sections around Catawba Island Township and the Marblehead peninsula.

Copies of the draft plan and environmental assessment can be viewed on the federal agency’s Web site, http://mid|west.fws.gov/nepa/. Copies are also available at public libraries in Port Clinton, Sandusky, Oak Harbor, and Kelleys Island.