The seven-year history of the efforts by the Summers End Group to obtain Army Corps and CZM permits for their Coral Bay marina has had many twists and turns along the way. We’ve tried to organize the many hundreds of documents and thousands of pages of correspondence relating to both of these permits into an accessible format through the timeline below.
The timeline below identifies the main events in the history of the Summers End Group’s efforts to obtain a US Army Corps of Engineers permit and in their efforts to secure a Virgin Islands Coastal Zone Management permit. There are three selector buttons at the top of the timeline: “Army Corps Permit”, “CZM Permit” or “Both Permits”. Select one of these options to view the events relating to that selection. By default “Both Permits” is selected for the timeline.
You may click on any entry to be taken to a page with more detail, including the primary documents relating to that event. Scroll down for the complete history. You may also click on any year shown on the slider on the right side of the page to jump to that year.
For general background on Army Corps permits – including when they are needed and how they are reviewed, click in this link for more information. Otherwise, just begin your journey along the timeline.
Save Coral Bay circulated a petition requesting a Public Hearing due to the many changes in the Summers End project plans since 2015, including extensive fill in multiple locations in Coral Harbor for creating “mangrove islands.” In just a single day close to 800 signatures were collected, with another two thousand in the coming week.
Due to the expanded Area of Potential Effects (the 4.5 acres of fill for mangrove island construction), the Corps is required to reinitiate Section 106 to assess for potential historic resources within the new areas.
Attorney Robb Fox, representing Save Coral Bay, wrote to the Corps identifying the lack of requited territorial authority for the Summers End project. A 2020 Consolidated CZM and Governor’s letter of modification, never approved by the CZM committee, expired in 2021, and not covering the project as proposed to the Corps, means that there is no valid federal consistency. A 2014 Water Quality Certificate that does not cover any dredge or fill operation likewise prohibits the proposed mangrove island mitigation. No trust land approvals further complete the lack of territorial authorization.
Following receipt of the Jan 2026 Compensatory Mitigation Plan, Save Coral Bay submitted a comprehensive review of the proposed mitigation measures, and gross errors in the plan proposed by Summers End. Errors in bathymetry (water depth) render the fill quantity off by several thousand cubic yards. The proposed construction is woefully inadequate in an exposed location. The excacation proposed on the Fortsberg shoreline is entirely infeasible. The cover letter and report are shown below:
The Corps approves Nationwide Permit 27 (“Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration”) for Summers End. This permit approves filling several acres of Coral Harbor with 1,800 cubic yards of sand, to create “mangrove islands” as compensatory mitigation for the seagrass losses from the marina. It also approves work on 1.4 acres on the shoreline of Fortsberg peninsula to excavate down to tidal elevations, create waterways, place two culverts beneath the Fortsberg Rd, and create additional mangrove wetlands. The permit and decision document are shown below:
Two permits were approved to mitigate impacts to the oldest documented shipwreck ever investigated in the nearshore waters of St John, dating from the first half of the 18th century. Nationwide Permit 18 permits Summers End to place up to 25 cubic yards of sandbag fill around the shipwreck site, and Nationwide Permit 27 permits installation of 15 buoys in a circle surrounding the shipwreck, as a “no-navigation” zone.
Save Coral Bay appreciates the initiative of our Delegate to Congress, Representative Stacey Plaskett, in asking the Army Corps to convene a public hearing on the proposed Summers End Marina. Her letter is shown below:
Counsel for Save Coral Bay, Attorney Robb Fox, wrote to the Corps regarding the lack of a legal basis for splitting the marina permits into multiple parts – Section 10 for the marina, NWP 27 for the mitigation, and the inconsistencies with the 2014 Water Quality Certificate.
Through FOIA we have learned that Summers End intends, once again, to attempt to circumvent the Virgin Islands CZM Act and enter into an agreement with Governor Bryan to place fill on submerged trust lands in order to create acres of mangrove islands. This activity requires a major CZM water permit approved by the St John CZM Committee and ratification by the Legislature, however SEG appears to be unwilling to follow that statutory procedure.
Just two days before approving the marina permit, the District Commander of the Army Corps Jacksonville District wrote to Coral Bay residents denying the request for a public hearing, arguing, in essence, that the Corps had already heard all it relevant comments. Since there has not been an opportunity for public comment since August 2015, and never been an opportunity to comment on the extensive mitigation proposals, this rationale has little basis.
The main marina permit – a Section 10 individual permit – was signed by Colonel Brandon Bowman on April 23, 2026. The decision document (Memorandum for the Record) and the approved permit are shown below:
And the decision document (MFR):
A public hearing is REQUIRED under Army Corps regulations when there are significant unresolved resource utilization issues. The Summers End project clearly is in that category, however the Corps Jacksonville District denied a public hearing without providing the rationale required under the regulations. A legal response was submitted by Save Coral Bay:
Not knowing that the Corps had already approved the permit and denied a Public Hearing, a final letter was sent to the Corps requesting a hearing limited to the project features that had changed subsequent to the 2015 public comment period.
A week following the approval of the marina permit, the Corps issued a press release announcing the permit approvals, citing the Trump executive order to “Build Infrastructure, not Paperwork” …
On August 10, 2026, Save Coral Bay, together with the Coral Bay Community Council, filed a lawsuit challenging the permits approved by the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the Summers End Group LLC.
