Please review the letter below. If you would like to add your name to the list of signatories, complete the fields in the form and then click on “ADD MY SIGNATURE”. Thank you for your support for Coral Bay, St John.
I strongly oppose the construction of the marina in Coral Bay, St John, United States Virgin Islands, proposed by the Summers End Group LLC pursuant to Army Corps of Engineers permit application number SAJ-2004-12518 (SP-JCM).
This marina is clearly not in the public interest for the following reasons:
- It is located on the most exposed shoreline of Coral Bay, an area that was decimated by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. This is not a safe location for a marina and presents extreme risks to public health and safety and to the marine environment.
- The construction and operation of a large yacht marina at this location will adversely impact water quality and the fragile recovery of ecosystems following the impacts of the 2017 storms.
- Coral Bay’s economy depends on eco-tourism. This commercial marina in the heart of the Virgin Islands National Park and the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument would seriously damage the natural appeal and the economy of Coral Bay for visitors and residents.
- The impacts to protected resources, including sea grass meadows, mangroves, fish and shellfish nurseries, and endangered species including corals and sea turtles are unacceptable and have not been mitigated by any proposals from the applicant.
- Air pollution from diesel exhaust, noise pollution from generators, and light pollution from mega yachts, all present health and quality of life impacts to the surrounding residential communities.
- The proposed marina consumes almost half of Coral Bay Harbor, and would result in serious risks to public safety and welfare if it were destroyed in a hurricane. Access to and from Coral Bay for emergency relief could be blocked by marina wreckage.
- There are alternative locations available for a St John marina which involve less environmental damage and would be more practical from a boater’s perspective.
- The cultural, historical, social and natural resources of Coral Bay will be adversely impacted by this significant alteration of the physical landscape.
For these reasons I respectfully request that the United States Army Corps of Engineers deny the permit requested by the Summers End Group LLC. This project is clearly not in the public interest.
To: Ms. Carolyn Farmer, Project Manager, US Army Corps of Engineers
cc: Ms. Alisa Zarbo, Palm Beach Gardens Section Chief (USACE)
Subj: Summer’s End Group Marina, Coral Bay, St John, US Virgin Islands
Dear Ms, Farmer,
On behalf of the signatories attached to this letter, I am respectfully requesting that the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) deny permit application SAJ-2004-12518 submitted by the Summers End Group LLC (“SEG”) due to SEG’s seven year history of non-response and incomplete response to issues raised by the public, by USACE and by other involved federal agencies. The continued pendency of the permit since its initial submission in April 2014, over seven years ago, has been a significant burden on the people of Coral Bay and has created a disincentive for small scale business investment which is the heart of the economy of this community. The negative impacts of this multi-year permit review have been severe on the people of Coral Bay, particularly during our lenthy recovery from the devastating hurricanes of 2017. This project is clearly not in the public interest, and the failure of SEG to adequately respond to issues raised by the public and involved federal agencies is grounds for denial under Army Corps regulations.
The basis for our request for permit denial is further supported by the seven-year history of the permit review detailed in the timeline below:
| Date | Event Description |
|---|---|
| April 2014 | The Summer's End Group filed their first permit application with USACE. This application was deemed incomplete and returned to the applicant with a request for additional information. |
| September 2014 | SEG submitted their second permit application to USACE. This application was put out for public comment in a USACE Public Notice dated January 7, 2015. |
| January 2015 | The public submitted approximately 13,000 letters, emails, and form letters in opposition to the proposed project. Additionally, five federal agencies (EPA, NOAA, FWS, NPS, NMFS) all submitted comments expressing extensive concerns, and two of the agencies requested outright denial of the USACE permit. In addition to these comments, the Coral Bay Community Council (CBCC) submitted comprehensive analysis, comments and reports from five experts covering a range of environmental and economic issues regarding the proposed SEG project. |
| May 2015 | After the US Fish and Wildlife Service rescinded a Boating Infrastructure Grant to Summers End (due to environmental impacts), SEG was required to submit a third permit application to USACE. The changes from the second to the third application were minor: removal of a mooring field, and added description of upland development activities. There were no changes whatsoever in the marina design. The applicant did not supply a new or revised Environmental Assessment Report (EAR). |
| July 2015 | The third permit application was published in a USACE Public Notice dated July 9, 2015. |
| August 2015 | During the second comment period the public submitted over 20,000 letters, emails and form letters from individuals opposed to the SEG marina (inclusive of the letters submitted during the first comment period which were lost by the Corps). All five federal agencies again submitted extensive concerns, reiterating their comments from the earlier comment period. In addition, a petition with over 8,000 signatures in opposition to the SEG marina was submitted. CBCC again submitted analysis and expert testimony. |
| October 2015 | In a meeting in Coral Bay, St John, the Corps reviewed the concerns raised by the community, and requested that a summary of these concerns be forwarded to USACE. When asked about the extent of public comment in support of the marina, USACE responded that they had received nine (9) letters in support, and over fifteen thousand (15,000) letters in opposition. |
| October 2015 | The Corps sent a letter to SEG (the "First Comments for Rebuttal Letter") summarizing the public comments, federal agency comments, and the Corps' concerns. This letter identified an extensive list of issues to which the applicant needed to respond in order for the Corps to complete its environmental assessment. The Corps' requested a written response from SEG within 30 days. |
| November 2015 | The Summers End Group requested additional time to respond to the list of issues, and the Corps notified SEG that their application was being withdrawn from processing, and provided SEG one year in which they could respond to the Corps request for information. |
| February 2017 | After waiting more than one year for SEG's response to the list of public concerns, a letter signed by 1,835 individuals was sent to the Corps requesting denial of the Army Corps permit due to non-response by the Summers End Group to the October 2015 information request. |
| August 2017 | Almost two years after the initial request, SEG submitted extensive new documentation on their Coral Bay marina project. |
| September 2017 | The island of St John was devastated by two Category 5 hurricanes - Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria. Coral Bay was in ruins, and it was painfully clear that had a marina been constructed at the site chosen by Summers End it would have had disastrous consequences to the public health and safety. |
| October 2017 | The Corps sent SEG the "Second Comments for Rebuttal Letter". SEG responded with some minor additions and corrections to their documents. |
| January 2018 | The Corps sent SEG the "Third Comments for Rebuttal Letter" and again SEG responded with minimal documents changes. |
| July 2018 | The Corps initiated formal consultation with NMFS Protected Resources Division and NMFS Habitat Conservation Division under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act and under the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Act. |
| December 2018 | The NMFS consultations were closed due to non-response by Summers End to additional information requests sent by the agencies to the Corps in September and October 2018. |
| December 2020 | Two years after the close of the first consultations additional documents were provided by Summers End, ostensibly in response to agency information requests. SEG never formally agreed on a scoping plan of work with the federal agencies but nonetheless initiated new studies which were inadequate for the required consultations. |
| March 2020 | The additional documents were reviewed by the Corps and found to be incomplete. The Corps sent a fourth request for additional information. |
| May 2020 | Summers End submitted a “final response” to the Corps information requests, consisting mostly of rebuttals and little new information. |
| March 2021 | The Corps initiated new formal consultations with NMFS PRD, NMFS HCD, and with VISHPO under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The Section 106 consultation emerged as a new requirement after it was discovered that SEG's two prior marine archeological studies had failed to locate and identify an early 18th century shipwreck within the footprint of the proposed marina. |
| September 2021 | After receiving additional information requests from the NMFS divisions, the Corps issued an Incompleteness Letter to Summers End identifying significant deficiencies, errors, and non-responses in the cumulative information provided by the Applicant. The letter additionally identified outstanding concerns of the US Environmental Protection Agency and numerous concerns relating to a public interest determination. As of October 25, 20201, SEG had not responded to this letter. |
| October 2021 | The NMFS agencies closed the second formal consultation with a status of “non-responsive” due to the failure of Summers End to respond to the most recent additional information requests. |
| November 2021 | Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. publicly announced that he was meeting with the Army Corps in Jacksonville District Office in order to push for permitting for a number of Virgin Islands projects, including the St John Marina (Summers End). This involvement in federal regulatory procedures by a local government official who is an advocate for the project is of significant concern to the affected public. |
In spite of all of the above, Summers End continues to publicly state that the project will “soon begin construction” and this false claim has created a real disincentive to small scale business investment in Coral Bay. Small business is the lifeblood of the Coral Bay economy. When land owners are unable to offer long term leases, on the basis that the marina is “soon coming”, then business owners are unable to justify investment.
Federal regulations and Corps operating procedures require a timely action on permit applications. The Corps has generously provided over six years for SEG to respond to the issues and concerns clearly identified, in writing, to the applicant. With no adequate response provided by the applicant in that time, the public is now entitled to closure on this matter. We respectfully request that USACE formally deny the permit requested by SEG on the basis of SEG’s failure to respond to the Army Corps, to federal agencies, and to the public concerns in a timely manner.
We appreciate the time and attention which the Army Corps has expended on this permit application. We firmly believe that the community is entitled to a definitive action by the Corps at this point in time. Your response to this letter would be highly appreciated.
Respectfully submitted,
(please see attached list of signatories)