A trio of plaintiffs in St. John is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over recently approved permits for the long-planned Summer’s End Marina. The plaintiffs say that the Army Corps approved the project despite several legal issues, including expired or inadequate territorial approvals and flawed environmental-mitigation plans.
Summer’s End Marina, a.k.a. The Yacht Club at Summer’s End, is a proposed development from Summer’s End Group. It intends to be the first marina on the island of St. John, specifically in Coral Bay. Its plans first became public more than a decade ago. Summer’s End Group initially submitted its federal permit application in 2014, seeking to develop 145 slips for yachts and superyachts as well as related upland amenities. The proposal, including the number of berths, subsequently underwent multiple revisions through 2020. Many of the changes were required by the Army Corps for it to consider approval. The plans also faced challenges in courts in the Virgin Islands and at the federal level. The review process continued into this year, with the Corps issuing a permit in April, and for 115 berths.
According to the lawsuit, the Summer’s End Marina calls for 48 slips for megayachts, a boardwalk, a customs and immigration office, and more. The plaintiffs include two non-profits, Save Coral Bay and the Coral Bay Community Council. The third plaintiff is David Silverman, a St. John resident. Silverman additionally is Save Coral Bay’s president as well as a Coral Bay Community Council member and former officer. Filed in the U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands, the lawsuit is seeking a federal ruling to vacate the permits. The plaintiffs also want the court to prohibit development “if and until new and lawful approvals for the Project are issued by the Army Corps.”
One of the central arguments in the lawsuit is that the permits relied on approvals that had become invalid. Specifically, Summer’s End Group received a federal water-quality certification in October 2014 that excluded dredging and filling. Both were excluded because they weren’t included in the company’s proposal for the Summer’s End Marina. Revised applications in later years included environmental-mitigation areas needing dredging and filling. However, the lawsuit states, the Army Corps didn’t amend or reissue the water-quality certification in relation to these changes.
The lawsuit similarly challenges a Virgin Islands Coastal Zone Management (CZM) permit. In brief, any federal permit affecting land or water use or a natural resource of the coastal zone must comply with either a state’s or a territory’s own coastal-management policies. Summer’s End Group obtained a modified Virgin Islands CZM permit in December 2020, valid for one year. The lawsuit therefore says it expired in December 2021, and cites the St. John Coastal Zone Management Committee later declaring it “null and void.” The lawsuit also cites the Virgin Islands Legislature rejecting the governor’s attempt last year to extend the validity.
Yet another issue concerns environmental harm. Coral Bay is home to threatened and endangered species. In March 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency designated the waters as containing Aquatic Resources of National Importance. “The construction approved by the Army Corps will directly harm, deteriorate and in some cases destroy the aesthetics, habitat and natural features of Coral Bay,” the lawsuit alleges. It further alleges that the Army Corps relied upon miscalculations in compensatory-mitigation proposals. The plaintiffs also say that the agency failed to perform independent evaluations.
Finally, the lawsuit claims, the Army Corps didn’t provide appropriate comment opportunity on some of the mitigation-plan revisions. At the same time, it claims that the Army Corps incorrectly denied public-hearing requests earlier this year for the Summer’s End Marina. This, despite the Army Corps receiving strong pushback over the years. For example, the plaintiffs say the agency had more than 27,000 “letters, emails and comments” and more than 7,500 petition signatures in opposition. This, they say, contrasts with 13 letters of support for the marina development.
The Army Corps of Engineers hasn’t yet filed a response to the lawsuit.
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