The St. John Coastal Zone Management Committee will meet at noon Oct. 1 at the Legislature building in Cruz Bay to render its decision on the Summer’s End application to build a 145-slip marina in Coral Bay. The applicant plans to call it the St. John Marina.
While CZM has by law 30 days after the date of the public hearing, held Aug. 20, to make a decision, CZM permits coordinator Anthony Richards said the applicants agreed to an extension.
At the Aug. 20 meeting, members of the public overwhelmingly spoke out against the project. Most of the testifiers who spoke against the project raised environmental, infrastructure and social concerns. The proposed marina would sit on the open side of the Coral Bay harbor, leaving it vulnerable to bad weather.
Additionally the Summer’s End project would take up about 35 percent of the harbor, one testifier said, leaving little room for other projects. The Moravian Church has said it plans a marina on the other side of the harbor but that project appears stalled.
Summer’s End also indicated it wanted to take over operation of the government-issued moorings used by boaters, an aspect of the project that didn’t sit well with some testifiers.
The St. John CZM Committee has only three members instead of the usual five. One of those members, Brion Morrisette, said at the hearing that he represented the applicants in legal matters so he will recuse himself from the vote. His presence was necessary at the hearing and will be at the decision meeting in order to make a quorum.
Additionally Morrisette and St. John businessman Robert O’Connor currently hold leases on some of the land that will be included in the marina project. O’Connor, along with Rick Barksdale and Chaliese Summers, are the principals in the project.
Without a vote from Morrisette, the decision remains in the hands of the other two members, Edmond Roberts and Andrew Penn. Should one vote yes and one vote no, the application will be denied.
“According to standard rules and regulations, it cannot be approved with a tie vote,” Planning and Natural Resources Department spokesman Jamal Nielsen said.
Even if the St. John CZM gives its okay, it’s not the end of the story. Summer’s End still must obtain other permits including one from the Army Corps. That is likely to take several years.
While residents and other people interested in the fate of Coral Bay have spoken out vehemently against the project in letters to media and in grass roots campaigns, many people agree that Coral Bay could use a marina, but the one proposed is just too large.
They also are concerned about the developers plan to attract mega yachts, which they said was out of character for laid-back Coral Bay.
