Virgin Islanders are circulating a petition on Facebook to request that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hold a public hearing on St. John before making a final decision and approving a permit for a mega-yacht marina in Coral Bay.
The petition is the latest action regarding the Summers End Groups’ controversial plan to develop a marina that will substantially change the character of a quiet community on the eastern end of St. John.
The application for the marina’s permit was submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the Summers End Group more than 11 years ago and is still pending.
Since the project was first proposed in 2014, “the most affected community has never had the opportunity to present testimony directly to USACE regarding material changes in project scope and the surrounding environment,” the petition states.
The petition lists environmental, safety and cultural concerns resulting from changes in the original application, such as the proposed construction of a 500-foot boardwalk, the loss of two land-based properties, elimination of small vessel slips for local boaters and other issues.
“I hope everybody on St. John signs that petition so that St. John can protect itself from local governmental intervention,” said Lorelei Monsanto, a community activist who posted the petition on her Facebook page.
“We need a federal agency to do the right thing to protect our precious resources against what seems to be a regime working against its own residents,” she continued.
Monsanto was referring to an October 2025 letter written by Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that was made public this week through the federal Freedom of Information Act.
That letter concerned the validity of a 2014 permit for the marina project issued by the St. John Committee of the Coastal Zone Management Board, which is required before the Army Corps can issue its permit. Bryan asked the Army Corps to confirm that the CZM permit is valid and move the project forward by issuing its permit as well.
The CZM permit’s validity has become a flashpoint between the legislative and executive branches of the Virgin Islands government.
Background of the CZM Permit
Under Coastal Zone Management regulations, developers must begin construction on a permitted project within 12 months or seek an extension of the permit. The Summers End Group, however, did not begin construction and did not file for an extension after the permit was granted in 2020 through legislation proposed by Bryan.
When a new administrator at the Army Corps took over the case and reviewed the file in 2025, he questioned whether the CZM permit was still valid. Upon review, CZM officials in the Virgin Islands determined the permit had expired in 2021, thus requiring the Summers End Group to submit a new application.
In response, Bryan asked the V.I. Legislature to again pass a bill in the developers’ favor by extending the CZM permit.
In August 2025, after a five-hour session, the Legislature agreed that the Coastal Zone Management permit issued to the Summers End Group had expired four years earlier. They voted against Bryan’s bill to extend the permit.
In October 2025, Gordon Rhea, the V.I. attorney general, issued an opinion that the CZM permit was still valid. He argued that the one-year countdown to begin construction does not begin until all federal approvals are secured.
To this day, the matter remains unresolved, and the petitioners hope the Army Corps will listen to the community’s concerns, which have been ongoing since the Summers End Group first received a CZM permit in 2014.
