The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District, issued a permit on 20 April 2026 for the proposed Summer’s End Marina in Coral Harbor, St. John, US Virgin Islands, after more than ten years of review.
In an announcement on 1 May 2026, USACE said the standard permit allows the construction of a fixed-dock marina covering 67,833sqft (6,302sqm). The design includes 115 slips for vessels ranging from 30ft (nine metres) to over 160ft (49 metres) in length, along with 12 single moorings to the southeast of the marina. Plans for the site include a shoreline boardwalk and related upland facilities to support marina use.
The permit includes environmental measures tied to the project, requiring the applicant to relocate four Solenastrea bournoni corals near the dock area and outplant 3,000 coral specimens, install seven informational buoys and signage, provide pump-out or waste disposal facilities, plant 300 red mangrove seedlings along the shoreline and maintain 50 stormwater features in the upland area, while avoiding impacts on a historic shipwreck within the site.
USACE stated that the project would affect about 2.39 acres of seagrass. To address this, the permit requires compensatory mitigation, including the restoration, enhancement and establishment of 4.596 acres of mangrove islands and 0.975 acres of seagrass habitat. The plan also includes annual clean-up activities at Coral Harbor, with monitoring and ecological performance requirements.
The agency noted that the main components of the mitigation plan have already been verified under Nationwide Permit 27, which covers aquatic ecosystem restoration, enhancement and establishment projects.
USACE said the decision was made under its regulatory role and its “Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork” initiative, which aims to speed up infrastructure decisions. The agency added that it “is neither a proponent nor opponent of any proposed project” and makes decisions with consideration for the protection of aquatic resources and navigation.
The permit follows a long process that began in 2014, according to Save Coral Bay, an information resource on the project. Over the years, the proposal went through multiple submissions and requests for additional information, as well as responses involving agencies, legal challenges and public input.
