Marina permits challenged to protect our environment

In July, Tierra Verde Next will file challenges to permits requested by Greenleaf/HCI, continuing our opposition to the major expansion of Tierra Verde Marina and construction of two 72-foot-tall, 300-foot-long industrial boat storage buildings based on environmental issues.

Boca Ciega Bay has some of the most protected water in Florida, including for water quality, seagrass beds, manatees, and other wildlife. We have hired an environmental consultant to review a number of complex legal and technical issues regarding the permitting for an expanded marina in this area. Preliminary research shows that Greenleaf’s reporting has been inconsistent, ambiguous and segmented so that no agency sees the entire scope of this overly large industrial project on land surrounded by people's homes.

Some grounds for our challenges may include:

Inconsistent information. Greenleaf’s application record is incomplete and internally inconsistent, with differences in the application materials provided to Southwest Florida Water Management District, correspondence with Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, and permit records with Pinellas County Water & Navigation.

Different project scope presented to different agencies. In the SWFWMD/FWC record, Greenleaf repeatedly characterizes the application as involving no waterside work. However, the Pinellas County Water & Navigation record shows an active dock-permitting process involving floating dock replacement, dimensional changes, new square footage in dock space, and a relocated jet ski platform/lift, among other waterside work planned for this project.

Segmenting the project to avoid a complete project review.  By presenting different parts of the overall project to different agencies, no agency sees the entire scope of this major expansion. Thus no agency can rule on the overall project scope, operational intensity, stormwater/water-quality effects, or wildlife exposure.

Inconsistent counts of the number of slips. Throughout the record, Greenleaf creates uncertainty over the number of in-water slips currently in use and anticipated. The application record shifts among 64 existing wet slips, 89 authorized wet slips, 64 wet slips remaining and in use, 25 transient wet slips, 29 future transient wet slips, and 32 repetitive daily-use wet slips. Similarly, the dry-slip (storage) capacity numbers vary across the record. As a whole, the varying use of numbers of wet, dry and transient slips obfuscates the actual scope of the project.

Under-reporting of the number of daily boat launches. Greenleaf claims various numbers of daily and peak launches, but never includes all launches from all sources, including the various boat clubs, fuel dock and future use by restaurant patrons. The answers are evasive, but always materially less than members of Tierra Verde Next observed on a non-peak Saturday in June.

Manatee concerns not adequately resolved. The undercounted launches and ratios provided do not directly address the core risk to manatees: increased total slips, increased dry-stack capacity, larger vessels, repetitive-use wet slips, untracked jet ski rentals, transient/visitor use, public fueling, and peak-day congestion.

Environmental resources and marine wildlife not fully considered. Pinellas County's May 6, 2026, Water & Navigation Field Report documents numerous environmental resources and wildlife within the marina basin, including colorful sea whip, knobby star coral, smooth star coral, sea pork, encrusting sponge, sea urchin, West Indian manatee, bottlenose dolphin, Florida horse conch, blue crab, pelicans, egrets, mullet, sheepshead, and other resources. These must be considered and addressed as part of a comprehensive review of this project.

Other water management, water quality, existing wells, and geotechnical issues are being considered with the assistance of our environmental consultant and environmental lawyers.

This kind of expertise does not come cheap. Please donate to help us meet our fundraising goals today at TierraVerdeNext.org/donate.