A settlement has been reached in the long-running civil dispute between Summer’s End Group and the survivors of two sisters over a parcel of land they leased to the real estate development firm for its proposed marina project in Coral Bay on St. John.
Details were sparse at a brief status conference on the matter Wednesday in V.I. Superior Court on St. Thomas, with attorneys for both sides telling Judge Sigrid Tejo that a settlement had been reached that morning but issues remain to be ironed out.
The agreement “involves the transfer of real property,” Summer’s End attorney David Cattie told Tejo, and while the documents have been signed, his client needs another 60 days to sort out issues of title insurance, he said.
Tejo subsequently scheduled another status conference for Jan. 14.
The settlement ends a long-running dispute over Parcels 10-17 and 10-18 Estate Carolina in Coral Bay that sisters Eglah Marsh Clendenin and Minerva Marsh Vasquez leased to Summer’s End for its marina project in 2014. Both sisters have since died, and the family alleged in its lawsuit filed in 2021 that SEG failed to pay any rent or land taxes on the leased property since 2016 as it awaits approvals from various government agencies.
Cattie, in turn, accused the family of trying to renegotiate the amount spelled out in an existing agreement, though the family alleged it was never finalized, telling the judge at a hearing in September, “This is a four-year-old case; we want to file a motion to enforce the settlement agreement. All they want to do is ask for more time.”
However, when the 36th Legislature met in August to consider the status of the Summer’s End Coastal Zone Management permits, Eglah Marsh Clendenin’s daughter offered emotional testimony about the impact of the impasse over the land that is part of the marina project.
Jacquelyn Clendenin told senators that Summer’s End’s “payments were supposed to be around $65,000 per year, with increases for inflation every four years.” Instead, an amendment to the agreement that her mother signed in 2016, allegedly while in the throes of dementia and without proper legal representation, waived any unpaid prior lease payments and eliminated all future lease payments “until which time that the Summer’s End Group received all necessary permits and construction began,” she said.
“The family has been paying the land tax and still cannot utilize our ancestral land,” Clendenin said through tears.
Senators voted 9-3 that day to deny Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.’s request to extend the CZM permits, which have languished since 2021 as Summer’s End awaits Army Corps approvals before construction can begin. However, V.I. Attorney General Gordon Rhea subsequently issued a legal opinion Oct. 2 stating that they remain valid, finding that the 12-month commencement deadline outlined in Title 12 of the Virgin Islands Code, under subsection 910, does not begin until all federal approvals are secured.
On Wednesday, Summer’s End seemingly cleared another legal hurdle with the announcement of the settlement with the Marsh family.
Contacted for comment, Cattie said in an emailed statement that “Summer’s End is happy to report the resolution of all claims with the Marsh family. Summer’s End looks forward to beginning construction on the marina, which will provide a much-needed economic boost and environmental remediation to Coral Bay.”
Clendenin attended Wednesday’s hearing, which was held virtually via Zoom, but did not speak. The family’s attorney, Christopher Kroblin of Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
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