Dock permit to undergo re-review after stop order
The permit for a not-yet-completed, 100-foot, single family dock near the mouth of the Primo/Palermo canal is under appeal after a stop work order was issued last week.
On Wednesday, April 22, Town officials ordered Honc Marine Contracting, Inc. to halt construction on the dock at 301 Palermo Circle after Town consultants found the permit was issued based on “inaccurate information.” The contracting company is working on bringing that dock, which some residents have referred to as a “navigational hazard,” into compliance as state and federal agencies are reassessing permit information.
The permit was initially approved by Town, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Army Corps of Engineers based on drawings and information the applicant submitted. The applicant noted that the channel was “unmarked.” Town officials, however, have since confirmed the number 2 red marker that had been standing at the end of that Primo/Palermo canal was knocked down and believe it happened somehow between 2013 and present day.
“We are asking DEP and the Army Corps to give us their opinion once they have a second review of the permit in light of this information,” said Beach Mayor Anita Cereceda, who further stated the dock is coming into compliance by being shortened.
According to Town records, with the re-establishment of the knocked-down channel marker near that area, the dock was protruding approximately 20 feet into the navigational channel. The applicant was then asked to bring the dock into compliance with town codes.
Cereceda doesn’t believe there was any intentional deception on anyone’s part.
“It was simply a glitch by the fact that that marker had been knocked down. Had that marker been re-posted, it would have been very clear that the dock could not have been permitted, especially by the DEP and Army Corps,” she said. “I don’t want to lay blame anywhere. I think that Honc looked at the information they had and submitted the plans. The Town, DEP and the Army Corps did the same thing. Everybody was looking at the drawings and applications that were submitted.”
Cereceda said once missing marker information came to light, it was forwarded to state and federal agencies.
“They are reassessing the application,” she said.
Councilwoman Summer Stockton, though, said the missing marker should have been caught earlier.
“The hired experts should have known about the day beacon marker,” said Stockton, who resides in the neighborhood.
Stockton believes residents, who alerted Town officials to the dock construction, should be applauded for their efforts.
“If the Primo residents wouldn’t have brought this to our attention, that illegal dock would have been built and finalized,” Stockton said.
According to Town records, Town staff relies on the certification for an accurate drawing by the licensed professional contractor who submits the permit application. Because of inquiries by Beach residents, Town staff challenged the accuracy of the submitted drawing by contacting Coastal Engineering Consultants, the Town’s maritime consultant who provided engineering services for the Matanzas Harbor Mooring Fields.
Coastal Engineering Consultants submitted the following:
n The dashed yellow lines in the Honc drawing depicting the secondary fairway are not accurate and encroach into the mooring field.
n The secondary fairway was designed and permitted to be 100-feet wide and is depicted by the dashed white lines. The north side of the fairway follows the boundary of the mooring field/sovereign submerged land lease.
As a result of this discovery, a stop-work order was issued.
Back on April 20, during a Council workshop, Cereceda spoke on the matter. She said she phoned property owner Tom Torgerson to ask if he needed a dock that large and was courteously told that he was having an 80-foot boat built to dock there.
“The Town has been working vigilantly to make sure everything is proper with that permitting,” she said. “(Town officials) are going back to see where that marker was and how it got knocked down.”
At the workshop, Stockton stated the permit was “erroneously approved” and called the dock a navigational hazard. She called for a stop work order at that time and notified all entities of the problem.
“The supervisor of the Army Corps said they would send somebody out to that site and get with me,” she said.
At past Council meetings, there have been public pleas for Town officials to intervene on the construction of the dock that has been said to measure 100 feet in length.
Since initial construction, Beach residents have stated that vessels in that portion of the channel need to veer towards the mooring field to dodge the new extended dock and, therefore, have called it a navigational hazard.
Officials with Honc Marine could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday morning.
Dock permit to undergo re-review after stop order
The permit for a not-yet-completed, 100-foot, single family dock near the mouth of the Primo/Palermo canal is under appeal after a stop work order was issued last week.
On Wednesday, April 22, Town officials ordered Honc Marine Contracting, Inc. to halt construction on the dock at 301 Palermo Circle after Town consultants found the permit was issued based on “inaccurate information.” The contracting company is working on bringing that dock, which some residents have referred to as a “navigational hazard,” into compliance as state and federal agencies are reassessing permit information.
The permit was initially approved by Town, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Army Corps of Engineers based on drawings and information the applicant submitted. The applicant noted that the channel was “unmarked.” Town officials, however, have since confirmed the number 2 red marker that had been standing at the end of that Primo/Palermo canal was knocked down and believe it happened somehow between 2013 and present day.
“We are asking DEP and the Army Corps to give us their opinion once they have a second review of the permit in light of this information,” said Beach Mayor Anita Cereceda, who further stated the dock is coming into compliance by being shortened.
According to Town records, with the re-establishment of the knocked-down channel marker near that area, the dock was protruding approximately 20 feet into the navigational channel. The applicant was then asked to bring the dock into compliance with town codes.
Cereceda doesn’t believe there was any intentional deception on anyone’s part.
“It was simply a glitch by the fact that that marker had been knocked down. Had that marker been re-posted, it would have been very clear that the dock could not have been permitted, especially by the DEP and Army Corps,” she said. “I don’t want to lay blame anywhere. I think that Honc looked at the information they had and submitted the plans. The Town, DEP and the Army Corps did the same thing. Everybody was looking at the drawings and applications that were submitted.”
Cereceda said once missing marker information came to light, it was forwarded to state and federal agencies.
“They are reassessing the application,” she said.
Councilwoman Summer Stockton, though, said the missing marker should have been caught earlier.
“The hired experts should have known about the day beacon marker,” said Stockton, who resides in the neighborhood.
Stockton believes residents, who alerted Town officials to the dock construction, should be applauded for their efforts.
“If the Primo residents wouldn’t have brought this to our attention, that illegal dock would have been built and finalized,” Stockton said.
According to Town records, Town staff relies on the certification for an accurate drawing by the licensed professional contractor who submits the permit application. Because of inquiries by Beach residents, Town staff challenged the accuracy of the submitted drawing by contacting Coastal Engineering Consultants, the Town’s maritime consultant who provided engineering services for the Matanzas Harbor Mooring Fields.
Coastal Engineering Consultants submitted the following:
– The dashed yellow lines in the Honc drawing depicting the secondary fairway are not accurate and encroach into the mooring field.
– The secondary fairway was designed and permitted to be 100-feet wide and is depicted by the dashed white lines. The north side of the fairway follows the boundary of the mooring field/sovereign submerged land lease.
As a result of this discovery, a stop-work order was issued.
Back on April 20, during a Council workshop, Cereceda spoke on the matter. She said she phoned property owner Tom Torgerson to ask if he needed a dock that large and was courteously told that he was having an 80-foot boat built to dock there.
“The Town has been working vigilantly to make sure everything is proper with that permitting,” she said. “(Town officials) are going back to see where that marker was and how it got knocked down.”
At the workshop, Stockton stated the permit was “erroneously approved” and called the dock a navigational hazard. She called for a stop work order at that time and notified all entities of the problem.
“The supervisor of the Army Corps said they would send somebody out to that site and get with me,” she said.
At past Council meetings, there have been public pleas for Town officials to intervene on the construction of the dock that has been said to measure 100 feet in length.
Since initial construction, Beach residents have stated that vessels in that portion of the channel need to veer towards the mooring field to dodge the new extended dock and, therefore, have called it a navigational hazard.
Officials with Honc Marine could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday morning.