Notice and Opportunity to Comment on Requests for Consistency
Agreement/Concurrence Under the Texas Coastal Management Program
On January 10, 1997, the State of Texas received federal approval of the Coastal Management Program (CMP) (62 Federal Register pp. 1439 - 1440). Under federal law, federal agency activities and actions affecting the Texas coastal zone must be consistent with the CMP goals and policies identified in 31 TAC Chapter 26. Requests for federal consistency review were deemed administratively complete for the following project(s) during the period of November 17, 2025 to December 5, 2025. As required by federal law, the public is given an opportunity to comment on the consistency of proposed activities in the coastal zone undertaken or authorized by federal agencies. Pursuant to 31 TAC §§30.20(f), 30.30(h), and 30.40(e), the public comment period extends 30 days from the date published on the Texas General Land Office web site. The notice was published on the web site on Friday, December 12, 2025. The public comment period for this project will close at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 11, 2026.
Federal License and Permit Activities:
Applicant: Diamond Beach Holdings
Location: The project would affect waters of the United States and navigable waters of the United States associated with the Laguna Madre. The project/review area is located within the approximate 229.87-acre former Padre Isles Golf Course, to an existing tidally influenced residential canal system on North Padre Island, Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas.
Latitude and Longitude:
Commodore’s Drive Bridge: 27.61818, -97.22426
Whitecap Preserve Marina: 27.60975, -97.22277
Boat Ramp: 27.60464, -97.22381
Central Canal Connection: 27.61041, -97.22445
South Canal Connection: 27.60463, -97.22564
Proposed Pedestrian Bridge Locations:
Bridge P1: 27.61127, -97.22487
Bridge P2: 27.60669, -97.22536
Proposed Vehicle Bridge/Cofferdam Locations:
Bridge 1: 27.61488, -97.22511
Bridge 2: 27.60648, -97.22873
Bridge 3: 27.60606, -97.22963
Bridge 4: 27.60472, -97.22731
Bridge 5: 27.60296, -97.22854
Project Description: The applicant’s stated primary purpose of the requested authorization is to connect the upland excavated residential canal system at the Commodores Drive Bridge with waters of the United States is to provide tidal connectivity and hydraulic balance throughout the canal network in order to relieve unsafe hydraulic pressures that threaten the Whitecap Boulevard and Gypsy Street bridges, to improve circulation and water quality within the canal system, and to protect adjacent public and private infrastructure from scour and storm-related damage. Establishing another pathway for water to flow between Laguna Madre and Lake Padre through the Commodores Drive connection will help ensure stability at those two bridges, maintain public safety and ingress/egress during storm events, preserve the integrity of essential public infrastructure and adjacent private structures, and provide long-term water quality benefits to the overall canal system.
A secondary purpose of the canal connection, and the primary purpose of the after-the-fact authorization for the Commodores Drive Bridge cofferdam removal and the proposed bridges, docks, boat ramp, and scour protection is to support safe recreational and water access infrastructure serving the Whitecap Preserve mixed-use residential development. These features will provide functional public and private water access, stabilize canal shorelines, and enhance the long-term use and enjoyment of the development while maintaining hydraulic and structural stability within the connected canal system.
The applicant requests an after-the-fact authorization for work consisting of the removal of sand plugs and a cofferdam which resulted in the connection and extension of tidal waters of the US through existing, previously authorized residential canal systems into approximately 48.834 acres of newly excavated canals which were dug within uplands and non-jurisdictional waters to a depth of -6 feet NAVD88 within the approximate 229.87-acre Diamond Beach Holdings development and the approximate 2.47-acre expansion of a canal previously authorized to a different permittee under Corps Permit SWG-2000-02743, for the installation of a marina.
The applicant installed the following components prior to connection of the canals to jurisdictional waters:
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Three vehicular bridges consisting of the Commodore’s Drive Bridge, the Willet Way Bridge, and the Turnstone Way Bridge.
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120 feet of 9-foot by 9-foot reinforced concrete box (RCB) culvert with an 80-foot-wide concrete headwall under Crown Royal Drive to connect two ditches extending from two sections of residential canal to allow for water circulation.
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Approximately 30,500 linear feet (LF) of vinyl bulkhead with concrete cap along the canal shorelines.
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Placement of approximately 2,500 LF of limestone rip rap instead of bulkheads along some of the canal shorelines to provide for aquatic habitat.
In addition to previously installed features, the applicant requests the following proposed work:
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Connection of the canal system at Commodore’s Bridge. Approximately 5,819 cubic yards (CY) of material would be excavated by mechanical means from 63,462 square feet (SF) of uplands to connect the canal system to a depth of -6 feet NAVD88.
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Construction of an additional two pedestrian and five vehicular bridges spanning the extent of the canals. For the proposed vehicular bridges, there would be temporary dewatering via a cofferdam for the footings that would be constructed at the existing canal bulkheads.
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Installation of a 102- by 40-foot boat ramp to include scour protection, which would be installed at the toe of the boat ramp where it meets the water’s edge. The scour pad will measure approximately 40 feet ×10 feet ×1 foot, covering 400 SF and resulting in the placement of about 15 CY of stone or concrete mattress.
Construction of a marina, to include the following:
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Installation of approximately 22,770 SF of floating docks, installed in multiple dock runs. These floating docks will be supported by 178 12-inch-square concrete piles installed on 20-foot centers with two piles at each centerline, for a combined permanent footprint of about 178 SF for the piles.
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Installation of five pile-supported fixed access platforms, totaling approximately 960 SF, which would provide transitions from the upland promenade to the floating docks. Each platform would be supported by four piles, resulting in twenty piles (~20 SF). Access from the platforms to the docks would be provided
by six 6-foot by 40-foot gangways (1,440 SF) and one ADA-compliant 6-foot by 80-foot gangway (480 SF). These gangways would be supported by ~30 piles (~30 SF). -
Dry stack boat storage facility constructed in adjacent uplands. The number of vessels projected to be stored in the facility has not yet been determined.
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A pile-supported elevated launch and conveyor system, spanning approximately 100 feet by 60 feet over the marina basin, constructed to move vessels between the upland dry stack facility and the floating docks.
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Dockside gas pumps and sewer pump-out facilities.
The applicant has provided the following explanation why compensatory mitigation should not be required: No compensatory mitigation is proposed. The marina basin was excavated, and the boat ramp will be excavated from uplands, thereby minimizing fill or dredging in waters of the United States. The cofferdams for the bridge footings would be temporary. As a result, ecological impacts are confined to very limited benthic disturbance and shading directly beneath over-water structures. Permanent impacts to jurisdictional waters are minimal, consisting of approximately 244 SF of pile footprint and approximately 400 SF (15 CY) of scour protection, totaling approximately 644 SF of permanent impact (less than 0.015 acre), with all other elements pile-supported and shading-only. The premature removal of the Commodores cofferdam resulted in a net increase in Section 10 waters. The cofferdams for bridge footings will be temporary in nature. These are net zero impacts. The project has been designed to minimize in-water effects while providing essential marina functions.
Type of Application: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit application # SWG-2024-00119. This application will be reviewed pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Note: The consistency review for this project may be conducted by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as part of its certification under §401 of the Clean Water Act.
CMP Project No: 25-1037-F1
Further information on the applications listed above, including a copy of the consistency certifications or consistency determinations for inspection, may be obtained from the Texas General Land Office Public Information Officer at 1700 N. Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701, or via email at pialegal@glo.texas.gov.
Comments should be sent to the Texas General Land Office Coastal Management Program Coordinator at the above address or via email at federal.consistency@glo.texas.gov.