Palm Beach officials say state authorities told them this week they expect to issue an environmental permit for Riviera Beach to establish mooring fields in the Lake Worth Lagoon.
The permit is likely to be approved within two weeks, Palm Beach was told by officials within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which issues the permits.
That’s unwelcome news for Palm Beach, which has strongly objected to Riveria Beach’s proposal to locate one of three mooring fields south of the Lake Worth Inlet, around 500 feet from Palm Beach’s North End shoreline. The other two fields would be located north of the inlet.
The FDEP permit would not confer final approval for Riviera Beach to construct the mooring fields. The city would still need a federal environmental permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a submerged land lease from the governor’s board of trustees. Riviera Beach is actively seeking the federal permit but has not sought approval of the submerged land lease.
Town Manager Kirk Blouin told the Palm Beach Civic Association on Thursday that the town will continue to fight the mooring fields plan with every means at its disposal – including a lawsuit against the FDEP if necessary.
“We are going to escalate this on every level,” Blouin said. “They don’t have the jurisdiction or the ability to administer a mooring field. It just seems absurd that someone could build a mooring field in someone else’s backyard.”
A mooring field is a legally defined area within a body of water, established by a local ordinance so a government can regulate activities within it.
Riviera Beach officials have said mooring fields would be environmentally beneficial and help address the problem of derelict vessels in the lagoon and boaters’ dumping of waste into the lagoon. The mooring fields would also promote safety and be a revenue stream for the city.
“The planned mooring fields will ensure unobstructed and safe navigation for mariners, as well as prevent degradation of the environment and damages to property,” the city said in a January 18, 2022 letter accompanying its application to the state. The proposed mooring areas are currently full of vessels that routinely anchor above ecological areas and seagrasses, the city said.
But Blouin said Riviera Beach lacks the resources to ensure compliance and safety.
“With just one police boat and a single part-time marine officer, the city is woefully ill-equipped to enforce regulations related to waste dumping, let alone respond to our residents,” he said. “Riviera Beach is unlikely to respond to complaints about boats breaking free, light and noise pollution, and trespassing. As a result, the burden will fall on the Town of Palm Beach.”
Shortly after learning of Riviera Beach’s application for mooring fields in 2022, Mayor Danielle Moore and Town Council members objected that it would create a nuisance and invasion of privacy for North End residents while providing no benefit for Palm Beach.
The town registered its objections to the plan with the DEP and the Army Corps and hired the Akerman law firm in West Palm Beach to represent it in its opposition.
At a Town Council meeting on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, Paul Brazil, public works director for Palm Beach, delivered an update in which he said Riviera Beach had modified its application for the federal permit to request permission to establish three mooring fields instead of two, and tied the plan to dredging of its marina.
Council President Bobbie Lindsay asked Blouin if the town should be “worried.”
Blouin replied that Palm Beach shouldn’t be worried because Riviera Beach’s application for a state permit was inactive.
“They are in the first step of the process, but we will continue to monitor it and will update you,” Blouin said.
But Blouin notified Moore and council members in an email on Thursday that town staff had learned from FDEP officials, during a meeting the following day, Wednesday, March 5, that the state expects to award a permit to Riviera Beach for the mooring fields.
Blouin said that news was contrary to the information that the town and the Akerman law firm had received up to that point.
“… I erroneously advised you that the permit was inactive and that you should not be concerned,” Blouin wrote to Moore and the council. “Recent information I received yesterday from a new conversation between staff and FDEP indicates that they are likely to approve the permit.”
Blouin continued, “This doesn’t change the Town’s efforts to stop the mooring field application from the city of Riviera Beach.”
According to an email from Palm Beach Coastal Coordinator Sara Gutekunst to Blouin, Brazil, and other officials with the town and the Akerman firm, Gutekunst and Jason Debrincat, assistant director of Palm Beach’s Public Works Department, met with Sirena Davila, director of FDEP’s Southeast District, and Jason Andreotta, FDEP’s assistant deputy secretary, about the proposed mooring fields. The Southeast District covers eight counties, including Palm Beach County.
“They do anticipate issuing a permit within a couple of weeks …’’ Gutekunst wrote of Davila and Andreotta. “They believe the applicant has provided a plan for management of the area and that managed mooring fields are a solution to the problem of having derelict vessels and maintenance/debris issues.”
Gutekunst wrote that Riviera Beach will still have to go through the submerged lands lease process once the regulatory review is completed.
The lease process includes a public notification period to waterfront properties within 500 feet of the proposed mooring field area. “It appears that a lot of properties on the lake side are outside of the 500’ area, but I requested that we be notified and that our residents have an opportunity to comment,” Gutekunst wrote.
In his email addressed to Moore and the council, Blouin wrote that the town has another meeting scheduled with Davila and Andreotta to discuss the permit.
“Objections have already been filed with FDEP at the state [Tallahassee] level, and we will set up a follow-up meeting with them as well,” he wrote.
Blouin wrote that he is also contacting Governor Ron DeSantis’ office for assistance in the matter.
During the interview Thursday with the Civic Association, Blouin encouraged members of the public to register their comments with FDEP. Comment on Riviera Beach’s state application can be mailed to Geneva Alpert at Geneva.Alpert@Floridadep.gov.
“People should provide their input as this continues to move through the process,” Blouin said.
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