The county's decision to delay issuing a permit for a $350 million Mustang Island high-rise development won't stop the project, said the advisory committee chairman, whose concerns contributed to the delay.

Fred McCutchon, chairman of Nueces County's Dune Advisory Committee, said he looks forward to the development and that his committee is working with engineers to solve problems that are holding up the permitting process. The Commissioners Court put off a decision on the permit Wednesday in response to concerns that the development's raised walkway and a restaurant within 200 feet of the vegetation line would set a precedent with environmental consequences. Some commissioners also said they wanted to hear from the Navy on whether the buildings' heights would interfere with flight training.

"These issues come up all the time," McCutchon said. "Sometimes we have to ask for modifications. Generally, those modifications are accepted."

Naismith Engineering Inc. of Corpus Christi and a Milwaukee-based developer have plans for a resort that would include tennis courts, a children's water park, health spa, boardwalk to the beach and multi-level covered parking. One-, two- and three-bedroom condos would be available.

The commissioners' decision Wednesday and McCutchon's comments that helped lead them to that decision were not anti-development, McCutchon said. Also, he said, the decision should not be viewed in the context of the Nov. 7 citywide vote against a pedestrian-only beach on Padre Island. A developer sought the vehicle ban on 7,200 feet of beach to accommodate his proposed $1.5 billion resort community.

Proponents equated opposition to the vehicle ban as opposition to economic development. McCutchon's brother, Mike, was the chief spokesman for the Beach Access Coalition, which fought the vehicle ban. Fred McCutchon wasn't a member of the coalition. Besides, Fred McCutchon said, the coalition's issue was beach access - not development.

The decision Wednesday was an example of the city's and county's unique island construction permitting process at work. The Nueces County island land in Corpus Christi's territorial jurisdiction is the only place on the Texas coast that requires two sets of local government permits before the Texas General Land Office signs off on a project. City officials already have signed off on the project, and in any other Texas beachfront jurisdiction that would have been enough to proceed to the next step at the state level.

The local system places building-permit authority with the city and dune-permit authority with the county. A city official said the process can hinder developers, but a county official said it offers an important check and balance.

The county's beach management advisory committee had recommended approval of the permit. But McCutchon, who has served on the committee for four years, said he was concerned that this was the first time developers had proposed commercial structures on the primary dunes, which protect land from storm surges. McCutchon told commissioners he feared approving the plans would open the way for other developers to do the same, reshaping the Mustang Island coast.

"We want a resort to come to Mustang Island," McCutchon said. "We do not want to have commercial enterprises on the main dune ridge that offers storm protection. What we'd like to see is have these structures moved back from the primary dunes."

Nueces County is the only Texas county not to delegate dune protection permit authority to a city in its area, said Eddie Fisher, director of coastal stewardship for the Texas General Land Office. Developers wanting to build near the water in Corpus Christi need to apply separately for a building permit and dune protection permit, while developers building in all other coastal cities need only submit one application to the city, Fisher said.

"The city has asked for dune delegation authority and the county just has not seen fit to do that," said Tom Utter, special assistant to the city manager. "I think that arrangement makes growth more difficult."

County Commissioner Chuck Cazalas, whose precinct includes both Padre Island and Mustang Island, said the current process is best because it offers checks and balances for the city and county. Developers and real estate agents have put pressure on officials to make the process faster, but protecting the barrier islands' unique dunes is not something to take lightly, Cazalas said.

"I think it shouldn't be any other way," he said. "I don't think there should be power given to one particular organization."