After more than five years of environmental testing and design changes, developers of the luxury resort/residence club Pond Bay Club got the green light to begin construction at a St. John Coastal Zone Management Committee decision meeting on Wednesday afternoon, October 10.
The committee approved First American Development Group-Carib Limited’s major permit in January after ruling that the developer’s original permit — granted in 2002 — had lapsed.
The January permit included several special conditions, including the reduction of several buildings from three levels to two.
Complying with the special conditions led the developer’s architects to re-orient the entire Estate Chocolate Hole site, explained Tracy Roberts of Springline Archi-tects.
Modifications to the site include: reducing the total number of units from 56 to 50; reducing all buildings to two levels with no more than four units in each; reducing the number of buildings from 20 to 17; narrowing the roadway from 20 feet to 12 feet; removing two planned tennis courts and a second pool; and reducing the number of parking spaces from 56 to 50.
More Residential Feel
“The net result was that we reorganized the site plan,” said Roberts. “We shifted the organization of buildings.”
“We didn’t change the grouping and placement of where things were, we just changed the orientation,” the architect added.
The modified permit reduces the project’s density and impact, according to Roberts.
“This is a seven percent reduction in density and it gives the area a much more residential feel,” she said. “The modifications will result in less construction impact and less construction time, which are both good things.”
The developer reached an agreement with the Estate Chocolate Hole Landowners’ Association to provide three public parking spaces and a roadway at the southwest end of the beach for public access, explained the architect.
The V.I. Water And Power Authority will connect a waterline from Cruz Bay to the site, according to Roberts.
WAPA Waterline
“That will happen,” Roberts said about extending a WAPA waterline from Contant to the Estate Chocolate Hole site. “It will be an advantage to everyone out there.”
While extending the waterline will cost the developer more per gallon than a reverse osmosis plant, First Carib is trying share the cost with the Westin Resort and Villas and a private individual, Roberts added.
Hills Votes No
Adopting CZM staff’s recommendations, St. John CZM Com-mittee members Andrew Penn, Edmund Roberts and chairperson Madeline Sewer voted to approve First American Development’s requested modifications.
St. John CZM member Gerald Hills voted against approval of the modification request, citing illegal activity on the public beach described in an erosion and sediment control report submitted by the developer.
“The contractor began cleaning up the beach on Saturday and began using a track hoe to lift some of the debris and scrub vegetation over the silt fencing,” Hills read from the developer’s report of erosion and sediment control written between June 4 and 9.
No Track Hoe Allowed on Public Beach
“The question we all raised is ‘what is the contractor doing on the beach?’” said Hills. “Beach cleaning is the responsibility of the government, not the developer. The beach is public land and the contractor has no authority from anyone to remove anything from that beach and certainly a track hoe is not allowed on the beach.”
“The original permit specifically said no beach removal,” Hills continued. “These are other people’s boats. Even if they are derelict, it’s not the developer’s place to remove them.”
Pond Bay Club developers must respect the 50-foot setback from beach, Hills added.
“In the report it says ‘because of the potential for turtle nesting, the contractor was asked not to use the heavy equipment on the beach and to do all activity by hand,’” he said. “The whole point of the 50 feet of setback is to protect the area. They are not supposed to be in there removing vegetation.”
With the approval of the modification requests, construction is expected to begin shortly, according to Pond Bay Club managing director Robert Emmett.
“We’ll start mobilizing soon,” said Emmett. “The meeting was very fair. What’s happened is a much greater use of the land.”
read from the developer’s report of erosion and sediment control written between June 4 and 9.
No Track Hoe Allowed on Public Beach
“The question we all raised is ‘what is the contractor doing on the beach?’” said Hills. “Beach cleaning is the responsibility of the government, not the developer. The beach is public land and the contractor has no authority from anyone to remove anything from that beach and certainly a track hoe is not allowed on the beach.”
“The original permit specifically said no beach removal,” Hills continued. “These are other people’s boats. Even if they are derelict, it’s not the developer’s place to remove them.”
Pond Bay Club developers must respect the 50-foot setback from beach, Hills added.
“In the report it says ‘because of the potential for turtle nesting, the contractor was asked not to use the heavy equipment on the beach and to do all activity by hand,’” he said. “The whole point of the 50 feet of setback is to protect the area. They are not supposed to be in there removing vegetation.”
With the approval of the modification requests, construction is expected to begin shortly, according to Pond Bay Club managing director Robert Emmett.
“We’ll start mobilizing soon,” said Emmett. “The meeting was very fair. What’s happened is a much greater use of the land.”
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