The St. Thomas Coastal Zone Management Committee has approved three big projects: A 14-unit eco-resort on Water Island; a marina and restaurant at the Latitude 18 property in Estate Nazareth; and the modernization of the Bertha C. Boschulte School in Bovoni.
At the decision meeting Tuesday — which featured hours of back-and-forth discussion with each of the applicants — commissioners attached numerous conditions to the developments. However, the projects ultimately passed unanimously, except for the marina project, which Commissioner Jawanza Hilaire voted against.
That project, which requires a Major Coastal Zone Management Permit, will include a restaurant and marine services building, an event lawn, a dry stack boat storage, fueling facilities, a back-of-house yard, a wastewater treatment plant, and a generator.
Additionally, the marina will include 17 slips with a total of 2,128 linear feet alongside dockage and a managed mooring field that will include 68 buoys in Muller Bay, with pump-out facilities and amenities available, according to the application by a firm called Jack Rock B-A C LLC.
The Water Island project, by a company called BBK Development LLC, also requires a Major Coastal Zone Management Permit. Plans are to develop a 14-unit eco-resort that includes eight studio units, two one-bedroom units, four two-bedroom units, a swimming pool, an open-air restaurant and 30 parking spaces. There will be a total of 29 bedrooms, and management will be on site 24 hours a day, according to the presentation.
Called the Flamingo Bay Eco Resort, it will repurpose some existing slabs at the old Fort Segarra complex that was abandoned by the U.S. military in the 1950s in an area known for its stunning sea views and historical legacy.
Among the conditions placed on the development is that the restaurant may only offer takeout and room service after 7:30 p.m., and may not play live music after that time, to address the noise pollution concerns of nearby residents.
Fort Segarra consists of four existing hurricane-damaged structures: three barracks buildings and a mess hall. The ruins of these old buildings will be incorporated into the resort project, the developers said.
Both the resort and marina developments also will be required to follow Virgin Islands Conservation Measures for the Virgin Islands tree boa, which inhabits both sites, the CZM commissioners said.
Regulatory tree boa guidance allows for chainsaws to cut vegetation down to less than 36 inches. If the snake is found within any of the working or construction areas, activities must stop and the Department of Fish and Wildlife must be contacted for their safe capture and relocation, if necessary.
Education Department officials were seeking approval of their plans to gain Federal Consistency Determination approval to allow renovations of Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School, which was damaged in Hurricane Irma, using Federal Emergency Management Agency funds.
The project to transition the school into a PreK to eighth-grade campus will include the renovation and modernization of existing classrooms, new PreK to fifth-grade classrooms, administrative offices, a library, cafeteria, kitchen, bathrooms, stairways, balconies, and a theater, according to the application.
Attending the meeting were Commissioners Hilaire, Karl Percell, Kai Smith, and Winston Adams.
