SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG--A site plan of the future residential complex on the property directly in front of the Belair beach, detailing the development plans which include paved public access to the beach, and a copy of the permit were made available to the press for viewing on Thursday, December 4.

The press conference was called to address widespread property development questions – brought to the foreground due to the December 1 blocking of the entryway to the beach ¬– by Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure VROMI Maurice Lake.

VROMI Secretary General Louis Brown and Permit Department head Angel Meyers also were on hand to explain the plans. Lake said this sort of information, including permits, site plans and elevation graphs, was available to interested persons through VROMI.

The plans

The residential buildings to be built on the plot of land between the sea and the pond will not be higher than the neighbouring Belair Beach Hotel. The pond and mangroves growing on the development-side of the pond will not be touched, and there are no plans for the pond itself, although the pond area belongs to the property owner.

However, some mangroves on the opposite side of the pond will be cleared by VROMI at some point because they were said to be blocking an underground culvert that drains water into the pond. The Nature Foundation probably will play a role in this, but plans are not set yet, as this will be a separate development in the future.

Some seven residential buildings will accommodate 63 units in total. These will be divided into four units of four floors each and three units of three floors each. Each building will have designated parking in front of its units and some 50 separate parking spaces will be provided for the public.

This parking space is located at the base of a paved path about five metres wide that leads directly to the beach, forming the designated beach access. The path will be located between the residential buildings and Belair Beach Hotel.

Two sewage treatment plants are located under the road levels.

The issues

Talk had spread that property developer Miti Katz was involved in developing the area, something both Katz and Lake told this newspaper was not true. However, Katz's company Simpson Bay Lagoon (SBL) Management applied for the permit on behalf of the developer who is based in Venezuela. The company only acted as a proxy, said Brown.

SBL applied for the permit, which was granted and is now valid for the location regardless of who develops it. Karis Development N.V. is the name of the development company and belongs to the landowner in Venezuela, Johnny Pavan who inherited the land from his late father.

A local architect will be used, from Arka architecture, design and development.

Lake flatly denied that the issuing of the permit had been any sort of election bribe or something he should have refrained from doing as an outgoing Minister. Building permits, no matter how large the planned development is, are not considered "major decisions," he said, in reference to criticism that outgoing Ministers were told not to make any major decisions.

The group explained that once a building permit was requested, VROMI aimed to handle the request within six weeks. This is sometimes drawn out if, for example, more information needs to be provided. The process should not have to be stalled because of the changing Governments, the group said in an invited comment.

Brown pointed out in line with criticism received that there were some grey areas and that work on legislation was needed for the future. He highlighted, for example, the role the underway development plans would play in controlling and streamlining the development of various areas. It came up during the press conference that the deadlines for these plans could be seen as having been too "optimistic, but the foundation is there."

Brown discussed the role of the 1995 Beach Policy 1995 versus private property rights and why legislation was needed, which also has been pointed out by many stakeholders, including environmentalists.

The beaches are public but "I know private property boundaries that actually run into the water," he said. "The beach policy basically prevents people from building too close to the shoreline, but the ownership situation doesn't change with that."

He also touched on the accessibility aspect of the policy, among other topics, but said that technically, "I don't see anywhere that it is legally regulated that if this is your property you cannot fence your property."

He said Government had been able to control development through permits; for example, by having property owners provide beach access or parking space. The discussion of private access and public beaches has been going on for many years and Government is working on making this more concrete, he added.

Besides public alleys, for example in Philipsburg and Simpson Bay, Brown said there were few beaches that had direct public access and in many cases the access points are a matter of private owners tolerating public use. The group said that in moving forward, the Government would try to obtain some of these pathways from private owners, which may have to be done by buying the pathways.

Another issue brought up by the media was that although there is technically a chance to appeal, the permit request never had been made public. VROMI said in an invited comment that the request did not legally need to be made public; building permits do not need to be publicised. This was another example of a situation that needed to be streamlined, they added.

A member of the media also pointed out that the day the gate was closed was the exact day the appeal period was over, but this was said to be a coincidence. The problem the representatives had was still said to be the trees. The permit had been issued October 10 and approval by the Fire Department given on September 10.

Lake said both Meyers and Brown had made improvements to VROMI over the years, and VROMI was acting in a transparent manner. "The Ministry is very open to the public."