Angry Beach Bay residents rail against developers
(CNS): Residents in the Beach Bay area expressed their anger and frustration over a proposed major resort development in their quiet residential community when they came face to face with a representative for the overseas developers at a meeting Tuesday evening. The ever-changing hotel project by SJP Development first received planning permission in 2017 but before that the land was rezoned by the PPM government, with limited public consultation, and a massive CI$25 million concession deal was given to the developers.
However, Finance Minister Chris Saunders, who is now responsible for duty and other concessions, told CNS that the new government is not constitutionally obligated to give the waivers agreed under that deal. He said that since coming to office, the government has not given any concessions on duty or fees or other waivers to any major developers.
Saunders told CNS that it is now “a completely different environment” from when the deal was signed in 2015. He said waiver decisions are made by Cabinet, but when, or if, the developers applied for concessions on this project it would be considered, so he could not preempt that. However, the PACT Government could not be bound by decisions made by a previous administration and they would be guided by the feelings of residents as well as the economic circumstances and government policy, he said.
Representing the developers, Spencer Levine, President at RAL Development Services, outlined the proposed 10-storey beachfront hotel and residency resort that will be under the Mandarin Oriental brand and is now scheduled to break ground in August. But he struggled to tell the angry residents how they would benefit from the project, which includes a penthouse apartment selling for $22 million. He also failed to answer questions from CNS about the concessions the development has received to date and their expectations about the remaining $25 million giveaway.
He was unable to confirm if the developers had received any further waivers beyond the more than CI$582,000 they had already received, as of April 2019, under the last government, which included money that should have gone to the Environmental Protection Fund.
While the developers have already benefited from concessions, the residents made it very clear at the meeting that they would suffer as a result of this project. Many have lived in the community for decades and were unaware of the rezoning that enabled SJP to submit plans for a resort, including a ten-storey hotel and a seven-storey apartment building.
The scale of the project has been of great concern in the low-density, residential family community, compounded by the fact that it would change the entire area completely. But throughout the whole planning process, only people living within a very limited distance of the project were allowed to formally object.
Their loss of beach access, the increase in traffic, the noise and impact of construction, the clearing of wilderness and an end to the tranquillity the homeowners were looking for when they bought or built their homes were all issues raised by residents at the meeting. They were also still angry about past snubs by the developers who have failed to engage with them at any point.
Levine said that the island would benefit from the project because of the tourists it would bring and the 500 jobs it would create. However, residents pointed out that the arrival of tourists would undermine their quality of life and historically few, if any, Caymanians ever benefit from this type of job creation.
Saunders, who is the MP for Bodden Town West where the site of the proposed hotel is located, said he wanted to hear what residents have to say about the situation. But his efforts to distance himself from the chain of events relating to the project over the last few years did not go down well.
Although he was not in government when the zoning was changed or the concessions given, he has been the representative for the area since 2017. Residents made it clear they felt he could have done more over the last twelve months to halt the project, though they appeared resigned to the fact that it was too late to save their community.
Saunders said that the government could not do anything about what has happened in the past but he said it could ensure it would not happen again and that he did not want to see Cayman turn into a concrete jungle any more than his constituents.
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Category: development, Local News
As the Middle East reduces its reliances and income from oil and gas to Tourism primarily because automobiles are changing from gas to electric engines.
They are promoting there Hospitality and Tourism products mainly to Europeans by creating 3.6 million jobs
https://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/middle-east-travel-tourism-expected-to-create-3.6-million-jobs-within-next/
This gives us in the Caribbean an opportunity to begin a proper evaluation of our Marketing and Promotional venues and begin to offer a better online presents
As everyone turn to online bookings and reservations for Tourism, we need a better online marketing strategy
Curious to see the Dart bots so active in this topic. Vested interest?
Beach Bay has some terrible current worst than Spotts dock and is a wipeout hurricane beach area with ocean water less than a hundred feet offshore. There will no doubt be drowning accidents in this area for sure. The lemon & Tiger sharks in this area ain’t no baby’s either Bobo!
You are right there my friend. The danger at Spotts I learnt about when I first came to Cayman when I got washed out to sea through the gap. The end of the beach on Manse Road is similar. The hotel at Beach Bay will need lifeguards.
Safety and water rescue team is more like it .The current drift there is incredible you have to hug the edge of the Cliff to swim up against it . These folks have no clue only thinking $$$$ and cents the westside takes you straight into Pedro Castle Waters no place for swimmers ,divers and Kayakers either. That should be renamed Point be damned not many come out of that area high pickle cliffs and deep treacherous waters Not a place for children to be adventurous either ! Deadly accurate Chris !
Absolutely agree to the comments about the danger of the water there, this was also brought up at the appeal and many wrote about that very said subject in the appeals letter. It didnt make a blind bit of notice in regards to how could all those tourists cram safely on that beach and not being aware of the rip currents. An accident waiting to happen sadly, but yes the developers were told
Truth
Like the public beach in the Brac. Very strong currents. One young teenager girl got drown there years ago. It’s very dangerous
Gentrification one luxury project at a time.
Happens all over the world and we are aren’t immune.
And gentrification is a good thing, the road I was west bay from the four way stop up to macabuca has improved drastically in the last few years from nicer new developments, long may it continue
Macabuca is a 1 star dive when it comes to its poor “food” ! Unfresh.
Poor non local service also.
Papagallo is much nicer all around!
Even Super C. or Liberty’s or Al Fresco foods are better.
Even Cuban Spot
This isn’t gentrification it’s millionaircation. Nobody can afford to buy/rent/live here anymore. All this development is unsustainable when the infrastructure is falling apart at the seams, particularly road networks to the east. The blatant disregard for the environment in planning decisions for decades has left us with barely any coastal mangroves or trees, barely any beach access, flooding due to runoff from raised developments. I could go on…
What a terrible place for a 5 star hotel. Any tourist going there will be so disappointed and is guaranteed never to return. Beach Bay is one of the worst beaches on Grand. This makes no sense to me. It is just a matter of time before this whole project is bankrupt, but sadly this will be long after the neighborhood and environment are destroyed.
Check the beach again Bobo because it obvious you haven’t been in a while. Incredible beach and swim area.
Is that where all the sand from SMB went?
Manmade mudhole those areas were actually blast out in the 1980’s it was a pristine area in the late 70’s totally eviscerated by you Johnny come lately clowns.
It’s actually one of the only beaches where we can swim (in the lagoon) in BT. So as much as you don’t appreciate it, we do, and so do the turtles. This monstrosity should be halted.
What happened to the apartments down there built by, I think, the Hadjecates back in Jim Bodden’s day? Are they still there?
No bulldozed
Is this the same section where plans were submitted back in the 1970s for Sea Spray Drive to be linked into Pedro Castle Road and Manse Road – so there becomes a new coastal road from Bodden Town to Savannah?
Hopefully this $h!thole never get’s off the ground given cost of materials, inflation and rising interest rates.
What do Beach Bay, Ironwood, and Barefoot Beach all have in common? Not gonna happen.
And with the coming US recession and interest rate increases you can soon add Lacovia and the Grand Hyatt to this list.
Here’s hoping
Barefoot beach will happen… Dart owns it.
It’s time for Dart to move on. We have had enough of his stupid ideas.
Camana Bay is not stupid.
Dart is on his way out… He just doesn’t know it yet.
Dart is on the way out.
Don’t think so. Dart is a sophisticated developer with resources. He knows not to try and build into a looming recession. Unlike these other fly by night developers who don’t understand macro economics. Although they soon will. 😂.
Only if the PPM and Joey Who get back in.
PPM is done but does not know it yet.
Well, their guests will have a beautiful view and smell of seaweed daily.
Just like the folks who live across from the boardwalk in south sound, such a wonderful scent to wake up to early in the morning here in paradise, lmfao. #allthatglitterisntgold
Sargassum now hit North SMB. Condos need clean it up.
Why should they? It’s your beach remember, you clean it up.
Ha!! Saunders fooled them all, he’s DP now, got what he wanted, he and these developers are laughing all the way to the bank
Mmm… okay, let’s do a little fact-checking here (all of which is out there in the public domain and available to all that seek!)
Issue One- the development site parcels adjacent to Beach Bay Road were zoned Hotel Tourism no more recently than than 1979- that’s 43 years ago. Anyone doing due diligence before buying a parcel or residence in the greater Beach Bay area, would have seen the Hotel Tourism zoned areas and should have taken cognizance of them as potential development sites in the future. Its a truism that people spend more time on checking the specs and performance of their next motorcar than when buying a property…
Issue Two- land owners are not exposed to circumstances that require them to pay into the Environmental Protection Fund- that fund gets its contributions from airline passenger arrival /departure taxes only. The more you fly, the more the Fund gets, so keep on flying in and out of ORIA and feed the beast- it’s not coming from developers!
Issue Three- contrary to the sufferance claimed by them, owners in the general Beach Bay area have seen the value of their property increase by at least 100% since it first became known that a major resort was being contemplated for the Beach Bay area- realtors were tipping the Mandarin Oriental as the reason for ‘excellent value enhancement potential’!
Issue Four- the intentions of the developer was required under planning regulations to be advertised to the general public twice in a local newspaper such as the Cayman Compass and each publication separated by at least a week. This would have been a two-column classified advertisement and found somewhere amongst cheap rentals, used cars and help wanted. The people had been informed!
Issue Five- not only is there no constrained beach access, but Beach Bay Road is one of only a very few roads on Grand that terminates right at the high water mark of the Caribbean Sea- beach access in this case is not just a right, it is a given!
it was zoned as a 5 story Hotel Tourism and that was what we all knew, then the hotel Tourism created a new category which was a Zone 2 which allows for 10 story’s, it was this that was sneakily done without any notification or announcements The zone 1 was quietly changed to a zone 2 Because this happened by the time it gets to planning nothing can be done as the developer is within the law. So Issue Four is useless . Yes people were informed, but the very fact the zoning was changed theres nothing anyone can do to stop a 10 story being built in a quiet neighborhood
Well written but people won’t let the truth get in the way of a protest / moan
Which politicians owned land around there. I’m sure it the same ones that tried to postulate themselves as honest Joes. Bwahahaa!
Wrong.
500 more people needed on work permits will put an increased strain on the affordable accommodation and create more inflation in the housing market.
But there are no caymanians to do the jobs?
Caymanians won’t be treated like slaves on less than minimal wages.
No, they will sit on the couch and let the stipends pay for their joints.
2022 no trade school in cayman. Still need a permit for a plumber, incredible
Inspire Cayman Training
I stand by the original comment.
Shame they won’t be able to use the Mandarin Oriental’s beach anymore.
Beach-Bayers, you are a day late and 25 Mil short.
So, let them get on with the hotel.
Not a BBer, can’t afford to live there. Live in LV and this is the nearest beach. This affects more than just BBers.
If we review the history of this project…. it stems back to the previous (PPM) administration. They negotiated the project, gave duty concessions of 25 million dollars and approved the re-zoning of the residential area to hotel/condo…. all done with no discussion with the beach bay and surrounding community. Mr. Saunders who has been the elected representative for BTW since 2017 got involved when petitioners objected to the project and submitted their concerns to the CPA in 2018/2019 which ultimately failed and the project has been allowed to proceed. So now that the project is widely being advertised and about the break ground this year, the developers now have decided to have a meeting with the community?! And MP Saunders is there to ‘get the pulse’ of the community though he would already know the pulse very clearly! Having the meeting seems just for show…. including the presence of the MP’s who attended! To tell the community that this is a 5 star project that is being build in the middle of a tranquil residential community where it really has no place!!! Beach bay will forever be changed and sadly SMB is so destroyed and overbuild that these rich developers just feel they can continue to spread the destruction of the natural and tranquil communities of people who build their homes in areas outside of GT/SMB. Sadly, this project is a done deal…. yet MP Saunders chose to be politically correct in his responses giving people false hope that something can be done or that they (MP’s) really care! All I can say is Beach Bay community and the Cayman Islands…. keep speaking up and voicing your concerns. If it wasn’t for our voices and signatures… we would have also has a port being built in GT harbor! #speakingupmatters
Having a hotel like that would be great for Bodden Town. Even better if they commit to hiring people from the district.
Not so great if you enjoy a peaceful quiet time in your back garden staring at a 10 story Christmas tree. Also dont get too excited, they bought a 7 acre low residency piece of land away from the hotel and ocean. Should do nicely for staff quarters for the foreign workers they bring in,
Not in my back yard mentality is somewhat selfish.
3 years of heavy construction right on our doorstep. Pretty sure you wouldnt appreciate that either
Sounds great to me. Most of the foreign permit holders I have encountered the past 25 years worked harder and were more polite than the generational ‘Caymanians’.
Yeah, there’s a bunch of them by Coe Wood beach every day just waiting for the right job to come along.
Not for the commute.
Just say NO. Rezone it back to residential and let the courts figure it out so the lawyers can continue to make plenty money. In the meantime, to hell with the developers!
Say “no” to what? This has been approved by planning and construction is starting in about 8 weeks.
Get over it.
don’t worry. it will never happen.
A narrative used far too often. Prospective land clearing has to be made illegal and punishable by prison not just a fine!
As our footprint and quality of life diminishes things are going to get really nasty. It’s really not looking good.
Look Cayman, its this simple – you’ve been warned.
You see Rum Point and West Bay Road/SMB all completely built up beyond anything most of us felt could ever happen even just 20 years ago. We all hear the stories about old Cayman and how it was.
Well, you’ve got a few parts of the main island left to protect and keep ‘traditional’ and free from development.
Up to you. Otherwise in 20 years it’ll be (as the 30th floor of the Dart Tower is poured where Wendy’s used to be) oh, i remember when i could ramble along the East Coast without fear of a tourist screaming at me to get off his beach…
Rum Point is great. We like it here. Could do with fewer motorcycles but only a small thng.
Rum point used to be phenomenal. Now when operating, its an overcrowded dump.
Cayman has gone. This place has no soul anymore.
move to the brac then….lots of ‘soul’ and no people or attractions.
bet you can’t do 3 months in the brac.
Lots of alcoholic, domestic abusing, child abusing layabouts you mean?
for every Braca there are half a dozen victims of their nonsense. Fact.
they should flatten the Brac and build a massive new planned development or planned city from scratch. Grand Cayman is done for, but those idiots from the Brac aren’t the future.
Troll. The first word in a sentence starts with a capital letter. Idiot.
I was thinking exactly the same thing
Me too
I saw they’re trying to sell a penthouse for $22m. This is just completely ridiculous on every front.
Can you imagine guests trying to get back to their hotel from West Bay Road between the hours of 4pm and 7pm or vice versa with a plane to catch? Can you imagine the additional traffic this place will cause? Can you imagine guests trying to find somewhere to eat other than the hotel?
Complete lunacy but expect nothing else from Cayman’s entirely incompetent and greedy politicians.
I think anyone that buys a $22 million penthouse is probably not going to have to worry about rushing to the airport to catch a commercial flight….
….more like a leisurely drive to the hangar where their private jet is patiently waiting to onboard them.
Traffic in Cayman does not discriminate between rich and poor unless you get to the chopper!
helicopter pad soon come
Floor level of this $22m penthouse will be at around 135 feet above sea level, making it the highest residence on Grand Cayman by at least 20 feet… who wouldn’t want to see from your living room clear across the Spanish Main to Far Tortuga on a cool moonlit winter’s evening?
And from your back windows peering into to others peoples gardens to see what what everyone is up to Nice!!!
How’s Ironwood coming along?
I thought there was already a Mandarin Hotel in East End that was announced 10 years ago.
Rumour has it that the Mandarin Oriental executive that ‘approved’ the North Side ‘Barefoot Beach’ site for development under the MO brand back in the day, was fired when his boss, doing due diligence for the Beach Bay project on island, decided to visit that NS site out of curiosity and found how shite the beach was, how narrow the site was relative to Queen’s Highway, and how close MO came to doing a really bad deal…
Barefoot Beach is in East End
Will they follow the example of Michael Ryan’s Fin Cayman? They could increase the size of the plot by building out over the beach? Have you seen the size of the Fin beach?
Great. Lol
Put this is the same bucket as Lacovia, will never happen.
“Ooooh, bop…
No, you’re never gonna get it (ow!)
Never ever gonna get it (no, not this time)
No, you’re never gonna get it (my love)
Never ever gonna get it
No, you’re never gonna get it (ow!)
Never ever gonna get it (not this time)
No, you’re never gonna get it (my love)
Never never gonna get it
Ooooh, bop…”
– En Vogue
This project is not what the people of beach bay and surrounding area want.
So? It isnt your land. It was privately purchased in good faith for millions of dollars with the ability to build on it.
You expect rational persons to buy development land and keep it as a bush?
You have your land; they have theirs. STF.
They have purchased 67 acres, a lot of which is zoned low density residential, the cost of which reflected that zoning, with a sweep of a pen rezoning immediately bumps up the price. likewise , any land beside your home could just as easily be rezoned industrial and your back garden then faces a place like dump road. Good luck then in trying to resell
Chris Saunders cannot be trusted he is all things to all people all the time
Sitrep: Government doesn’t care and the developer doesn’t care. Just another day in paradise… RIP Beach Bay tranquility. I’ll miss it…
Well. Their homes will be worth more now. But that’s all.
I was thinking exactly the same thing
And the traffic will be lovely for them!
Unfortunately it already is.
That was my point:-)
And that comment is precisely what they said. Lived here 20 years no worries , move
DART are also in long default of deliverables from last signed amended NRA deal, having received custom legislation, sweetheart land swaps, title conversion, expandable 30 year duty waivers, hotel tax rebates, and predictably time-forfeited social obligations. They even persuaded CIG to use NRA funds and gazette roads they built to service and develop their own land portfolio. When should we expect CIG to properly clawback title to the 220 acre Dragon Bay/Safehaven Lands to the Crown? How about the promised campsites/dog park depicted on John Doak’s intentions map, which now reside beneath the Indigo Bay Hotel? Hyatt dereliction fees? Applying Lands Law to Deckers, Calicos, Royal Palms, and all the other administratively re-wilded land portfolio? Lots more too. The biggest challenge on that file will be determining the exact start point/date of the bad relationship.
Long list of allegations, got citations?
Were you born yesterday and have not learned… ‘common knowledge?’ Reread the archives in several sources, get caught up.
So no citations then? Thought as much.
Hey citation repeater. Look it up yourself if you want to see the truth. Nobody works for you and nobody has to prove anything to you. Do the work yourself then tell them you agree or disagree. Alas, this would be too hard for you.
So you don’t have any then, not one single citation?
Do have a enjoyable weekend and say hi to your mom for me.
NRA Agreement, 1st amended NRA Agreement, 2nd amended NRA Agreement, 3rd amended NRA Agreement…numerous areas of default and non-delivery just on those four. They are all in CNS archive.
Yet not one of them says anything of which you allege above.
Public records. Go look for yourself, lazy.
Still not a one.
Here we go again with the anti-Dart rhetoric.Dart does fantastic projects and helps Cayman so much. You haters need to leave our shores and go somewhere else, yes to the Cayman Brac! Having the Beach Bay project will be great, all those high paying construction jobs. They have one of the best architects in the Caribbean working on the project. Even Cayman Marl Road is for this project. Great meeting, to bad about the trouble makers though.
So if you don’t like it you have to leave? How about we ensure that developments are sustainable and in keeping with the Island?
Maybe those who seek to ruin the Island should leave?
We need all the high paying construction jobs, work permit fees and import duties that these developments bring to Cayman. Get on your knees and say thank you to Sir Alden and the rest of the great PP< for bringing all these great projects to Cayman. You cry babies just love to start trouble all the time. I agree you all should get the hell out of here if you dislike it that much.
Dart blocked the road near the Ritz with water barriers. It is nearing 10 years. Will government remove the barricades so he doesn’t get another public road for free. Also, why has west bay road been closed for one way traffic for months for a new development? A few days I get but for months? BS.
Check the land registry. It’s a private road by the Ritz. West Bay Rd is Fraser Wellon, give him a call and ask him.
Another bad deal and concessions given to developers by the PPM.
The legacy of PPM is selling out Caymanians and the country. We are dealing with the consequences of bad deals like this project and them looking out for themselves and their developer sponsors.
Fixed it for you distress signal. More like concessions given to PPM through developers.
I think it’s important to note a few facts about this land just for the record. Also for whatever it’s worth Spencer said he did not know the value of duty concessions but said he would provide them if you email him – did that happen?
If this land was zoned low density residential…like it used to be: on 60 acres you are allowed to build 15 units per acre which equals 900 units.
Given 30% coverage allowances, that would come out to a gross total floor plate (ie ground floor) coverage of 18 acres or 784,000 square feet. That doesn’t count parking, pools, or other walkways and hardscape. The entire Ritz-Carlton is about 700k square feet. So imagine the entire RC hotel but on a single floor and that’s what would be permissible on this land just in LDR zoning. Add to that the fact that it’s allowed to go up to three stories. That puts the total buildable square footage at 2.35 million square feet and 900 units with 1,440 bedrooms. And that is with ZERO need for any variances. If you assume 2 cars per unit you’re talking about 1800 cars.
All that I’ve just written is publicly available information and anyone can fact check it all you like. That’s what’s allowed on 60 acres of LDR without the need for variances. Now, maybe because of a setback here or there it gets restricted a bit, but maybe not.
Bottom line is anyone owning that land, long before it was rezoned, could have built 900 units on it. And there wouldn’t be a thing the few dozen families living there could do to stop it. Now, which would you prefer: this hotel that’s proposed, or 900 homes, covering 2.35million square feet, and driving roughly 1800 cars?
You want to talk about traffic, or noise, or light pollution, or beach access; what do all of those things look like for both scenarios? And as Chris Saunders pointed out, the land is private and people are allowed to do quite a lot with their private land regardless of the neighbors not liking it.
To be honest, building 900 homes probably makes more financial sense than building the hotel. If I was the developer, that’s what I’d do.
CNS NOTE: We have emailed Spence Levine but there has been no response.
I remember when Cayman Kai had a small handful of houses and we could run the beaches and play volleyball on the sandbar in the water near Rum Point. Now, we have tourists tell us that we are walking on “their beach” in front of the house they are renting for a short time. As a resident, this attitude makes me madder than hell. They don’t own the sandbar and we walk below the high water mark. I would hate to see Beach Bay lose its charm like Cayman Kai has.
that’s fair enough…politely tell them they don’t own the sandbar and if they want you off to call the police. They police will not remove you from it
What makes you think that the MO will allow locals on their beach unless it is to serve their guests.
Rum Point has never been better.
Says someone who doesn’t know what it used to be like.
Anyone remember the sign in the mens bathroom in Ole Jud’s day? “If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down”. Those were the days. Dreadful, dreadful bathrooms, wonderful beach, good food and pleasant mix of locals and foreigners.
Let’s not leave out that the PPM also used public funds to build and asphalt a service road to the fictional property. Island Paving isn’t a charity operation last we checked. Add that cost to the outrage.
As a property owner in Nature Circle, which is walking distance from this development, I watched the live stream, but regret not attending the meeting in person to show my support for this project.
I think the spokesperson that gave the presentation update handled himself very well with what seemed like full-on attacks from those against the project. He remain calmed and clear around people who were loud and heated, with the heat being directed at him. That’s a good skill to have in general.
Not many big developers have public meetings like this when you think of it. That plus all of the positive changes to the plan that have been made shows me that they are really trying.
I would cut this project some slack. It’s going to be a nice upgrade to the area (in my opinion), and also part of this Go East initiative which was a big deal back in the 2010s, but seems to have faded.
I agree. I realize 100% people that don’t want this thing. I get that and respect it fully. But also not everyone can be happy all the time. Maybe the system did not work as it intended, but these folks were granted the permission to do this, and frankly do not have to hold such a meeting or take any questions at all. The poor guy was berated. If anything actually this meeting was an incentive for developers to never hold such meetings again. If they don’t have to, why should they get yelled at for fun.
I was there and the second this young man started talking people were already snickering and licking their chops. He was written off by them before he even started and that’s frankly not fair.
So disturbing to see Mandarin Oriental aligning their premium brand with lazy and deceptive advertorial social media campaigns depicting stolen scenes from Tillies/Palm Heights and impossible southern sunsets. Blocked!
Money talks in the Cayman Islands and politicians are mostly all of the same deplorable ilk regardless of their party affiliation.
Hurricanes talk louder
Oh please….
– if residents wanted to preserve the land as is why did they not consider trying to buy the land for preservation? The fact is this private land was purchased for development.
AND
– for all those homeowners that built large houses on the ridge at Beach Bay, why can we not bemoan how those houses prevent the rest of us from walking on the ridge any time we want. Or can we perhaps walk on your private property that you purchased and built on?
Such HYPOCRISY and NOT IN MY BACKYARDism.
All of YOU in that whole area also all cleared land and built man-made structures. Such crybabies and false ‘victims’.
Are you really comparing a Three story family home with occupancy ranging from 10- 20 persons to a commercial 10 story hotel with a max occupancy of over 300??
A single family home constructed on roughly an acre and a half vs the hotel which covers larger square footage? Why would the residents purchase the other plots of land to retain the tranquil environment, when historically new home owners have followed suit and maintained the environment vs changing it all together.
you answered your own question: 10 people over 1.5 acres is 6.6 people per acre.
300 people over 60 acres is 5 people per acre. That’s 32% more. And that’s with you talking about 10 people there.
If you do it at 20 people per 1.5 acres then the numbers are 13.3 per acre which is 166% more.
AND…there’s no rule preventing you and every single other single family home from renting out on AirBNB at those occupancy levels.
There’s nothing that stops the vacant 1.5 acre parcels from being built up and doing the same thing. At 15 people per home it would only take 20 homes to equal the 300 person capacity of the hotel.
Actually they only discussed the 19 acres in the story above , they still own another 40 which is zoned god knows what which they haven’t discussed.!! But hey, sure government can help them out change zoning and they can get going on a pig farm. ohhhh can smell that manure whilst sipping me dink
no no no…they’re building on 18-19 acres or something like that which is what they’re allowed to build on the site which is roughly 65 or so acres.
So you want the 900 homes built on this land instead? Better for developer. Will make much more this way, careful what you ask for
We have to keep this public like the old west bay public beach stolen jewel. People who are weak make fun of those standing up for what is right and fighting for a cause. Thank you all of for your efforts you inspire us all to become the storm.
The Spenser guy handled it all like a champ.
100% agree.