New ‘Tech City’ PAD poses significant flood risk

| 24/03/2023 | 47 Comments
Cayman Enterprise City, Cayman News Service
CEC site

(CNS): An application by Cayman Enterprise City to expand and modify its Planned Area Development on a 75.5-acre site in the South Sound mangrove basin has raised “grave concerns” about further seasonal flooding of homes and existing developments in the area. The Department of Environment has said the revised plan is likely to make a bad situation even worse.

The CEC PAD, which was granted planning permission in December 2015, has changed significantly since that original application. It is also now one of a series of new and pending developments in the basin. As well as raising concerns for the DoE, the National Roads Authority and the Water Authority, objections have been submitted to the Central Planning Authority by dozens of residents in the area.

Expressing concern about flooding, the height of the building and the density of the residential areas, objectors said the plan “bears little resemblance to the original” application to provide office space for the special economic zone on a sustainably-designed campus. The development is now predominantly a residential subdivision, with the mixed-use element scaled back.

Given the environmental concerns and the significant changes, the objectors are calling for a review of the original PAD application and said it should be subject to an environmental impact assessment. The original plan had incorporated the natural environment with lakes and green space, but the objectors said that in the new masterplan, the lakes had been removed and the open spaces reduced.

Since the site is almost all wetland, except for the footprint of the first commercial building under construction, it would entail a significant loss of mangroves. This and the removal of the lakes to provide more land for development and a number of other technical changes are all likely to exacerbate flooding and contaminate the South Sound lagoon.

For years, the DoE has stressed the need for a comprehensive stormwater management strategy for the South Sound drainage basin. The severe fragmentation of the basin means these wetlands can no longer absorb, filter and drain the stormwater as they once did.

In their submissions on the revised project, the DoE experts warned that the proposed increase in total area, the density of development and increased areas of hard structures will exacerbate the already serious flooding now happening in surrounding developments.

“Without a regional stormwater management plan, this flooding will get worse,” the DoE warned again. “During the wet season, impounded rainwater remains within the basin and has limited means of escape. As more and more development is brought forward, the implications of removing the stormwater retention capacity of the basin become increasingly significant and problematic due to the potential flood risk for properties within the basin.”

In January 2015, the DoE, Water Authority and the National Roads Authority submitted a memo to the planning ministry raising significant concerns about continued development in this area without an adequate comprehensive stormwater management strategy.

The agencies recommend a hydrological assessment of the basin and rolling out a management plan, including drainage engineering specifications for future development. Rather than requiring each development to deal with water management in isolation, the experts said a basin-wide approach was “urgently required”.

But despite that urgency and the continued approval of developments since, there has still been no action to address the problem, leading to more and more flooding in areas such as Randyke Gardens. Objectors said the majority of homes in South Sound are low-density, single-family homes that are at direct risk from the revised project, and owners are genuinely concerned that their homes will be flooded

The new plan will cause both environmental and social damage to South Sound, one group of objectors has said. Another group is calling on CEC to host a town hall meeting to discuss the impact this proposed project will have on the broader community before it is heard by the CPA.

CEC began life in 2011 as a way of attracting inward investment during the economic downturn. The UDP government at the time encouraged the idea of a campus to create jobs and bolster the economy. However, twelve years on, the economic, social, political and natural environment has changed significantly.

The revised application is listed on the Central Planning Authority website for next Wednesday, but CNS understands that the hearing has since been postponed.


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Category: development, Local News

Comments (47)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I am not Charlie’s biggest fan, but it is not up to him to develop a storm water management for all of the Cayman Islands, let alone South Sound. In the real world, that’s the kind of thing your elected officials are paid to do.

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  2. Noname says:

    I find the idea of storm water management planning a wee bit comical when there isn’t anyone able to handle welding a 3 foot diameter drainage pipe . most of the homes built along South Sound have issues when it comes down to water management, especially when a storm comes along. You need to build reservoirs and install pumps to store / cycle the rain water . But there isn’t any profit building those ! I would be glad to use filtered rainwater to run water to gardens , flush toilets etc. But that would take a redesign of the piping in most places built along that stretch of low lying land.

    I don’t think the South Sound shouldn’t be developed, it just needs to be developed with actual sustainability in mind instead of greenwashing .

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    • Anonymous says:

      While your points are valid, they are tainted by a somewhat condescending tone.

      Not everything done in rural America/England is suitable for export to Cayman, iron drainage pipe being a prime example. Over the years we have suffered greatly from imported solutions to local problems.

      South Sound, and indeed the entire coastline of Cayman is a hurricane ridge. When storm surge comes over the hurricane ridge it cannot return quickly to the sea, so it will have to dissipate slowly, or by its shear force cut a channel somewhere in the hurricane ridge. We saw that happen when a house in South Sound completely washed away in Ivan as the channel was created around it by the storm surge returning to the sea.

      You may not be aware, but there is a concrete drainage pipe through the hurricane ridge located between Windsor Village and the old C&W staff compound. It was installed by PWD in the ’60s to alleviate flooding in the area that is now Webster’s Estates. The same thing could have been done in other areas of South Sound, but the old swamp was enough to hold the water for an undeveloped area, and later developers bulldozing the hurricane ridge made it unnecessary. Now filling the entire swamp has created a brand new drainage problem, and on a much larger scale.

      Caymanians once built their homes block by block (that’s in later years when concrete blocks became available) over a number of years, and the first thing built was a cistern, and a well was dug if you were over a fresh water lens. In my house the toilets are connected to well water and the rest of the house is city water. However, I can run the entire house on well, cistern, or city water just by opening and closing different valves. I now choose city water for drinking and bathing because I have no idea what kind of experimental insecticides MRCU has been spraying on my roof all these years.

      Today, we have a Planning Department with rules and regulations the foreign expertise imported for us, so you have to follow their building codes and plumbing codes, and your house has to be build on the schedule they put on your “red tag”.

      You bemoan the fact that you can’t use filtered rainwater, but that is quite simply your choice. If it is because you chose to live in a strata where your neighbours say you can’t catch rainwater in an ugly black tank because it reduces the value of their homes, then I have no sympathy for you.

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  3. Kman says:

    If foreign developers destroying Cayman wasn’t bad enough then a 5th generational Caymanian 🙄 doing it makes things 10x worse. Shame on you Charlie, never thought you’d go this low, yet greed,and power will motivate one to lose their integrity.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Add this on to the fact the family sold Royal Palms to DART. What do they have left? Have they re-invested back into Cayman or are they just selling out?

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  4. Anonymous says:

    Everybody’s got a price for the Million Dollar Man! Hahaha hahaha.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    I know it’s been said so many times but if another one the strength of Ivan hits here in the next few years, the immense folly of this greed driven over development will come back to haunt everyone, except those with the money to hightail it off the island, leaving the locals to rebuild again.

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    • Anonymous says:

      You were lucky to dodge Ian. SWFL, 6 month later, is still recovering from the direct hit which was just few miles short Cat.5.

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      • Sarasota Steve says:

        4:46, You are correct and people who had home insurance are having a hell of a time getting their insurance claims processed.

        If another Ivan hits here we will all be royally screwed by I home insurance companies. See no reason why it will be different here than in Florida.

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    • Anonymous says:

      then a fresh large batch of expats. who will stay until the end of their term limit which will cause another term limit extension because the economy won’t cope with a mass loss of work force.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Not IF, but WHEN

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    • Anonymous says:

      That’s exactly what we need right now AND we should revoke anyone’s PR and status who flees the island.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    CIG is simply not up to the task of self-governing and has ben for decades. A complete waste of a beautiful territory. Corrupt officials; not enough ethical educated Caymanians willing to step up and campaign; and those few that do are largely ignored. The electorate is a wasteland of ‘bought votes’ for corrupt UN-educated would-be-politicians that have no place other than a third world wilderness, generations of under-educated individuals, with a flawed system where a few votes shift the balances. It’s a real pity. So much has changed since I floated here in 1984 and never left. And very little has been for the good. I miss the lazy days of listening to the ‘Tradewinds’ on SMB – (The band, not the atmosphere…). Our Cayman – R.I.P.

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    • Anonymous says:

      1:34, UN educated politicians? Please explain

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      • Anonymous says:

        I don’t think they meant the UN if that’s what you’re thinking. They’re just emphasising how UNeducated most of our politicians are. They might know the island but they lack the knowledge, education, vision or commercial acumen to succeed in their roles. Completely out of their depth and utterly embarrassing.

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  7. J. A. Roy Bodden says:

    The sooner we, in the Cayman Islands realize that “sustainable development “is an oxymoron, is the sooner we will be able to adapt to sensible ‘development planning’.

    It seems to me that we must ask ourselves whether it is worth sacrificing our long term future for the short term of promise of a false success.

    “Develop now, worry later ” is the classic way to ruin Cayman for future generations.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Let CEC , like every other developer, submit a storm water management plan , and move forward.
    No one developer can reasonably be expected to wait 10 years for government to come up with a “comprehensive” plan .
    The factional disagreements and fights over cost will kill commerce. Perhaps that is the objectors’ plan orchestrated from their homes on already filled and reclaimed land.

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  9. Big Bobo In West Bay says:

    When the next Hurricane Ivan hits, South Sound is going to have massive problems with water even without the Tech City development.

    It is if nobody remembers what happened to the South Sound area with water, flooding and destruction in 2004.

    What do we have to do to learn here. Are we really that stupid?

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    • Anonymous says:

      “Are we really that stupid?”

      Well, look at the con-man, banana republic idiots that get re-relected term after term after term in spite of public dissemination of their corruption (legal, moral and ethical). YES – The Cayman electorate IS…THAT…STUPID!

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    • Anonymous says:

      And if there’s another tidal wave at Breakers after a hurricane their proposed port will be obliterated.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    CEC (Kirkconnel) pushed this idea as a business development (enterprise city) for their great economic zone that would attract vast numbers of companies that would bring investment into the country. Now you are revising the plan to build homes where there were lakes and destroy the wetlands. Disgusting

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  11. Anonymous says:

    CPA ignore all these haters and push this thru. CEC is a wonderful addition to our economy and attracts lots of high dollar individuals who spend lots of money here. Thank you CPA for being independent and forward thinking.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    If the developers are often responsible for implementing stormwater management strategies as part of the development process, then this may involve designing and constructing stormwater management systems to capture and treat stormwater runoff from the development site. Why are developers not required to obtain approval to ensure that their stormwater management strategies comply with Water Authority and other relevant agencies?

    Ultimately, the responsibility for implementing a stormwater management strategy may depend on the specific circumstances of the proposed development but the regulatory framework needs to establish itself regardless of a decision on whether to approve the proposed development or not.

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  13. Piss Poor Planners & Developers says:

    Sounds like a Planned in Isolation South Sound Poor Area Development to me. Now what does that acronym spell?

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  14. Anonymous says:

    The NIMBY force is strong in South Sound.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    I hope we can hold the CPA board, shareholders of CESZ and the government accountable when the flooding begins.

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    • Anonymous says:

      For all the dubious goings on within CSEZ has Mr. Kirkconnell ever been held accountable? Never will it happen either as they seemingly operate above the laws. Controlling individuals with multi-generational Caymanian names are bulletproof. If people only knew half of what CSEZ get away with here that they couldn’t in other jurisdictions🙄. The same has happened in other situations here that would otherwise attract investigation and prosecution elsewhere and where environmental laws are actually enforced.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Quit whining, when you put some cash up in the game then you can have some say. Otherwise thank you to all the money people who are helping Cayman develop.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Nobody forced you to build your house in a flood basin. That’s on you.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    CEC is a pure real estate play. They will accept any company application given there is no oversight by CIG. The companies inside CEC pose the greatest reputational threat to Cayman. No one has any idea what is in there.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Agree 100%. Rules / laws re work permits & fees do not apply to these companies. How exactly is that beneficial to the country?!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Huh? The lists of companies operating in the SEZ is publicly available, it’s no secret.

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      • Anonymous says:

        A list doesn’t really help. There is no review or oversight by CIG/T&B or CIMA on the activities of these firms. Many come in saying they will not conduct local business, get their special CEC permits then go out and do whatever they want, no one reviews what they are doing.

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      • Anonymous says:

        2:01, But who is behind those names publically is a lot harder to determine.

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  17. Yuno Itstru says:

    Idiots! Greedy Idiots!! Are we sup-posed to keep on letting them destroy everything to make certain people richer? Does anyone care? I care! Am I the only one who cares? Stop those greedy bastards that are willing to do anything to attain more riches for themselves! Get them out of their troughs! We haven’t seen anything but greed from our leaders for the last
    twenty-five years Will it ever change? Well, NO, not if there aren’t some changes made! Does anyone in our government want to see Cayman on solid ground? Speak up! Give us the leadership we need…… not just lip service while the old wheel keeps turning!…….. And the rich get richer.

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    • Anonymous says:

      “the rich get richer…” And Caymanian’s keep selling out. Caymanian’s keep rubber-stamping such atrocities. Caymanian’s keep electing corrupt, un-educated Ministers. STOP complaining – you got what you elected!

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      • Anonymous says:

        Caymanians lmao. Those left a long time ago. It’s Canadian, Yank and Jamaican status holders.

        Or it’s the children of Caymanians that came back from their lives abroad having never lived here selling off their family possessions.

        Ask where the stupid canals keep coming from and tell us it’s real Caymanians deciding they are brilliant.

        Jim Bodden, a true caymanian…. 🤣 My sides. He started the selling out of these islands

  18. Anonymous says:

    Wow, incompetence in Cayman development approvals; who would have believed it.

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