Red Pond Resort developers
to be fined for failing
to request permit
PHILIPSBURG--Developers of a resort at Red Pond in Dawn Beach are likely to be fined shortly for their alleged failure to request and await a building permit to erect an office on the property where they are currently building a Marriott Resort.
Prosecutor Paul Mooij is also concerned that while it is not a criminal offence, the developers failed to wait for approval from the VROM Department before starting excavation work on the hillside that will change the natural flow of runoff water.
Mooij said that after their first problem with permits and alleged pollution of the sea, a case that is still pending in the Court of First Instance, “one would think that the developers would be more careful.”
He said a request indeed had been made at VROM for the excavation work on the Dawn Beach hillside, but no permission had been granted.
“This violation can only be rectified by the inspection department of ROB and thus by the government, because this violation is (unfortunately) not a criminal violation,” said Mooij.
He said the government had the authority to address this violation. He also stated that the developers had shown great confidence in the approval of all permits necessary, as they had already started selling 280 seaside villas at the resort featuring several restaurants, a casino, tennis courts, fitness centre, pools, water sports, art gallery, Greek and Italian delis, conference rooms, spa, business centre, bank and state-of-art security.
He finds this interesting, as VROM is still studying the requests and the objections. Mooij said, “It is time to explain to developers that although there is no proper zoning since 1976, the year the Central Government urged the islands to implement zoning plans, there is an Island Ordinance that is in effect to protect the island where there are not yet ‘spatial development plans’ and this is the case for most of the areas.”
He said article 28A of the Island Ordinance Spatial Development Planning (AB 1993,13) stated that when there was no development plan for an area a “written” permit from the Executive Council of St. Maarten was needed “before” starting to “dig away, raise, level or to blast the bottom, construct a road or in any other way harden the surface, perform activities that can alter the water balance and the groundwater flow, uproot trees and clear other growth, demolish buildings, or fill up water.”
He said such requests could be denied by the government if the activities could cause irreparable damage to nature, the environment or to the use of the property.
The request can also be denied if the intended activities are expected to cause irreparable infringement of the future spatial development of this property or the surrounding property(s). (Alfred Harley)
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