The Robin Bay Hearing
Some readers have been waiting for this, others couldn’t care less, I’m sure.
After spending all day at the Earth Day Conference at UVI, we ran home, fed the kids and ran back to Complex for the CZM hearing of the Robin Bay Realty, LLC development called “Seven HIlls Beach Resort and Casino“.
A smarter venue, to be sure, than the little room at the airport. There were many empty seats but the auditorium is huge. We saw lots of familiar faces, of course, and sat among our fellow “tree huggers”.
I was not very impressed with the presentation. Although others were, it looked to me, at many times like a “Chinese fire drill” (please excuse the politically incorrectness), with developer people standing up when called and walking around and then sitting back down, while another one popped up and went to the podium. This was done a few times without some of the stander/walkers actually saying anything. It was pretty amusing to me, but I was feeling punchy after sitting and listening to people talk and squawk all day.
The CZM committee members actually asked pertinent questions for the most part (some questions indicated that they hadn’t read or understood parts of the application), but received less-than-satisfactory answers in many cases. One question involved the ugly square boxy buildings which will be the hotels. For some reason, the architects are from St. Thomas and they designed buildings that do not look like they belong in our beautiful territory with all the lovely historical structures we have.
Another question concerned parking spaces and rest rooms for the general public along with beach access. Another one asked about burying powerlines and installing traffic lights. I don’t recall anyone asking about minimizing night-time lighting to prevent disorientation of endangered sea turtles, but their coverage of this subject was lacking at best.
In any case, the deadline for letters from the public concerning this development is tomorrow. Most of the public testifiers were in favor granting them a permit. For what it’s worth, here’s what I wrote and faxed to (340) 773-3343:
To: CZM Commission
Department of Planning and Natural Resources
#45 Mars Hill
Frederiksted, VI 00840
April 29, 2009
Dear CZM Commissioners,
I attended the hearing for the Robin Bay development on Wednesday, April 22 and have a few observations and suggestions.
Although I realize we need jobs for our people, we also have an obligation to be sure that our people and our future generations have a healthy island to live on. All the money in the world cannot buy good health.
The state of the environment on and around St. Croix is terrible. Before attending this CZM hearing, I was at the day-long Earth Day Conference at UVI. Many DPNR representatives were there and Dr. Noorhasan spoke about the need to “protect our land”.
Unfortunately, we have been doing a poor job of that. This huge development will cause much upheaval in the natural systems in the Robin Bay area. The hotel buildings are excessively tall and commercial-looking, an issue barely addressed by the architects after being asked by commissioner Peters about their aesthetics. Threatened and endangered bird species have been seen and counted in and around the ponds in this area and will undoubtedly be affected by “high-rise”-type construction. Do we want our children and grandchildren growing up in a world without the numerous beautiful bird species we have seen and listened to the songs of through the years?
Also, as you know, golf courses need constant chemical treatments to keep weeds out and fertilize the special grasses on the course.
Not only will chemical treatment poison the land, it will eventually run-off into the sea and further damage the already stressed and endangered coral reef species in this sensitive area. At the Earth Day Conference, Dr. William Coles was emphatic about the need to conserve and improve the health of the few remaining healthy corals around St. Croix and the US Virgin Islands.
Despite the fact that most of the testifiers at the hearing had a positive reaction to the developers’ presentation, the developers failed to give specific answers to questions about other important issues such as lighting which would adversely affect sea turtle nesting, not to mention the “fishermen’s plot law” regarding access.
Public input during the meeting spoke about the “professional manner” in which the developers presented their case. Well, we’ve all seen very professional-looking politicians lying to our faces (Bill Clinton, George Bush…..)
To summarize my concerns about this project:
The developers at the presentation did a lot of pandering to the committee members and frequently avoided directly answering questions or said, in effect, “Okay, we’ll fix that”.
Granting a major development a permit based on promises to do it right next time, after they have failed to plan accordingly, would be a huge mistake. Please don’t make this mistake.
Just look at the Christiansted by-pass project as an example. After 30+ years of planning, it has not gone the way it was supposed to.
We cannot afford to destroy any more of the natural environment in hopes that it will all turn out alright. For the sake of the seas around our island and our planet which will try to feed our future generations, please require more concrete answers before granting Robin Bay Realty, LLC a major permit to develop the Seven Hills Beach Resort and Casino.
Respectfully,