The Central Planning Authority on Wednesday deferred a hearing on a planning application for a nine-storey hotel and residential development at Crystal Harbour, while a zoning discrepancy is resolved.
Objectors showed up at the planning meeting to express their concerns over the $125 million Prisma project by Dale Crighton’s Land Ltd., which was the original developer of Crystal Harbour, and Michael Ryan’s Silverfin Development Company.
The proposed development includes a 44-room hotel, 20 three-storey townhouses, three seven-storey apartment buildings, two nine-storey apartment buildings, five three-storey duplexes, five house lots, 20 pools and a canal marina. It also involves the extension of the existing canal at Crystal Harbour.
Samuel Jackson, the lawyer representing the developers, said the discussions over the part of the application dealing with the hotel could not go ahead until the issue of how canals in the area were zoned had been sorted out.
While the area is zoned for hotel/tourism and low-density residential, Jackson pointed out that the canals on the hotel site are not categorised in the current zoning map.
According to the Planning Department, the developer is proposing to fill in a portion of one of the canals and this is where about 85% of the hotel will be situated.
Jackson said that, as the canals were an integral part of the planning application pertaining to the hotel, consideration of this element of the application should not proceed at this stage. The planning board agreed with him and the meeting was deferred to a later date.
The proposed development on Crighton Drive would be located across from the existing Holiday Inn hotel on a seven-and-a-half acre site.
The Department of Environment, in its submission in response to the planning application, is recommending that an assessment should be carried out to determine the need for hotels in this area, but does not believe an environmental impact assessment is required for the project.
Many of the owners of properties in Crystal Harbour, who are objecting to the proposed development, attended the CPA meeting on Wednesday, where they were represented by James Kennedy of KSG Attorneys-at-Law.
Out-of-character with neighbourhood
The objectors say the development is not in keeping with the characteristics of the Crystal Harbour neighbourhood, and that although the Holiday Inn is nearby, it is only three storeys high, a third of the proposed height of the Prisma hotel.
They are also objecting to access roads that will be built to accommodate the various buildings in the development, which they say could impact the safety of road users and residents in the area.
One objector wrote, “Crystal Harbour residents are able to walk, run and bike safely throughout the neighbourhood. Children are able to safely visit friends without having to worry about speeding cars. Traffic is predictable and slow.”
Increased boat traffic on the canal will also disturb the neighbourhood, the objectors said. “There will be a parade of boats coming through, particularly at weekends, impacting the residents’ privacy and enjoyment of their property,” one letter of objection stated.
Another objector wrote, “Crystal Harbour is a quiet residential neighbourhood, predominantly comprising single-family private residences, with just two existing condominium developments and one small hotel, none of which exceeds three storeys in height. The area is subject to very light traffic. The massive scale of this development would be entirely incompatible with and insensitive to the characteristics … of the existing neighbourhood.”
The architectural company working on the project, Trio, in its planning application submission, stated however that the height and density of the project are below what is required in the planning regulations, and would not overwhelm the Crystal Harbour area.
Related Videos
