Parliament supports motion to raise building heights to 20 storeys

Lawmakers have backed a motion to double the maximum height of buildings in Cayman to 20 storeys.

The private members’ motion, brought by former Speaker of the House McKeeva Bush, who is the MP for West Bay West, was debated in Parliament last week, and was passed unanimously by legislators.

Private members’ motions, such as the one brought by Bush, are not binding, but are proposals for the government to consider.

Bush argued that the government needed to make a decision on whether the height of buildings in Cayman should be increased from the current maximum of 10 storeys. “We can’t leave it to be debated just by social media… and negative and poisonous people,” he said.

There has been an array of comments on social media opposing Bush’s originally-worded motion calling for building height of 30 floors, as well earlier calls by him in 2019 for a 50-storey building to be erected in Cayman.

Bush argued that, without allowing taller buildings, Cayman’s options for development will stall. “We are a developing country,” he said. “The day we stop doing that, we die.”

He added, “For sure, we need to better manage our development. A good place to start is to find ways to save and make better use of our land. That is my intention for this motion, to make better use of our property.”

In 2016, the government amended legislation to change the maximum height of buildings from seven storeys to 10 storeys. Since then, a number of 10-floor developments have been built or are in the process of being erected on Seven Mile Beach.

Bush said Caymanians who own small plots of land, for example, could take advantage of the amended building heights. This would enable larger and higher developments to be constructed without using huge tracts of land.

He also argued that higher buildings could prove to be more sustainable and climate resilient, if the ground floors were elevated, if setbacks from the water were increased, and if the developments were for mixed-use purposes.

Bush added that the revenue raised by government from development and construction was what funded necessities like public education and housing.

The former Speaker had originally planned to bring a motion calling for building heights to be increased to 25-30 floors, but amended his motion to 15-20 floors immediately before it was debated on Thursday, 15 Dec.

Asked by Red Bay MP Alden McLaughlin why he had changed his motion, Bush responded that he had picked a number that he felt would give government leeway to work with. He added that, personally, he would opt for even higher buildings, saying, “I had to give a number. Me? I’d go 50 floors. If they asked me coming out of church, where you want to go, I’d say, see that cloud there? I’d go just below it.”

Premier Wayne Panton, who is also the minister responsible for sustainability and climate resilience, said the public must also be involved in a discussion on building heights.

But, he said, it was time that Grand Cayman had a conversation about the issue, as the island’s population is continuing to grow and there is already higher utilisation of existing infrastructure. He said such things were manageable “provided we plan appropriately”.

He said legislation on building heights had been changed “three or four times” over the past 50 years, and he queried whether there had been any structure or process around that decision-making. “It did feel at times as if it were more of a reaction to a specific proposal,” he said.

Panton said higher buildings could be considered as part of the approach for “managed retreat” of developments and seawalls that over the years had been built too close to the dynamic beach zone along Seven Mile Beach, leading to erosion. The managed retreat plan is to demolish such buildings and move them further back from the water.

“Obviously, a compromise in respect to that is to facilitate and allow buildings to go higher, so that the project can work, and we are able to provide, for example, hotels that generate additional income in terms of the hotel room tax,” he said.

“So, this approach, this tactic of managed retreat is, I think, going to be necessary for us and a part of the solution in respect of that will be to facilitate building going higher. How much higher? Well, that’s the question, and that is what I think the people of this country have a right to have a say in.”

Some legislators suggested that the question be put to the populace as part of a planned referendum in the first quarter of next year on decriminalising ganja and establishing a national lottery. However, Panton said there were other ways, via surveys and technological means, to ascertain the views of the public.

The premier said it was important to have a discussion on the issue of raising the building-height limit as it is “necessary for our long-term sustainable future”.

Cayman’s current development plan was drawn up in 1997 and has not been updated since then. A new National Development Plan is still being drafted, and Panton has previously said this is a multi-year plan that is unlikely to be fully implemented before the end of his administration’s current tenure.

The first phase of the five-year plan is expected to cover the review of the Seven Mile Beach Corridor in the fiscal year of 2022-23.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Joey Hew said he was disappointed the government had not moved further along with the process since they were elected 18 months ago, stating that the Progressives-led government’s effort to move forward with the plan had been stymied by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also called for more public input on the matter in Cayman, saying it was now “critical” for national development issues to be addressed.

“As a matter of urgency, start the process on the update on the National Development Plan, and the easiest way to do it is by zones,” Hew said.

He added, “As we all know, what will be suitable for Seven Mile Beach may not be suitable for East End. What will be suitable for North Side may not be suitable for West Bay.

“But the clock is ticking, we have to do something. If we don’t do anything, people will just continue to develop … in an ad hoc fashion and the government and us in here will be content to kick that can down the road and create an island of chaos for our children and grandchildren.

“We on this side understand that we have to start looking at more sustainable forms of development and redevelopment in this country. And, yes, that includes taller buildings.”

He added that the Opposition was not going to object to the motion calling for higher buildings, but “we urge the government to … do it as part of a comprehensive plan”.

Hew suggested that rather than giving a maximum level in storeys, the maximum height should be given in feet. Bush responded that it would be up to the government to work out the mechanics of the issue, and that he merely wanted to ensure that a discussion on the topic was kickstarted.