An environmental impact assessment is under way on Port Zeus, a proposed multi-million-dollar harbour and marina development in Cayman Brac.
Gina Ebanks-Petrie, director of the Department of Environment, told a recent meeting of the National Conservation Council that a draft ‘terms of reference’ has been reviewed.
This is the final section in the third of seven stages of the lengthy EIA process, which is expected to take many more months for the developer to complete.
Among the next steps are data collection, impact prediction, public consultation and the drafting of an environmental statement.
Once finished, the Development Control Board or Cabinet will then consider the assessment and decide on whether the ambitious plan should be approved.
Entrepreneur and Cayman resident Frank Schilling is behind the proposal, which, if eventually authorised, will be carried out by his company Developer FS.
A marina and community
The Port Zeus masterplan, published in 2022, describes an onshore marina complex with a linked residential area on 23.9 acres of land at White Bay in West End.
The marina will include a variety of slips with up to 120 berths which will provide short-, medium- and long-term berthing for vessels up to 100 feet in length.
Boats up to 150 feet long – such as super yachts – will be able to berth on the western approach to the harbour, according to the master plan.
A proposed beach club on 0.8 acres of the land will include a sandy coastline, beach facilities, a restaurant, cafe, parking and a washroom.
And a residential area will be built on 11.2 acres with access to the beach, marina and harbour.
“This area would be expected to be developed over several years if not decades,” the masterplan says.
It adds that it “will be the fertile ground onto which the seeds of a village will eventually sprout, and a community will grow”.
Phase one of the proposal includes refurbishment and revitalisation of the existing Scotts Dock, construction of a new rock pier and dredging of the marina entrance.
Phase two will include the creation of the onshore marina including Port Authority facilities, beach facilities, and a pedestrian-friendly mixed-use development.
Non-official report
Developer FS commissioned a non-official skeleton environmental impact assessment which was published on its website in July 2022.
It suggested that issues of concern from stakeholders are likely to include, among others, increased traffic, disruption, safety of the site, potential losses of income and biodiversity.
The report, by AMR Consulting Engineers, concluded that none of the negative environmental impacts identified had been assessed to be significant.
They added that negative environmental impacts can be cost-effectively mitigated, and significant environmental benefits are likely to accrue from the project’s implementation.
The assessment also detailed an anticipated timeline for the development’s completion.
The consultants expected the official EIA to take place between August and October 2022 with a review from October to November that year.
They suggested that a coastal works permit would be approved from November to December 2022 and a contract would be mobilised in February 2023.
Construction was estimated to take 12 months with an anticipated grand opening date of May this year.
However, an application for a coastal works permit was not made until January 2023 and only reached the Development Control Board for discussion in May 2023.
And at the time, the board requested that a public meeting be held to provide information and obtain feedback as the project would have island-wide impacts.
Schilling told the Compass that stakeholders across Cayman Brac have been kept up to date on the project’s progress in person and online every month since then.
“Nearly every person we canvas agrees that some form of safe harbour is something the Sister Islands needs,” he said.
The developer plans to host a more formal town hall meeting at Aston Rutty Civic Center once he receives approved terms of reference from the Department of Environment.
Schilling added that the application process, which began in May last year, is moving much slower than expected.
“While I appreciate that DoE has the weight of the world on its shoulders, this project isn’t like waste to energy or the East-West Arterial road where new environmental ground is being broken.
“We are applying to build an inland safe harbour in an existing quarry loading zone and it has taken nine months for DoE to come back to us with an agreed terms of reference.”
He added: “We have put forth a fulsome proposal in the right area but nine months in, we have yet to receive a letter or any formal agreement to the parameters that would guide our EIA.
“That just feels unusually long for something that should not be contentious,” he said.
In March 2023, Port Zeus developers gave a presentation on the plan to the heads of some of the world’s largest cruise companies in a government-organised meeting.
Michele Paige, president of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association which represents 24 cruise lines, had said learning about the port was a positive experience.
She described the cruise industry in Cayman Brac as having a “bright future” and said they were working with the government on the possibility of shore excursions or port calls.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was updated at 11.45am on 15 Jan. to include comments from Frank Schilling.
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