A developer seeking to create 99 residential lots near the proposed extension of the East-West Arterial has cleared the land and begun building access roads before taking their application before the planning board.
According to the agenda document for the upcoming 5 June Central Planning Authority meeting, the Cayman Development Group has already cleared much of the 33-acre parcel of land on the Frank Sound site.
The Planning Department, in comments made to the planning board on the application, stated that its compliance team is in the process of taking action regarding the illegal clearing and road-building.
The proposed East-West Arterial extension from Woodland Drive to Frank Sound Road, if approved, would run through the northern portion of the developer’s parcel of land. The road extension is subject to an environmental impact assessment, which is currently under way.
Calls to halt application until road EIA completed
Both the Department of Environment and the National Roads Authority have advised the planning board to defer the application until after the environmental impact assessment has been completed.
In its submission to the planning board on the subdivision application, the Department of Environment, under delegated authority from the National Conservation Council, stated, “We do not support clearing without planning permission. Land clearing should be reserved until the development of individual lots is imminent (through the granting of planning permission for development on those particular lots).
“This allows the opportunity for the individual lot owners to retain as much native vegetation as possible. Clearing the entire site prematurely removes the choice from the individual lot owners and removes the value the habitat could provide in the time between the preparation of a subdivision and the development of an individual lot.”
The site is located on the west side of Frank Sound Road, north of Rock Springs Drive.
As well as the 99 residential lots, two other subdivisions are listed in the application – one for Lands for Public Purpose and one road parcel through which the proposed East-West Arterial extension would run through.
The Department of Environment noted that the alignment of the East-West Arterial may change and said, “therefore it may be prudent to hold this application in abeyance pending the outcome of the East-West Arterial route alignment evaluation process”.
It recommended that the Lands for Public Purpose, or LPP, be shifted so they act as a buffer between the house lots and the eventual layout of the East-West Arterial.
“From an amenity perspective, having a buffer between the house lots and major roadway would improve the environmental conditions for the people who would live in houses on those lots, such as by reducing noise and air pollution,” the DoE stated.
The National Roads Authority, in its submission, noted that there are three alternative routes under consideration for the road extension, each of which would have an impact on the width and alignment of the load intersecting the developer’s parcel.
Like the Department of Environment, the NRA advises the Planning Department that this proposed development should be placed on hold until the completion of the road extension’s environmental impact assessment, which it expected to be submitted to government by the end of June.
The Planning Department noted that the developer’s land is zoned Agricultural/Residential, which allows a density of two houses per acre, and that Cayman Development Group is proposing three houses per acre.
The developer, in a letter to the Central Planning Authority, requested that the board not defer the application until after the completion of the EIA, saying a delay would cause “significant hardship” and hinder the company’s ability to “promptly adapt and respond to any additional revisions or requirements arising from the ongoing” road environmental impact assessment.
It stated that it had “willingly accepted” the loss of nine lots to facilitate the National Roads Authority’s road requirements, thus demonstrating a “commitment to accommodating essential infrastructure developments”.
The matter is scheduled to be considered at the Central Planning Authority’s meeting on Wednesday, 5 June.
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This is happening all too often as the developer generally gets away with it. The solution to this is obvious and needs to be strictly enforced to stop these brazen acts, otherwise it makes a nonsense of our laws. Also the principals behind these applications need to be disclosed as it is in the public interest.
Besides a big fine they should be made to replant every tree