New right to appeal for disgruntled beach vendors

Long-time vendors who were not granted permits to operate on Seven Mile Public Beach have been given the right to appeal those decisions.

The change in policy follows legal action brought by a group of disgruntled traders challenging the permitting process. 

The court application was filed in February on behalf of nine vendors – a mix of souvenir sellers, jet-ski businesses and deck chair renters – who had been operating at the sight in some cases for up to a decade.

A Grand Court judge agreed to take the case. The filing indicates that the impacted vendors had been operating with the agreement of government for years and had invested heavily in their businesses on the basis of assurances that they would be granted permits under the new system.

It went on to highlight the lack of official, formal reasons and the lack of an appeals process as a breach of their rights under the Cayman Islands Constitution.

The case has yet to be heard and government has not responded publicly.

But an amended policy, approved by Cabinet last week, appears to address some of the issues raised by the lawsuit.

In particular, it creates a process for vendors who were not granted permits to appeal and to continue operating until that appeal is heard.

A total of 34 out of more than 120 applicants were granted rights to operate at the beach when the policy was finally introduced in February after years of discussion.

According to a press release from the Public Lands Commission on Friday, the amendments – published in full here –  aim to ‘enhance transparency and fairness’ in the process.

They include:

• Introduction of review (appeals) process: The new review process allows 2023 vendor applicants to request the reasons behind the decisions made on their permit applications and to seek a review of those decisions if desired.

• Timelines for review requests: Vendors have 10 business days to apply for a review or to request reasoning for the PLC’s decision. If reasoning is requested, vendors have an additional 7 business days to apply for the review after receiving the reasoning.

• Application process: Vendors can submit their requests for review or reasoning by letter or email to the PLC secretary at [email protected] clearly stating their grounds for challenging the PLC’s decision.

• Review committee: Reviews will be conducted by a committee comprising a minimum of three ex-officio PLC members. The review process will be based on submitted documents only and will not involve in-person hearings. All decisions made by the review committee will be final.

The policy includes penalty fines of up to $5,000 or up to 6 months imprisonment for anyone convicted of operating on public land without a permit. Vendors who were not granted a permit and who do not appeal under the new policy are being told to vacate the beach or risk prosecution.

Questions to the commission can be submitted to [email protected].