Neighbours concerned about the impact of Cayman Enterprise City’s proposed campus must wait for a legal decision to see if their objections can even be considered.
A sprawling commercial and residential development has been proposed in South Sound as a home for the special economic zone. Residents have cited concerns about changes to the proposal.
But the Central Planning Authority is not sure those objections can be brought at this stage.
Enterprise City is seeking to amend a Planned Area Development (PAD) outline – essentially a zoning overlay for a large scale development. Lawyers for CEC argue this is simply a master plan for the area and that objectors must wait until the developer seeks actual planning approval for buildings and roads at the site.
Central Planning Authority chairman, Ian Pairedeau said at a 13 Nov. meeting of the board that, due to the possible legal precedent, the decision was adjourned pending input from the government Legal Department.
This outcome followed submissions from Sammy Jackson, attorney for the proposed Enterprise City campus, who argued that a PAD simply outlines a broad vision for a parcel.
He said previous members of the Legislative Assembly who helped craft and develop the local planning laws and regulations never intended for the planning board to hear objections at the preliminary stages when developers were proposing to rezone an area by way of a PAD.
The proposed Cayman Enterprise City campus development required a PAD because it was planned across a parcel of land that exceeded the 40-acre benchmark, as set out in the planning regulations and because the proposed development included commercial buildings in an area zoned Low Density Residential, effectively making the application a change of zoning under the Development Plan.
Nine years ago, in 2015, Cayman Enterprise City sought and received approval for a Planned Area Development on a seventy-acre parcel of land in South Sound.
Since that initial approval of the master plan for the Enterprise City campus, the developers have returned to the Central Planning Authority several times, to apply for modifications to the PAD, for such things as revisions to the parking areas, the overall layout and the building designs.
One of the central features of the initial master plan for the site included an area zoned for future development of a pond, which objectors believe may also act as a water catchment area, reducing the possibility of flooding to adjacent landowners.
The removal of this pond feature in a subsequent application to the CPA, along with the perception that the development might result in increased congestion on South Sound Road and various other issues, apparently raised the concern of nearby property owners and residents at the Pirates Cove Condominiums, who retained an attorney in an attempt to object to the proposed changes to the PAD.
The Central Planning Authority decided on Wednesday to seek guidance from the legal department on the matter. The application for the changes to the PAD, along with a determination about whether objectors can be heard at this stage, will be determined at a later meeting of the planning board.
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