Sept. 26, 2002 – Private development could be threatening Magens Bay's eco-system and tourist appeal, and Magens Bay Authority board members are upset that they haven't been kept in the loop on the projects.
Edmund Penn, authority president, said on Thursday that he wants to send a message "loud and clear" that "Magens Bay is not against development … but wants to be involved. If we don't do it, this gradual encroachment will take over."
The occasion for Penn's remarks was an authority board meeting called specifically to address concerns about development along the bay, whose beach has been called one of the 10 most beautiful in the world.
Penn said he was disappointed that no one from the Planning and Natural Resources Department showed up for the meeting. "It's not because they didn't know about it," he said.
When DPNR approves a project, "they should make sure it isn't going to affect their neighbors," Penn said, adding, "We are their neighbors next door." He was referring to development projects on either side of the bay, one directly above the beach known as Little Magens — a beach that Penn said he considered a part of Magens Bay.
Bruce Tizes, owner of the property above Little Magens, said he wants to be a good neighbor and that he approves of what the Magens Bay Authority is trying to do, "so much that I want to live here."
But Julie Wright, a member of the board of the Environmental Association of St. Thomas-St. John, said when she walked Tizes' property and the waters adjacent to his property, she found a "significant amount of sediment coming off the site." Wright is also natural resources supervisor for the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of the Virgin Islands.
Bill Jowers, manager of Magens Bay, expressed another concern: the size of the project, which one cannot avoid noticing on the side of the hill. "Magens Bay Authority would have taken a more proactive approach … until it [the building] got lower and lower and lower," leaving Little Magens "a different place," Jowers said. He added, "I almost expected to see a jetty and a boathouse" spring up on the beach.
Tizes admitted that Little Magens is now "different" but said he would try to mitigate damage as much as possible.
He also said much of the sediment that appears to be washing into the bay comes from above his property, from a culvert adjacent to his property, and even from the Peterborg roadway.
Leo Francis, a Magens Bay Authority board member and engineer, agreed that much of the erosion and sediment is not coming srictly from the Tizes project.
Francis expressed dismay about the permitting process, saying, "I don't know why our local government allows people to build in a gut. We're allowing development in areas that shouldn't be developed." Then he told Tizes, "You are responsible as the owner of the site. You've got to take whatever means possible" to fix the problems.
Tizes said he understood and was more than willing to "get better advice" or use "better technology" to solve the run-off problem, adding he is "highly motivated to protect the environment."
In fact, Tizes revealed -– much to the surprise of most people in attendance — that he had made a substantial donation toward the Nature Conservancy's recent acquisition of 228 acres of land around and above Magens Bay for use as a nature preserve and wildlife refuge.
He was applauded for that, but also was reminded by Wright that silt fences do not serve as erosion-control devices.
Nicole Bollentini, EAST representative and aide to Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, expressed concern that complaints of the run-off that she had referred to the Coastal Zone Management Committee had not been addressed by either CZM or DPNR -– the regulatory agencies responsible for oversight on building projects.
"The water quality in front of Little Magens has deteriorated," she said. "It looks like a lake bottom with all the sediment."
Penn said another project the authority was "kept in the dark" about is the Lovenlund Apartments development going in about one-half mile up the hill from the bay. "We have no knowledge of Lovenlund," he said.
Toni Thomas, also a natural resources agent with the Cooperative Extension Service, agreed with Wright that the silt fences on that project are not doing the job.
Steve Herzlieb, research analyst for UVI's Center for Marine and Environmental Studies, told Tizes that Magens Bay harbors rare and unusual coral "right in front of your property" — and showed him photographs to prove it.
Tizes said he knew: "I snorkel there."
At Tizes' request, Wright agreed to consult with him on how to manage his building site's erosion controls better.
The Magens Bay Authority board members at Thursday's meeting: Dayle Barry, Katina Coulianos, Francis, John Maduro and Penn.
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