The latest chapter in the long story of developer Paul Golden’s efforts to build a resort on St. Croix unfolded this week when the Virgin Islands Supreme Court sent a suit filed by the V.I. Conservation Society back to Superior Court.
The Superior Court previously had ruled the Conservation Society could not seek an injunction to stop Golden Resorts LLLP from moving forward because the organization had not exhausted all administrative remedies. The Conservation Society argued in its appeal that it had done so and the Supreme Court agreed.
“Now the Superior Court should reach a decision based on the merits of the question,” said St. Croix attorney Andrew Simpson, who represents the Conservation Society.
At issue is the Conservation Society’s allegation that the Board of Land Use Appeals did not have the authority to grant extensions to Golden Resorts’s Coastal Zone Management permit. According to court documents, the initial CZM permit was issued by default on May 26, 2004, because the St. Croix CZM Committee didn’t have a quorum and failed to hold a public hearing as required by law. However, the CZM Committee rescinded that permit when it met to impose conditions. Golden then appealed to the board, which issued the permit on Jan. 12, 2005. The Board subsequently granted two extensions – one in 2006 and one in 2007.
On Jan. 15, 2008, the Board extended the CZM permit for one year that was to begin after the date of the final decision in several court matters. They are pending.
Simpson maintains that by law, only the CZM or the Planning commissioner has the authority to grant CZM permit extensions. Therefore Golden is moving forward with plans for his project on an expired CZM permit.
Golden, reached by phone Wednesday, said he has a valid CZM permit and that the Board had the authority to extend that permit.
“It’s just another effort by attorney Simpson to stop the project,” Golden said.
Golden said he has the “utmost” confidence in the territory’s justice system.
A press release from the Conservation Society indicated it has opposed Golden’s proposed development at Great Pond on St. Croix’s South Shore since Golden first submitted the proposal in late 2003. The Conservation Society contends the location, which is within an Area of Particular Concern, is inappropriate for the development of a hotel, casino and convention center because of the substantial environmental impact it will have on the entire Great Pond watershed and the endangered species that rely upon Great Pond and the nearby beach for habitat. The Conservation Society also contends that Golden failed meet the requirements of the Coastal Zone Management Act when it applied for the permit.
In a separate but related case, the Conservation Society challenged the issuance of the permit since shortly after it was issued in January 2005. That litigation remains on appeal. In December 2007, the Appellate Division of the U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands held that the administrative record was insufficient to allow it to rule on the Conservation Society’s challenge to the issuance of the permit and remanded the case to the Coastal Zone Management Committee to make statutorily-required findings of fact. In response to this order on June 25, 2009, the CZM Committee stated that Golden’s proposed development was not consistent with the Coastal Zone Management Act. The Appellate Division announced that it considered the case on May 13, but it has not yet issued a decision.
