• Gang up over converting ex-Scotia branch to fast food

• Ocean Club, Comfort Suites, Hurricane Hole in appeal

• Mega resort says use change 'obstacle' to development

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Atlantis has joined forces with other resorts and developers in a bid to bar the Wendy's and Marco's Pizza owner from converting Paradise Island's former Scotiabank branch into a fast-food restaurant destination.

Tribune Business can reveal the mega resort has teamed with fellow Paradise Island hotels, the Ocean Club and Comfort Suites, plus Hurricane Hole's developer in an appeal that seeks to overturn the preliminary "change of use" permission granted to Aetos Holdings, the franchise holder for both brands, by the Town Planning Committee.

All parties were yesterday said to be "waiting with bated breath" for the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board to render its verdict with Atlantis warning that permitting the former bank location to be converted into fast-food restaurants will create "a potential obstacle for planned luxury resort and residential development" on Paradise Island. It added that such projects are planned by itself, Four Seasons (the Ocean Club) and Sterling Global, Hurricane Hole's developer.

Documents obtained by Tribune Business disclose that Royal Caribbean's $110m Paradise Island project is far from the only development that Atlantis has issues with. The mega resort's appeal papers, crafted by the Harry B. Sands, Lobosky & Company law firm, assert that permitting a Wendy's and/or Marco's Pizza at that site will cause "incongruence with the idyllic setting of Paradise Island" and "erosion of the natural, scenic and aesthetic environment".

Chris Tsavoussis, who with his brother, Terry, is the principal and owner of Aetos Holdings, was yesterday said to be travelling outside The Bahamas and could not be reached for comment before press time last night. However, sources familiar with the group's position said it believed Atlantis and the other resorts have united against it because they fear the competitive threat its brands would pose to their own restaurant operations.

The Wendy's and Marco's Pizza franchise holder is also understood to view the opposition by major foreign-owned resorts as sending a potentially chilling negative message to Bahamian-owned businesses seeking to further expand and develop. The planning appeal means it has capital, thought to be in the seven-figures, tied up in the former Scotiabank branch's purchase that cannot generate returns or be used to create jobs (see other article on Page 1B).

Tribune Business sources yesterday confirmed the Appeal Board's verdict is "pending". Meanwhile, Atlantis, in appeal documents, said neither itself nor any of its subsidiaries had seen the original application for "change of use" from a bank branch "to a fast food restaurant location, namely to be used for Marco's Pizza and Wendy's restaurants", that was submitted to the Town Planning Committee on October 26, 2021.

The planning authority gave preliminary approval for the change on March 29, 2022, prompting Atlantis to lodge its notice of appeal on April 20, 2022. It argued that the decision "was made with insufficient merit and regard to the adverse impacts on residents and commercial operations on Paradise Island", with the negative impacts including increased traffic congestion and parking demand on Paradise Island.

Other parties seeking to appeal the decision were named as the Four Seasons-branded Ocean Club; Highpoint Development, which is the holding company for Comfort Suites; Sterling Hurricane Hole Ltd; and the Paradise Island Tourism Development Association (PITDA).

"The appellants' objections to the proposed change of use are also shared by a significant number of the residents of Paradise Island," Atlantis and its affiliates argued. "After receiving notice of the Town Planning Committee's decision, the [Atlantis appellants] collected over 100 signatures of Paradise Island residents, commercial property operators and landholders, all of whom object to the proposed change of use."

Arguing that the Town Planning Committee should have assessed the impact that a Wendy's and/or Marco's Pizza would have on the area, Atlantis said it was "the master developer for Paradise Island and has carefully and strategically developed Paradise Island as an upscale community....

"The appellants and the private residents of Paradise Island objected to, and still object to, the change of use to a premises for Marco's Pizza and Wendy's on the basis that such change will have a detrimental impact on the character and future development of the area."

Alleging that the existing shortage of available public parking space would only be worsened if the fast food restaurants received the go-ahead, Atlantis also asserted that the area suffered from traffic congestion when Scotiabank was operational. It added that the "large volumes of traffic" attracted by fast food restaurants would only exacerbate the problem.

The former Scotiabank branch occupies a key spot at the junction of Harbour Drive and Paradise Beach Drive. Drivers coming on to Paradise Island reach it before they get to Atlantis, Hurricane Hole and any of the other resorts, while persons exiting via the off-bridge also have to pass it. It is also within walking distance for both the thousands of staff and tourists at Paradise Island's hotels, giving any fast food operator a lucrative and large market to tap into.

Atlantis, in its notice of appeal, alleged: "The appellants have a significant concern that increased traffic will result in stress to resort guests, other visitors and Paradise Island residents arriving and departing from the island. The Town Planning Committee's decision was not informed by a traffic study."

The mega resort also pointed to covenants and deeded rights that, "in most instances", enable it to "ensure that development on Paradise Island conforms to what exists today and the community's shared aspirations for the future. More importantly, this is essential to the continued growth of tourism, luxury resort and residential development on Paradise Island.

"The history of Paradise Island is a romantic, idealised destination within The Bahamas," Atlantis continued. "The appellants have invested millions in branding and marketing campaigns that draw on this rich history. The decision of the Town Planning Committee to support the change in use, allowing fast food restaurants, is a potential obstacle for planned luxury resort and residential development.

"In addition to the appellants' future development plans for luxury residential and resort offerings on its 50 acres of land, we are aware of luxury residential and resort plans by other developers here on Paradise Island. The presence of fast food restaurants on a main roadway will be a challenge for the underwriting of these projects," Atlantis continued.

"All recent and planned projects over the next few years (Four Seasons, Paradise Landing (Hurricane Hole), Somewhere Else Atlantis) are luxury properties, which are inconsistent with fast food offerings. There is support for the contention that concerns such as traffic congestion, adequacy of parking and maintaining the character and aesthetic of an area are legitimate and relevant concerns."

Citing numerous case laws and legal precedents to support its position, Atlantis argued that "there can be no question that the particular concerns raised by the appellants and by the Paradise Island community at large are legitimate and relevant concerns, which ought to have been given due weight and consideration by the Town Planning Committee. Unfortunately, the Town Planning Committee does not seem to have done so".

Asserting that it was unaware on any traffic or parking analysis being conducted, and has not been presented with such studies, Atlantis said: "As it relates to concerns regarding noises and odours, the Town Planning Committee ought to have had the benefit of detailed construction plans so that it could examine whether any provisions were being made for soundproofing, exhaust fans, ventilation systems or other measures."

The mega resort, claiming that no such plans had been provided to the Town Planning Committee, added that it was similarly in the dark about how the fast food restaurants planned to dispose of their waste. "Having regard to the increased waste generated by fast food restaurants, as compared with the bank which previously occupied the space, waste disposal is a concern which ought to have been considered by the Town Planning Committee," Atlantis alleged.

"In the absence of any plan for the same, the Town Planning Committee could not have given this issue proper consideration." Atlantis also hit out at the Town Planning Committee's failure to provide its reasons for granting the "change of use" approval, saying "fairness" required this in cases where there was "large public interest and opposition by a significant number of commercial entities and private residents".