• Planning turns down eight-storey, 50-unit plan

• Chair: Residents concerns ‘extremely valid’

• But original four-storey approval still stands

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Balmoral Club’s eight-storey, 50-unit condo hotel expansion has been rejected by the planning authorities because it is “incompatible” with land use and development trends in the community.

Keenan Johnson, the Town Planning Committee’s chairman, yesterday confirmed to Tribune Business that site plan approval was refused because the project’s scale and “height in and of itself” did not fit with the existing gated residential community on Sanford Drive.

He added, though, that the Committee’s decision does not overturn its earlier February 2022 approval for a condo hotel that was half the height of the rejected application at four storeys and targeted at a different location.

The Balmoral Club had sought a “deviation” from the early 2022 decision in its bid to gain approval for the larger condo hotel, but Mr Johnson said there is a time limit on the prior approval that will result in it expiring if work is not begun by a certain date.

While he did not say when that date is, the Town Planning Committee chair said the “overwhelming” opposition from Balmoral residents to the eight-storey condo hotel and concerns “we found to be extremely valid” helped the body understand the “negative impact it would have on the community if approved”.

Glyndell Josey, the Town Planning Committee’s secretary, in announcing the Balmoral decision, wrote: “This is to inform that the Committee, in their meeting held October 24, 2023, has resolved to refuse the proposal submitted on behalf of the Balmoral Club care of Michael Diggiss & Associates relative to the subject matter.

“Kindly also note that the application was refused for reason(s) such as the proposed development is deemed to be an incompatible land use, and the scale of the development is not in keeping with the prevailing trend of development in Balmoral.”

Mr Johnson, speaking to Tribune Business yesterday, said: “No, we didn’t approve it. The main reasons are set out in the letter; that it was incompatible with the land use and also incompatible with the prevailing trends in Balmoral. The height in and of itself we thought was incompatible.”

The Committee chairman, though, explained that the rejection of the eight-storey proposal does not impact the previous approval granted to the Balmoral Club’s four-storey version in February last year. “Last year February they made a request for four storeys, which was approved,” he said, “and then requested a variation to eight storeys.

“The public hearing was about the application that we received for eight storeys. They had already been approved for four storeys. This approval only lasts for a particular period of time that they have to act on it. If they do not move ahead with the development for four storeys in a particular timeframe, that approval will expire and they will have to register for re-approval.”

It is presently unclear whether the Balmoral Club will move ahead with the four-storey proposal. The earlier Town Planning Committee approval, revealing that the condo hotel application was first submitted more than two years ago on August 24, 2021, granted site plan approval subject to the project meeting several other conditions.

These included obtaining a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) from the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) prior to work beginning. “On-site drainage and internal roadways must meet the requirements of the civil design section of the Ministry of Works,” the earlier Town Planning Committee approval stipulated.

“Provisions for site infrastructure (electricity, water supply and treatment and waste management) must be reviewed and meet the requirements of the relevant utility corporations. Any excavation on the property must adhere to the provisions of the Conservation and Protection of the Physical Landscape of The Bahamas Act.”

Mr Diggiss, the condo hotel’s architect and project manager, in a May 30, 2023, letter said a “deviation” from the original 2022 approval was being sought because of a change in the condo hotel’s location to the north-east portion of the existing Balmoral clubhouse. No mention was made of the doubling in storeys from four to eight.

Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Balmoral residents and homeowners were unaware of the four-storey proposal or the original Town Planning Committee approval from 2022 until the expansion required that the project be published in the newspapers and a public hearing held.

“When they had to publish it was eight storeys everyone went: ‘What?’ We didn’t know about the four storeys,” one contact said. More than 60 families signed a petition opposing the project within “a couple of hours”, and Mr Johnson confirmed their opposition had been a factor in the Committee’s decision.

“The residents and their concerns always play a huge factor in our consideration,” he told Tribune Business. “It was an overwhelming show against it, and yes, the fact they would be heavily impacted we took that into consideration.

“It was not just the fact they objected, but their views and concerns - their specific concerns - we found to be extremely valid and gave us a greater appreciation that the development requested was not compatible with the area. They did help us understand the negative impact it would have on the community, and these things were fully considered in our deliberations as we made a decision.”

Balmoral residents, in the petition opposing the 119 feet high condo hotel in their gated community, located on Sanford Drive just to the west of the US ambassador’s residence and at the back entrance to the Prime Minister’s Office/Ministry of Finance, argued that its development would undermine their quality of life, security and hit property values.

“The presence of a hotel will undoubtedly decrease property values in the area due to persons not wishing to live in a commercial-zoned area with excess noise, traffic and increased security risks,” the petition argued.

It also referred to fears over the “potential difficulty of selling or renting residential properties in a commercialised neighbourhood originally sold/marketed as a gated private resident neighbourhood. The community in its current state is very desirable, and this desire will decrease with the addition of a hotel.

“Residents who purchased or invested in Balmoral because of the privately gated nature of the development will now want to sell their homes rather than be a part of a commercialised community,” the petition added.

“More than 200 families call Balmoral home. They trust that their children are safe playing out of doors. They feel secure walking their dog in the evening or arriving home and entering their doors after dark knowing that the security at the gate and roaming in golf carts provides the sought-after protection for which they pay monthly in their HOA (homeowners association) fees.

“A hotel within the confines of a solely residential neighbourhood opens the doors to those who come and go on a transient basis. They have no ties to the community and there is no way to track who enters the property as hotel guests, their guests, vendors, staff, taxi and livery services, housekeeping, laundry services and more.”

The petition also argued that a condo hotel would over-burden Balmoral’s already-strained infrastructure. “The single condo, townhouse, 2.5 storey and private residences of the gated community of Balmoral were constructed on the site of what was a single-family estate,” it added. “The infrastructure is strained to the limit at present. Sewerage back-ups are far too common.

“Numerous reports have been filed and are on record with the Water & Sewerage Corporation, which has made innumerable visits to the property. Any further strain would only cause more sanitation issues and could possibly make Balmoral uninhabitable for a period of time until full infrastructural redevelopment took place, if ever.

“The proposal calls for additional public restrooms when the infrastructure cannot keep pace with those in private residences. A 50-key hotel could hold up to 150 guests per day and staff of twice that on a 24-hour basis,” it added.

“Construction of a major facility such as a hotel or high-rise condominium necessitates heavy equipment, trucking, crew vehicles all taking their toll on the roads and causing further congestion on a property that is bulging at the seams as is. Additional traffic, and that with no ties to the community, would also pose new hazards to children at play and others, including pedestrians, drivers and passengers....

“The current owners and applicants for this condo hotel knew full well that Balmoral was a private residential community when they purchased the property and that the entire area was zoned residential.”