• Say needed for traffic impact study

• 200 Ocean Club residents opposed

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Major Paradise Island resorts yesterday urged the planning authorities to delay their decision on Wendy’s bid for approvals by four weeks so that the restaurant’s impact on traffic flows can be studied.

The Paradise Island Tourism Development Association (PITDA), which represents properties such as Atlantis, the Ocean Club and Comfort Suites, said it has hired Caribbean Civil Group to confirm its suspicions that converting the former Scotiabank branch into a fast-food restaurant will “have a very negative traffic impact on the visitors, residents and employees of Paradise Island”.

Wasting no time following Monday’s Town Planning Committee hearing on the project, Glen Haddad, the Association’s executive vice-president, argued in a letter released to the media that Aetos Holdings, the Bahamian franchisee for Wendy’s and Marco’s Pizza, had produced no evidence to support its assertions that the presence of the fast-food brands will not cause traffic problems.

Noting that Caribbean Civil Group’s traffic impact study will take three weeks to complete, and another to publish the results, the Association and its hotel members - who include leading opponents of the Wendy’s/Marco Pizza proposal - are pleading with the Town Planning Committee to delay any decision on the bid for site plan approval by four weeks.

Describing this as “a reasonable request”, Mr Haddad wrote that following Monday’s public consultation the Association “still has serious concerns about the increased traffic the restaurants could cause and how this would affect PITDA’s member hotels and partners”.

He added: “Despite the claims from the developer that his restaurants would not cause any additional traffic issues, he did not provide the Town Planning Committee or the public any documents or studies in support of that claim.

“Given our direct long-standing experience of maintaining all the roads, traffic lights and directional signage, other infrastructure and traffic security across Paradise Island, PITDA strongly believes that this development will indeed have a very negative traffic impact on the visitors, residents and employees of Paradise Island.

“Due to this major concern, PITDA has retained traffic experts, Caribbean Civil Group, to immediately conduct a traffic impact study around these proposed fast-food restaurants on Paradise Island.”

Calling for the Town Planning Committee to provide sufficient time to complete this exercise, Mr Haddad said: “Due to fact that this detailed study will take a minimum of three weeks to complete, and another week to publish the results, PITDA is separately going through the appropriate channels and making an official request that the Town Planning Committee provide a four-week delay on their decision.

“We think this is a reasonable request, as the study will for the first time provide actual evidence on traffic impact – not speculation – and must therefore be a key factor in any fair and equitable decision on the part of the committee.

“We believe we owe it to the people who live, work and play on our beautiful island to get to the truth about whether this proposed development will cause increased traffic congestion, thereby affecting people’s quality of life and the ease of doing business on Paradise Island.”

No explanation was given for why the Association and its members, who include Atlantis, Bay View Suites, Comfort Suites, Paradise Island Beach Club, The Ocean Club, Paradise Landing (Hurricane Hole) and Ocean Club Estates, had not commissioned such a traffic impact study prior to Monday night’s Town Planning Committee meeting.

It is also unclear whether the Town Planning Committee has requested such a study from Aetos Holdings, although it sometimes conditions its approvals on traffic impact assessments being completed by the responsible developer.

Chris Tsavoussis, who along with his brother, Terry, heads Aetos Holdings, at Monday night’s hearing said he does not “understand what all this fuss is about” as they sought to argue why their Paradise Island restaurant project should receive planning permission.

He questioned why there was so much opposition to the proposal to convert the former Scotiabank branch when the adjacent shopping plaza hosts a Dunkin Donuts franchise, web shops and a liquor store. Concerns over increased traffic congestion that would result from the restaurants’ presence, and an alleged lack of parking spaces, were raised frequently during the meeting.

Mr Tsavoussis said Aetos Holdings will provide transportation for their employees similar to the scheme that they use for staff at their Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) location. He added that traffic existed in the area when Scotiabank occupied the site, and he anticipates Wendy’s generating “less traffic” than the bank.

He added: “You know, the overflow used to exist before us with a bank there and the ATMs going and everything else. We anticipate less traffic than what they were putting out. The fact that all of our employees will, for the most part, be brought over.... we may have perhaps three employee cars at any given moment on that site, which leaves the rest of that 20 or so car parking area open to the public...

“This thing about traffic..it is something that is so subjective that any individual who wants to can put a spin on it any they want. We live in reality. We do this every day. We see customers every day. And we manage this every day. It’s what we do for a living. And we know, and we have a very good sense, of how it all works. And that is the difference between somebody who thinks they may know…but has absolutely no clue on the reality of what goes on.”

Meanwhile, the respective homeowners associations for Ocean Club Estates and Ocean Club Residences and Marina, which collectively purport to represent more than 200 property owners, have also voiced their opposition to the Wendy’s/Marco’s Pizza dual restaurant on the basis that the project does not fit with Paradise Island’s upscale image and will adversely impact their property values.

A letter, signed by Paolo Garzaroli as Ocean Club Estates president, and Mark Newman as Ocean Club Residences chair, said: “We represent more than 200 homeowners and condo owners on Paradise Island, which is the vast majority of the people who have made their homes on Paradise Island and who are directly impacted by the pending decision of the Town Planning Committee.

“Our members strongly object to the proposed change in use of this property to make it fast food restaurants.” The October 12 letter, addressed to Charles Zonicle, director of physical planning, cited fears that the Wendy’s/Marco’s Pizza location will drive increased traffic, congestion and “loitering” compared to Scotiabank. “This will create nuisance and possibly hardship for members of the community,” they wrote.

“The proposed fast-food restaurants will be positioned at what is in essence the front gate to our community, creating a negative first impression on ourselves daily and our guests. The fast-food restaurants are inconsistent with the luxury properties of homeowners and condo owners.

“Both our desire and expectations are that Paradise Island would remain an upscale and luxurious place to reside. This is particularly so given the other high-end commercial operations which are prominently featured on the island,” the Ocean Club chiefs said.

“The introduction of the Wendy’s and Marco’s Pizza restaurants in our community will adversely affect the value of our properties. Each of our members has invested considerably to be a part of the Paradise Island community and has an expectation that these values would not be knowingly devalued by a change in use approval by the governing authorities.”

The letter, calling for the restaurant proposal to be rejected, added that the fast-food restaurants would be “conspicuous” and “do not comport” with Paradise Island’s appearance. The project could generate between 70 to 100 construction and full-time jobs, and involve an investment of up to $4m.