By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The developer behind the $100m, 14-storey Goodman’s Bay penthouse project last night acknowledged their neighbour’s “passion” and “attachment” but pointed to the 300 construction jobs it will create.

Randy Hart, the Wynn Group’s vice-president, said the project will benefit “the broader community” if it receives the necessary planning and environmental approvals after the penthouse complex’s neighbour-to-be complained he was “blasted” by construction debris when the same developer built its existing Residences.

Ed Hoffer, whose property will border Wynn’s investment on its eastern boundary, told last night’s public hearing on the penthouse complex’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that he developed pneumonia on six different occasions after his home was impacted by materials from the GoldWynn Residences.

He said: “During phase one I was blasted by concrete aggregates and silica sand. I also had six different bouts, respiratory bouts, of pneumonia; six different times. So you talked about the workers, you talk about people who do the construction. What about the neighbours? What about my cats and my dogs, my children and grandchildren?

“I’m not trying to be controversial, but there were no barriers put up, none of that stuff, and I lived there for four-and-a-half years. He talked about protecting the workers and protecting everything, but what about me? What protection do I have? What guarantees do I have that I won’t be blasted by sand, dirt, silica sand and get cancer?”

Mr Hoffer added that his home was damaged by vibrations from the nearby construction, and that the site was a disruption to himself and other neighbours. He said: “ All my cars were covered with dirt. I have cracks in my house, my foundations are all cracked up in the house. I’m not going to get into the legal part of it, but it was really, really bad.

“They hammer down from seven o’clock in the morning till 11 o’clock at night, four-and-a-half months. Glasses were shaking on the table. What you came up with is great, animals and plants and what not, right? But the human element is not there. I live next door, and then you got a generator that you want to put next to me. Then you got a sewage plant, and all these other engineering things.

“Knocking down pilings and vibrating people’s homes and disrupting their life. I mean, it’s really, really bad. It was not a good thing. Four-and-a-half years and you want me to go another three-and-a-half years at the same thing again? I don’t think so.”

Another attendee raised concerns about the impact extra construction traffic would have for residents of western New Providence, and questioned if the developers had considered the”‘psychological human” impact the project will have on its neighbours.

He said: “While the technical aspect has been well investigated and reported on, what about the psychological human aspect of this development? I’m not a close neighbour of this development, but I live in the west. And I can tell you, as most people can tell you, the impact of the traffic during this development when this was going on was very vexing on many, many occasions.

“So for your close neighbours, is there any plan to look at how this impacts them, psychologically, mentally and so on? I think that’s important, because the neighbours around this area probably don’t have to move because they were here before this project came about. So has, or is there any plan, to look at that?. And then generally for the residents of the west, because we have to traverse this area every day.”

Mr Hart said he was “optimistic” about the outcome of the public consultation, adding that the mitigation measures outlined in Wynn’s project EIA will “provide a pretty compelling case” for approvals to be granted.

He said he understood Mr Hoffer’s feelings, but maintained that the project will benefit the wider community and provide employment through its 300 jobs during construction. “I think things went extremely well. Everybody had an opportunity to express themselves, express concerns and voice their opinions, and it’s a very healthy process,” Mr Hart said.

“Ultimately, we think that the environmental impact assessment and mitigation measures that were presented will provide a pretty compelling case. We’ve done our homework and we think, ultimately, the outcome will be favourable. We’re very, very optimistic.

“Mr Hoffer has been on that property for many years, and we understand his passion for his property and his attachment, but ultimately we think it’s good for the broader community at large and we’re planning and we’re just waiting for the process hopefully to employ hundreds of people.”

Mr Hart said the project is within the regulations that zoned the area for resort development prior to GoldWynn acquiring the property.

He said: “Back in 2010, the La Playa Order was passed before we bought the property incidentally, and determination was made at that point in time that this section of the subdivision which was about, I believe, 12 or 13 lots, would be zoned commercial and would be rezoned for resort development.

“So this, what we’re proposing and building, is within the four corners of the of the Act and regulations. This is what was intended and I think we’re going to do it right.”

Mr Hart said Wynn is working with the Government to improve the Goodman’s Bay park and surrounding area, and has adopted the roundabout.

He added: “We did a signing earlier in the week with regards to the Adopt-a-roundabout programme. We participated in that. We thought it was very worthwhile. We’ll start with the roundabout and we’ll build on that. There are enhancements to this area that we would like to see, just improving the neighbourhood.

“We want to also address the median that comes from Prospect Ridge all the way through to the Prime Minister’s Office. We also have a concern about the some of the traffic mitigation issues that come through, particularly the high speed at which some vehicles come down through this stretch of Bay Street

“These are all things that we want to work on with government to see just the area improve generally, including Goodman’s Bay Park.”