By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A furious planning battle has erupted over a Bahamian doctor’s development of a small office complex on Village Road amid residents’ fears it will pave the way for further “heinous” commercial intrusion.

The Montagu Heights Neighbourhood Association, in an April 14, 2025, letter sent to the planning authorities and Tribune Business, argued that the project under construction at the junction of Village Road and Windsor Avenue threatens to set a dangerous precedent and open the door to further commercial infiltration into a community they have “fought” to keep single family residential for more than 25 years.

The Association described the go-ahead for the two-storey, two-building project as “an appalling insult” to the efforts by residents and homeowners to keep their neighbourhood commercial-free, and argued that “there is no longer a residential community” in New Providence “that is safe” from an influx of businesses.

Keenan Johnson, the Town Planning Committee’s chairman, responding to the letter’s accusations that the authorities are failing to ensure “harmonious development”, told this newspaper that after reviewing the files he can confirm that the Subdivision and Development Appeals Board had overturned the initial rejection and approved the rezoning of the site where the office complex is being constructed for commercial use.

That decision, which overturned the Town Planning Committee’s original verdict, was issued on September 9, 2021, under the former Minnis administration - just one week before it was thrown out of office by that month’s general election.

And Dr Wesley Francis, the principal behind the development, told Tribune Business that he has “done nothing wrong” in relation to his Big Sur project, and asserted he had “followed the letter of the law” and all Departments of Physical Planning and Ministry of Works processes to obtain every permit needed to proceed with the ongoing construction.

Voicing disquiet that his name has been made public, and that the Association has “pierced the corporate veil”, he accused it of acting “in bad faith” and failing to respond to his efforts to reach out after being contacted by a mutual acquaintance who had requested he do this.

Suggesting that his name had been disclosed in a bid to portray himself as “the bad guy”, Dr Francis reiterated that the property had been re-zoned for commercial use several years before he acquired it and urged the Association not to drag him into a controversy over its differences with the planning authorities.

An Association spokesman told Tribune Business that it was consulting with its attorneys, Glinton, Sweeting & O’Brien, “to plot the next move forward” and determine if it may pursue legal action. However, they argued that the Appeals Board’s commercial re-zoning may not be the end of the matter given that all land in the Montagu Heights subdivision is bound by restrictive covenants.

“We got an opinion from Glinton, Sweeting & O’Brien in 2012 that the Government cannot remove the restrictive covenants; they are binding to the purchase of the land,” the spokesman said. “The restrictive covenants are attached to the land. That is a part of the subdivision. Whoever owns the land is burdened by it and whoever buys it benefits from that attachment to the subdivision.”

Restrictive covenants are imposed to control the type and nature of development, and how it takes place, in a particular area or community. The Association, should it launch any legal action, is thus likely to test whether these covenants are still in place and, if so, whether they trump and are superior to the prior commercial re-zoning.

The late Roy Sweeting, the Glinton, Sweeting & O’Brien attorney who delivered that 2012 opinion, wrote that restrictive covenants ‘encumber’ the relevant land because they are “affixed to and run with it” in a bid to preserve “the value and character” of a particular neighbourhood. Property owners in that area have to comply with them, and have the ability to compel others to also abide by them.

“Overall, what this means is that even if the Town Planning Committee agrees to change the zoning on the specific piece of property covered by [an] application, that decision will have no effect whatsoever on the existence and effect of the Montagu Heights restrictive covenants,” Mr Sweeting wrote, “which burden that land and which the other landowners have the benefit of.”

The Association, in its April 14, 2025, letter to Charles Zonicle, the Department of Physical Planning’s director, as well as other officials, including the Prime Minister, said it was “beyond redundant” to restate its more than a quarter century-old position in resisting any commercial development in the Montagu Heights subdivision.

“Despite fighting for more than a quarter of a century to defend what should be deemed clear, approval has been granted for commercial development to be constructed on Lot No.1 of the Montagu Heights subdivision,” the letter said.

Challenging why there was no advertisement of Dr Francis’ application, or public hearing and consultation on the project given recent history that saw the Town Planning Committee initially reject the commercial rezoning application, the Association said: “We have since learned there is a commercial development for Dr Wesley Francis of Big Sur, which consists of two two-storey buildings.”

The property will have two-way vehicle access from Windsor Avenue, and the letter added: “This frankly is an appalling insult to what is the oldest and longest-standing subdivision in New Providence and the homeowners within, as well as all other residential neighbourhoods and communities in and on the Village Road area...

“By permitting commercial infiltration of residential communities like the Montagu Heights subdivision and others along Village Road, New Providence has become a heinous place to live. Your department should be charged with ensuring the harmonious development of New Providence but instead there is no longer a residential community that is safe.”

The Association said it was impossible for the planning authorities “to not be aware of our stance” of opposing all commercial development in the area, and concluded by adding: “We demand a halt to any construction works on, or approvals for, the development of any properties within the Montagu Heights subdivision that is not single family residential.”

The Association spokesman argued that allowing Dr Francis’ project will set a precedent, and pave the way for, other commercial developments to be approved in the Montagu Heights area. They said two lots between Windsor Avenue and Montagu Avenue, which a developer had previously applied to convert into a strip mall but was rejected, have now also been cleared for seeming development.

“It’s ridiculous,” the spokesman added. “The well-being of many communities is threatened because of the failure of the Ministry of Works and Physical Planning to give a damn about their proper development. Leave the residential communities alone. Town Planning, who are supposed to be looking out for and safeguarding the communities, are doing nothing but permitting their degradation.”

Mr Johnson, the Town Planning chair, in affirming that Dr Francis’ site has been rezoned for commercial purposes, wrote in a note seen by Tribune Business: “Having reviewed the file on this matter, I wish to provide clarification on the planning history and the process that led to the current status of the property in question.

“In 2019, an application for rezoning was submitted to the Department of Physical Planning by the attorneys acting on behalf of the then-owners of the property. In accordance with statutory requirements, a public hearing was conducted, and on November 1, 2019, the Department of Physical Planning notified the applicant of the Town Planning Committee’s decision to refuse the application.

“The applicant subsequently exercised their right to appeal the decision. On September 9, 2021, the Subdivision and Development Appeals Board resolved to overturn the decision of the Town Planning Committee, thereby approving the rezoning of the subject lot for commercial use.”

Mr Johnson added: “Please note that applications are assessed based on planning considerations relating to the property itself. As such, it is standard practice that planning correspondence and decisions do not reference individual names or current owners, as the focus remains on land use rather than ownership.

“Since the appointment of the current Town Planning Committee under my chairmanship in December 2021, we have remained dedicated to fostering transparency, consistency and public trust in the planning process. We value the concerns raised by communities and stakeholders and aim to ensure that planning decisions are informed, balanced and legally sound.”

Dr Francis, meanwhile, said that when he tried to reach out to the Association the person he contacted said they were travelling, could not really talk and promised to call him back. However, he asserted that they never did prior to the Association circulating its letter and dragging him into the controversy.

“They put my name into that thing. This is a company that’s doing this. I wasn’t happy that my name is on this. It’s not right for them to go and put my name on this thing and circulate it so widely,” Dr Francis, who is based at Cancer Surgery Bahamas, blasted.

“I did everything I was suppose to do in this situation. There was a property for sale, it was for sale for a long time. It was commercially zoned. I did my due diligence, and had documentation that it was zoned commercial. That was the only circumstance under which I would purchase it. I purchased it through a company, not in my name.”

The commercial rezoning occurred under the site’s previous owner, Maude Lockhart-Braunlich. “I understand their concerns but it’s zoned commercial,” Dr Francis added. “I went through all the processes. I followed what was legal. I didn’t do anything wrong. I saw the opportunity, didn’t break any rules, didn’t ask for any favours.

“It took a long time to get through Town Planning and the Ministry of Works. It took eight to nine months. They went through it and ripped it apart. We adjusted everything. There was due process here. They gave us a permit. If you have an issue with Town Planning, take it up with Town Planning. Why put my name in it, trying to make me the ‘evil guy’ to whip up public sentiment. I did nothing wrong.”

Dr Francis said the complex being constructed, with the site cleared and the foundations now being cut, will include his own and other offices. “I’m not doing anything else,” he asserted. “I don’t have any plans for restaurants, don’t have plans for anything else. Just offices. I’m a physician. I have an office and will put my office there. There are other offices on Village Road. I don’t understand why I’m having all this hassle.”

The doctor said the demolition of the existing property he met at the site benefited the Montague Heights community by driving a number of squatters from the area.