USVI-On-Line

shoemak38 Same thing that happened to Vermont happened to Maine. Try finding some decently priced Oceanfront, lakefront, riverfront, or waterview property here. Good luck trying. Locals (that's those that live here like I do) are priced out of the market too. That is why this state is called "Vacationland". Same parallel here in the resorts of Bar Harbor, Camden, etc. "Locals" are not taking the minimum wage jobs, those are being worked by Russians or other foreigner. STJ, Vermont and Maine are not unqiue. The same thing is happening everywhere in the world that has desirable natural resources.

In my life I've watched the Berlin wall being built, remember JFK's speech there, remember when he dies and then decades later watched that same wall come down. Things change...not much stays the same. Some good, some not so good.

Little bit of online research and presto, Everything and everyone you ever wanted to know about planning and zoning in the USVI.

http://www.dpnr.gov.vi/

I figured someone had to be responsible for this stuff.

jclampet wrote:Little bit of online research and presto, Everything and everyone you ever wanted to know about planning and zoning in the USVI.

http://www.dpnr.gov.vi/

I figured someone had to be responsible for this stuff.

The DPNR is really well known on island and liked by some but others do not think they listen,
I have heard that there will NOT be a marina built in Coral bay......that is good.
I would imagine Hugo or Pia or Ruth or Kirk would know more.....

Hi!

I have been going to St. John for a decade now and I have stayed at various rental homes during this time. My favorite place to stay is Lavender Hill Suites condos. They are right next door to Grande Bay.
On my web site I have some pictures of them. Enjoy!

http://sunshinelobster.blogspot.com

I stayed up late last night writing the definitive history of development and labor on St. John (probably the longest post in history) and then I sleepily clicked back to look at something someone had said, and lost the whole thing.
Anyway, apart from the money politics of the 1960's, and the thousands of "bonded aliens" who arrived in the territory then, I think my main point is how St. John has never had much influence over what happens here.
St. Thomas, however you may feel about it, has been, indisputably, a commercial mecca for centuries. If something wasn't for sale there in the 1800's, it probably wasn't for sale anywhere in the world. St. Johnians (and I'm talking about ancestral St. Johnians, less than 10% of our population now), have always suffered from an inferiority complex, after all the decades when the lowliest ST. Thomian thought they were better than the "bush boo-boos" on St. John. So, we are run from St. Thomas, with basically no representation in the Government. One member of the 15-member legislature must reside on St. J,. but this "senator-at-large" is elected by all three islands. Zoning is somewhat of a joke--take for example, the "group dwelling permit" loophole in the zoning, which is how Sirenusa was built without ever going through the public hearing process. Grande Bay also had NO opportunity for public input, mainly because the waterfronts of all the main towns are exempt from the Coastal Zone Management permitting process that requires public hearings.
People were certainly paid off, but they weren't people on St. John.
It is true that St. Johnian families still own most of the old part of Cruz Bay -From the dock to the ex-Texaco station, and from the P.O. on one side to the Catholic Church on the other. They own the ferry and barge systems, and two large trucking companies. Some of the taxies, some of the car rentals. Not bad really.
I have spent a fair amount of time on other islands of the Atlantic and Pacific, and certainly seen many of the same issues, but I don't think I've ever been anywhere where the local people (I'll go out on a limb and say it takes at least 15 years to qualify) feel so little in control of their island. I'd exempt big islands from that generalization--any place with more than 100,000 people isn't really an island,... might as well be a continent.
To be continued...

The property known as "Wharfside Village" is actually leased from a St. Johnian family also.

Hugo I am begging, please tell us more...I love to hear about the background of these issues and it is very cool when someone on the front line can chime in...I really appreciate the notes and love learning about the places I am interested in. The more the merrier. Thanks for your info.
Jed

I also believe that Skinny's land is leased from the Moravian Church. I also know of a few West Indians that own a fair amount of land in the St. John's folly area around Miss Lucy's. Most of the landowners that I've met are older folks with a fair number of offspring. Many are getting taxed at an ever increasing rate. How many years will their families be able to hold on to the land?
A couple of years ago my wife and I spent the better part of an afternoon visiting with Vie. Her family goes back on STJ to when the Danes owned the island. When she was a child there were no vehicle roads to the East End. They boated over to Tortola for rice and other basics that they couldn't grow or get from the sea. She really had us spellbound telling us how things were, but also about where things were going, especially regarding the younger generation of West Indians and for the island itself. Since the beginning of time people built their homes around what the land gave them. Now people blast, pulverize, manipulate the land, forever changing what nature made. Not one time did her beach ever flood from non- hurricane rainfall in all of her, or her parents, or her grandparents lifetime. Now because of the construction and roads that they have built above her house and beach, the beach floods regularly with a big rain. I think Vie is a beautiful person, but she wasn't too fond of the "progress" on STJ. She also felt that there is no way for her grandchildren to stay on STJ. There are few jobs that will pay enough for them to be able to afford to stay there. When folks say that places like the Westin provides jobs for locals, what kind of a "living" are you making at $10.00 an hour?

JT wrote:A couple of years ago my wife and I spent the better part of an afternoon visiting with Vie. Her family goes back on STJ to when the Danes owned the island. When she was a child there were no vehicle roads to the East End. They boated over to Tortola for rice and other basics that they couldn't grow or get from the sea. She really had us spellbound telling us how things were, but also about where things were going, especially regarding the younger generation of West Indians and for the island itself. Since the beginning of time people built their homes around what the land gave them. Now people blast, pulverize, manipulate the land, forever changing what nature made. Not one time did her beach ever flood from non- hurricane rainfall in all of her, or her parents, or her grandparents lifetime. Now because of the construction and roads that they have built above her house and beach, the beach floods regularly with a big rain. I think Vie is a beautiful person, but she wasn't too fond of the "progress" on STJ. She also felt that there is no way for her grandchildren to stay on STJ. There are few jobs that will pay enough for them to be able to afford to stay there. When folks say that places like the Westin provides jobs for locals, what kind of a "living" are you making at $10.00 an hour?

I remember when I lived on island, hearing that from so many St. Johnians......

The following article appeared in the Sarasota Herald Tribune last week on David Band, the developer of Grand Bay.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20 ... /903271020

Also, you should look at the USVI statutes, title 29, chapter 3, zoning, section 234. All building plans MUST be approved by zoning first before a building permit is issued. This step was completely omitted in the application review process for Grand Bay. It was been acknowledged by zoning that they never saw nor reviewed the plans and they don't concur with their so-called mezzanine definition.

Adirondacks anyone? Sound familiar?

On a side note, Sirenusa has all but shut down. all of the workforce has been layed off with no hope of being called back.

kirk wrote:On a side note, Sirenusa has all but shut down. all of the workforce has been layed off with no hope of being called back.

So they just stopped building midway?

They were about 85% done, from what I can see from below. I had heard that some units were occupied. Their marble floors won't seem quite as elegant in the middle of an abandoned construction mess!