USVI-On-Line

My family and I were talking about our upcoming trip/villas, and we were wondering why there are houses built in the National Park-(Peter Bay area) especially since the island is known for preserving the lush beauty of it all. What kind of regulations are there for building a huge villa in the N. Park??? No worries, we will not be building a villa in St.John.. not in this lifetime!!!
Just curious to hear about what those of you who reside on the island have for info... hmmm
Thanks!

You did not have to sell your family land to Mr. Rockefeller when he was assembling the parcel that he eventually donated to start the National Park - so there are parcels that are within the boundaries or surrounded by Park that are still privately held.
You cannot currently build on the land now owned by the NPS.

I too had wondered about that, and had come to that exact conclusion. I'd have to say those property owners were probably wise to not sell to Rockefeller. Their heirs are certainly benefiting now considering the real estate value of those locations.

great! Thanks for the info!
Looking forward to getting down on the island... that is of course, if we can beat this upcoming snowstorm here in New England!

IMHO:

I think Rockefeller was a genius!

He understood the beauty of St. John and assured it would stay that way with the gift to the US National Park Service!

Caneel Bay.....any other developer would look at it now and say what a waste of highly valuable space....but I look at Caneel Bay and say what a masterpiece!

That Rockefeller guy got it!

No doubt, Rockefeller had the right idea and executed it pretty well......Thanks Mr. R!

Sadly, the park service was given an option to buy the property but didn't have the money at the time. Now, each one of the lots is valued at the original asking price! Too bad, it would have been nice not to have all those villas marring the bay.