St. Thomas Real Estate Trends

AS reported by the Daily News:

A plan that would allow Great St. James - an ecologically rich island long valued by boaters, environmentalists, snorkelers and fishermen - to eventually be developed for dozens of high-end homes met public skepticism Thursday night.

Christian Kjaer, a resident of Europe and who along with several relatives owns the 162-acre island one mile off St. Thomas' southeast coast, has applied for a major Coastal Zone Management permit to subdivide its land into 53 lots that would be sold for about $750,000 each.

Landowners could build homes by securing minor CZM permits, and current plans call for each residence to include its own cistern, sewage treatment system and generator for power, project representative William Karr said Thursday at a public hearing before the St. Thomas Coastal Zone Management Committee.

Great St. James' best-known feature is Christmas Cove, a popular mooring site that Red Hook Community Alliance member Sandra Tate on Thursday called "one of the most captivating, locally accessible and well-known anchorages in the Caribbean."

The island and its flora, fauna and marine life make it a "natural treasure of the Virgin Islands" that "should not be exploited for the profit and pleasure of a few at the expense of the many," Tate said.

Great St. James is part of a territorial Marine Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary approved in 1994. Its land includes features used by an abundance of wildlife, including six salt ponds used by land and fiddler crabs and at least 12 species of birds, a beach used as a nesting area for the endangered green sea turtle and lush vegetation that serves as habitat for the endangered Virgin Islands tree boa.

Karr said his client intends to build absorbent grass-seeded roadways with sand underlay rather than paved ones on the island. All the "typical, normal, standard" mitigation measures, such as hand-clearing before beginning construction, would be used to minimize the impact on wildlife such as the tree boa, he said.

The Great St. James Village, a set of historic ruins of 17 structures, would be preserved in a parklike area, Karr said. The island also includes a well, dry-laid stone and coral walls and an agrave site.

Shallow barges with drop-down ramps would bring heavy construction equipment to an appropriate spot at the north end of the bay, he said, so no pile-driving or other building in the water would be necessary.

Along with the Red Hook Community Alliance, representatives of the St. Thomas Fishermen's Association, the Environmental Association of St. Thomas-St. John and the League of Women Voters were among those who testified to a string concerns about the proposal at Thursday's hearing.

EAST member Dalma Simon said that in snorkeling all over the Virgin Islands since high school, he has seen shorelines like the one at Neljeberg deteriorate over the years.

Simon said that runoff could similarly destroy Christmas Cove, which he described as vibrant with sea life, surprising underwater caves and the most grouper he has ever seen in one place.

"If there's an area you want to go to that's close to heaven, it's Christmas Cove," Simon said. "I see a lot of people in here - we don't want to see it destroyed. Get a chance, go out there, before you make any decisions. Believe me, it is heaven on earth."

Absent from Thursday's hearing were representatives of the numerous charter yachts and day-sail companies who deliver V.I. visitors to Christmas Cove daily for snorkeling and picnicking.

Simon and others, however, pointed to the island's long-term value for the tourism industry as another reason to preserve it.

Committee member Peggy Simmonds questioned why homes could not be clustered more in the development to preserve more green space, rather than spread across the entire island.

Karr responded by saying that such clustering could require a group-dwelling permit and rezoning, which could be a time-consuming process. He said that the homes would be built to environmentally friendly energy standards.

Three modest, green-roofed homes built decades ago already sit on the island, Karr said. He acknowledged that others might be designed differently, however. "As it relates to what might happen in the future, I can't speak to that," he said. "I can speak to what my client is doing today. I've had clients sell properties and things change."

Karr differed with community groups who said they did not see a certification letter from the V.I. State Historic Preservation Office and other necessary documentation from stakeholder agencies in the project file. The project does have such clearance from the preservation office, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers for its mitigation plans, Karr said.

In other testimony, Bill Rohring, former CZM assistant director, contended that his name was improperly listed as consulting on the environmental assessment report. Rohring said he had not been contacted by the developer or provided with any information for the report.