VI News Staff 3 years ago
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Legislature’s Mistake Showcases Spot Zoning Pitfalls

The Committee of the Whole heard from 10 different applicants seeking to rezone their properties, five applicants from each district, Thursday, where the practice of spot zoning demonstrated how these requests often cause dissonance between property owners and the surrounding community. (See: Op-Ed: Stop the Virgin Islands Zoning Disaster) The U.S. Virgin Islands has a long and fraught history with the practice of spot zoning, which by design allows for the Legislature to approve property zoning variance requests, impacting all neighboring properties abiding by the current zoning. Thursday’s hearing was no exception to the history of tension caused by spot zoning, as each request was either opposed by the community, challenged by the Legislature, or the property owner was left unsatisfied. Aside from the controversy spot zoning has incited in the territory, it has also opened the government up to making mistakes. One purported mistake has wreaked havoc for property owner Orlando Martinez, who requested his Anna’s Retreat property be rezoned from residential low-density one- and two-family, to business-scattered. Jennifer Jones, legal counsel to Martinez, said the property was sold to Martinez as a rezoned business-scattered property, even paying commercial taxes, but the Department of Planning and Natural Resources has refused to honor the prior rezoning – leading Martinez to request the property be rezoned again.

“After DPNR indicated it had no record of the rezoning and extensive research of the legislative records, we found proof that the previous property owner, Renaa Rhymer, had applied and received rezoning for Parcel No. 148-323 Anna’s Retreat to B-3,” Jones said.

Prior to Martinez purchasing the property, it operated as a bar and restaurant, which Jones said the Lieutenant Governor’s Office records reflect as a rezoning to business-scattered and assessed the commercial rate for the property since the 1990s.

“DPNR has refused to agree to correct the record in honor of the previous rezoning requested by Ms. Rhymer … DPNR also failed to address the fact that denying the rezoning and severely restricting the uses that were already granted by the Legislature works a taking without just compensation under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Not only is the property use historically commercial, the property is adjacent to only one residential property,” Jones said, adding the residential property is also owned by Martinez.

Planning and Natural Resources sent the Legislature notice, saying, “The Department recommended that the petition to rezone Parcel No. 148-1 Estate Anna’s Retreat from R-2 to B3 be denied … the Planning office reaffirms its original recommendation without holding further hearings after finding and determining there has been no material change in conditions since the application was originally submitted.”

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