Billionaire’s Proposed Private Dock Concerns Conservationists

A multibillionaire’s bid to build a personal dock in Cowpet Bay has rankled St. Thomas environmental activists and public-access advocates.

The Virgin Islands Legislature gave 555 Madison IV, LLC — a Delaware-based company controlled by private capital lender Lawrence Golub — permission to build the private dock in December. The bill, introduced by then-Senate President Novelle Francis at the request of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr, was overshadowed by passage of the long-awaited Comprehensive Land and Water Use Plan on the same day.

The dock would extend more than 63 feet southward into the bay from Golub’s Water Point property at 7W Estate Nazareth. Because the total square footage would be less than 500 feet, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources’ Coastal Zone Management division was able to approve a minor permit without a public hearing, DPNR officials said.