Building Permit Violation of Dronningens Gade Property Unveiled During Historic Preservation Committee Meeting

The St. Thomas-St. John Historic Preservation Committee held its monthly meeting Tuesday and approved several applications; however, one in particular violates the approved building permits and obstructs the building next to it.

The committee, under the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, began by hearing presentations from individual applicants and providing board decisions. Upon reviewing the fourth application for the addition of a third floor at Dronningens Gade 2B & 2C, Kings Quarter, it was discovered that construction for the additional floor had already begun prematurely without the necessary approval.

“So they’re actually coming to us after the fact, cause they already planned to do a third floor and had no intention of doing the hip roof,” said Enrique Rodriguez, committee member.

At the beginning of the presentation, Martin Acevedo Marte, the architect of the project, requested the committee’s approval to add a third floor. The property was originally approved for a trailer structure and later permitted as a two-story building with a hip roof. However, after the construction of the two-story building, the applicant is now seeking approval for an additional floor. Rodriguez then inquired why Marte chose to wait until the seventh meeting, well after construction had already begun, to request permission for the third floor.