Controversial Beeston Hill Rezoning Application Set for Hearing Monday

A proposed rezoning of 15.9 acres in Estate Beeston Hill on St. Croix that was vetoed by the governor in 2022 will be back for a public hearing before DPNR’s Division of Comprehensive and Coastal Zone Planning Monday — with a few tweaks.

Property owner Atta Misbeh is seeking to rezone the parcel from R-1, or residential low-density, to B-2, or business-secondary/neighborhood, to construct townhouses that would be for sale and for rent, according to the application.

Notably, Misbeh has eliminated a shopping center and restaurant that was included in the proposal three years ago that sought a zoning change from R-1 to B-3, or business-scattered. While the Department of Planning and Natural Resources had recommended against the change, citing issues like congestion and stormwater drainage, the Senate approved it in December 2022 after a contentious hearing, only to be vetoed by Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. the following month.

Explaining his decision, the governor said at the time that the Senate’s approval eroded people’s property values and their confidence in government to protect them, especially as the zoning change was added to the agenda as an addendum, against what DPNR was recommending. “Like, come on man,” he said in January 2023.