The Tribune

• Developer says James Bond-themed hotel abandoned

• But Supreme Court upholds construction halt injunction

• Rival homeowners seek permit quash, demand an EIA

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Supreme Court this week extended the construction halt on a property at the centre of an escalating dispute between Staniel Cay homeowners over fears it is a boutique hotel development in disguise.

Justice Neil Brathwaite, in an April 26, 2022, verdict upheld the recently-reinstated injunction barring developer Kevin Doyle, and his DeepBlue Properties vehicle, from continuing to expand what he describes as a “family residence” and not the “Hotel Thunderball” that was originally proposed.

While admitting in legal papers that a boutique hotel, named after the James Bond movie that filmed key scenes in the nearby Exuma cave system, was initially planned for the location, Mr Doyle asserted that “I have never submitted those plans for approval to the Ministry of Works nor the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) specifically”.

The developer, who operates a charter airline, Staniel Air, which transports visitors to the island from Fort Lauderdale, added that “harassment” from neighbours opposed to his plans for the renowned yachting and boating destination had made him abandon the Hotel Thunderball project - and its “ten private and exclusive rooms” - almost two years ago.

However, other Staniel Cay residents are far from convinced. Supreme Court filings obtained by Tribune Business reveal their belief that what Mr Doyle is attempting to build “is larger than existing boutique hotels in Staniel Cay”, and an attempt to construct a mini high-end resort under the guise of a family residential property.

Five homeowners, including two Bahamians, Don Rolle and Loyal Rolle, together with Paul Fuchs, Robert Kelly Blake Jr and Daniel Clay Smith Jr, have initiated Judicial Review proceedings seeking to quash the Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) that the DEPP issued to DeepBlue Properties on August 9, 2021, so that it could proceed with construction.

The certificate, which has been seen by Tribune Business, is for a “single family home/residential” and not a boutique hotel. It also expressly forbids Mr Doyle and DeepBlue Properties from excavating and mining activities on the property, and bars “mass clearing of vegetation”.

Yet the five homeowners’ expert witnesses, especially Romauld Ferreira, who until September 16, 2021, was the Government’s minister of environment and housing, are alleging that this is exactly what has been occurring during construction in violation of the certificate’s terms and conditions.

The five Staniel Cay homeowners behind the Judicial Review are also seeking Supreme Court orders that public consultation take place over the development, and that the DEPP require Mr Doyle and DeepBlue Properties to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) before any approvals and permits are granted.

None of this has yet come before Justice Brathwaite, who was only asked to rule on whether the construction-halting injunction that was recently reinstated should remain. Finding in favour of Mr Doyle’s opponents, he ruled that “circumstances have sufficiently changed” due to recent construction work such that the Supreme Court needed to take a fresh look at the situation.

Finding that these changes were “material”, the judge agreed that the case raised “serious issues” that needed to be tried before the Supreme Court. “I am further of the view that damages could not adequately compensate for any harm that might be done to the environment, while damages could be assessed to compensate for any delays, inconvenience or expenses incurred by [DeepBlue Properties] should the action ultimately fail,” he said in upholding the injunction.

The opposing homeowners initially persuaded Justice Brathwaite to order a construction halt on December 30, 2021, but he then discharged it on March 14, 2022, “on the basis that I was not satisfied that there was a danger of irreparable harm to the environment”.

The initial injunction was removed after Dr Rhianna Neely-Murphy, the newly-appointed DEPP director, asserted in evidence that only “minor excavation” was required for a pool and foundation. However, the rival homeowners raced back before the Supreme Court after obtaining evidence that work went beyond this, with “photos showing excavations close to the shoreline as deep as the height of a man”.

The injunction was restored at an “urgent” hearing before Justice Loren Klein on April 13, and this is the bar that has now been upheld by Justice Braithwaite. Mr Ferreira, in a report conducted on behalf of Mr Doyle’s opponents, alleged: “The site is heavily impacted by extensive excavation and mining works. The impact to the environment has been dramatic, extensive and irreversible.

“The entire crest of the Ironshore (rocky shoreline) has been completely mined and excavated down to the main high tide mark. These excavations are so extensive that the volume of fill mined from the site cannot be stored on the site. Nor is it conceivable that all of the mined material will be used on-site to construct ‘the single family residence’.”

Ironically, Mr Ferreira was still minister responsible for the environment when the DEPP issued Mr Doyle and DeepBlue Properties with their CEC. He is now working to challenge, and help overturn, a permit issued by a government agency he oversaw.

Kayla Greene-Smith, representing the DEPP for the Attorney General’s Office, argued that Mr Ferreira’s evidence ought not to be permitted “due to a conflict” because of his ministerial position at the time when the permit was issued. Justice Brathwaite made no decision, though, on this issue.

John Wilson QC, the McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes senior partner who is representing Mr Doyle and DeepBlue Properties, did not reply to Tribune Business phone calls, messages and e-mails seeking comment on the verdict and construction halt before press time last night.

However, evidence presented to the Supreme Court showed Mr Doyle had been marketing the project as “Hotel Thunderball” on his Facebook and social media pages since 2019. In an e-mailed reply to inquires by the Gail Lockhart-Charles & Company law firm, which is acting for the other Staniel Cay homeowners, Mr Doyle wrote: “I am well aware of the full process and the legal path I need to follow to get commercial property in Staniel Cay.

“From the time I bought the property it was my intention to build a place that would bring a lot of tourism to the Exumas as I already operate an airline from Fort Lauderdale to Staniel and brought over 1,500 people last year [2019]. Building this will bring a lot more jobs for locals.”

His May 22, 2020, e-mail asserted that the Hotel Thunderball plans had received “100 percent consent” from Exuma’s local government authorities and the necessary approval was in-hand, although COVID-19 delayed the submission of the necessary application to the Investments Board in Nassau.

Arguing that his opponents were in a minority, and it was “very unfair for one person” to block what had already been approved, Mr Doyle, who said he had been visiting Staniel Cay for 12 years, added: “I have made it well-known to all the locals what my intentions were, and if there was push back I would not pursue this venture....

“I told your client that I might just build a villa to avoid conflict but I don’t think a foreign national should have say as to the well-being of locals.... I think I will let the Bahamian government decide what is best for The Bahamas and the local people of the Exumas.”

Then, in another e-mail to Mrs Lockhart-Charles’ law firm on August 25, 2020, Mr Doyle conceded: “I would also like to take this opportunity to say that I did design a boutique hotel with 16 rooms and wanted to develop it as it would deliver many construction jobs and long-term jobs....

“I have 230 feet of ocean and I have decided not to build the hotel because of all the harassment I am receiving. I am having new plans drawn up and will submit them through the correct process as I have built a property in The Bahamas before and will make sure it is a legal structure and it will be a single family home. I hope this clears this matter.”

That latter statement has proven to be wishful thinking, as his fellow Staniel Cay homeowners remain suspicious the boutique hotel has not been abandoned due to the size and scale of the “single family residence”. Mr Ferreira, in his report, said the project features eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, general staff and chef quarters, multiple kitchens, four bars, eight washers and dryers, and multiple boat racks, pools, septic tanks and grease pits.

However, Mr Doyle subsequently refuted the contents of Mr Ferreira’s report and the innuendo that it is a boutique hotel in disguise. “Contrary to what the intended applicants suggest, I did not just change the application from a boutique hotel to a single family residence,” he argued. “I obtained different plans for the single family residence and those were submitted to the DEPP for approval for the CEC.

“The reason the residence is designed with eight bedrooms and the various amenities is that I have six kids and grandkids, so the eight rooms become useful for my direct family. We also have a big extended family that normally comes to The Bahamas with me. Having a chef is a personal choice, and I am in the pool industry, hence the pools.” Mr Doyle denied that the excavation carried out to-date violated the CEC terms as alleged by Mr Ferreira.