The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Goodman’s Bay developer yesterday said it has identified three potential off-site parking locations for construction workers and staff as it bids to avoid the “anarchy” that occurred during its first project.

Randy Hart, Wynn Group’s vice-president, told Tribune Business it was being “very proactive” in finding solutions to the parking congestion that sparked multiple complaints when its GoldWynn Resort & Residences were being constructed ahead of its “phase two” development.

That is the 14-storey penthouse project that is presently awaiting Town Planning Committee site plan approval amid opposition from some nearby residents, but Mr Hart voiced optimism that the developer has the parking situation “under control” and there will be no repeat of a situation that saw the West Bay Street median and Goodman’s Bay public park crammed with work-related traffic.

He spoke after Donald Adam, GoldWynn’s chief operating officer, in a message to the resort’s residents, tenants and team members, warned that “significant changes” to the GoldWynn Residences’ parking system that took effect from Monday, October 30, “may pose certain challenges”.

“As of Monday, any vehicle without a parking tag or an assigned parking space must park off the property,” Mr Adam wrote. “It is important to note that we do not endorse the usage of Goodman’s Bay for parking purposes, and GoldWynn Resort will not assume responsibility or liability for any incidents, theft or damage or other issues that may occur should someone choose to park there.”

This statement, though, was already last night fuelling concerns among Bahamians on social media that GoldWynn-related vehicles could end up taking over the Goodman’s Bay public parking lot and push locals and other users out. “Is he directing their employees to park on the public beach of Goodman’s Bay which belongs to the Bahamian people?” asked one.

Mr Hart downplayed Mr Adam’s note, suggesting he was simply trying to bring order to GoldWynn’s parking situation and stop persons parking in the wrong spot. He added that the resort has more than sufficient parking, but some spots are presently unusable as the property continues to “de-clutter” and remove remaining construction materials presently stored there.

“As far as phase two, we’re committed to a solution that involves off-site parking for the construction so we don’t have a drag over with some of the issues we had in the first phase,” Mr Hart told Tribune Business. “We have a vested interest in ensuring there’s no kind of anarchy parking in front of the resort with construction workers.

“I’m actually working to resolve the off-site parking issues. We have three sites we have identified that could be used for parking going forward. We provided an undertaking to the Town Planning Committee that this is what’s going to happen.”

Mr Hart said it was premature to identify any of the three possible locations, adding: “I’m working with the lawyers to ensure each site has appropriate zoning and we will not have issues there. We’re being very proactive on the parking.

“It’s in our best interest as well as the public’s best interest to ensure there is no nuisance on West Bay Street in and around our property, and everything is orderly and we don’t have people parking on the median.”

The Wynn vice-president said the developer had brought parking-related issues to “the attention of the authorities, and we need to have some back-up from the police”. Noting that he has previously asked multiple lunch vendors not to park on the West Bay Street median by the resort, he added: “I don’t have a badge. I can’t issue a citation.

“We’re going to try and co-ordinate all of that to avoid a reoccurrence of any of the issues we saw with the first building..... We don’t see workers parking in front of GoldWynn any more, we don’t see people parking all over the place. We don’t see a bunch of cars on the park. It’s under control.”

Mr Hart said Wynn’s plans to “beautify” the roadway and median on West Bay Street running through Goodman’s Bay will also prevent previous parking woes. “For all those reasons we believe we have a sustainable plan,” he added.

“One more thing: We’ve also resolved as part of the phase two plan to strongly discourage any of our staff from parking at the Goodman’s Bay parking lot with off-site parking. They will have an alternative and that is what we have to offer. I don’t see any parking issues being an issue with respect to phase two.”

Mr Adam, in his note, said “the time has now come for us to assign each owner their designated parking space” following the GoldWynn Residences’ launch. As a result, from Monday onwards only residential owners can park in the underground parking lot, and they have to use their designated spots.

Turning to tour and car rental operators, such as Tarzan Tours and Butler Luxury Car Rentals, as well as amenity providers such as spas, Mr Adam said they can only use their designated spots from now on and hang their parking tags in visible spots otherwise security may deny them access.

The 20 parking spots on the western side will be reserved for hotel guests exclusively, and he added: “Furthermore, our commitment to safety and traffic management extends to the enforcement of no parking in the median or the acceleration/deceleration lanes in front of the property.

“We have collaborated with the Bahamian police to help enforce this for the safety of all. Vehicles found parking in violation of these rules will be tagged and/or towed.” Traffic congestion and parking woes featured prominently during the recent public hearing on GoldWynn’s penthouse project.

“There’s been much talk about the traffic study,” Mr Hart said. “An important point is this building is only 40 units, so it’s much, much lower density than the original GoldWynn. It will have a very, very marginal impact.

“Whereas the hotel may have a lot of people coming and going, this one will have much fewer units and we also have the egress to the side through the existing entrance so there’s no separate entrance with GoldWynn two which would, I think mitigate any impact.

“We did have extensive discussions with the Department of Physical Planning and Ministry of Works regarding a possible roundabout in front of the Prime Minister’s Office. We were certainly open to the possibility,” Mr Hart continued.

“However, there are some major logistical challenges and we found that the radius of that roundabout, in order for large trucks and equipment to continue down West Bay Street, would require part of the front of the Prime Minister’s Office and part of some of the adjoining property owners. There was no real easy practical fix.”

Mr Hart, though, said Wynn would take measures to prevent cars and food trucks from crossing and parking on the West Bay Street median at Goodman’s Bay when it executes its penthouse project after securing the necessary approvals.

“We don’t want a carnival atmosphere in the street in front of the median,” he added, “so with the second phase it’s our intent to find off-site parking for the staff and then we can really try and minimise any impact that will have in the short-term. That’s basically where things stand.”