Red Cross representatives joined Beacon Hill homeowners on Saturday for a risk assessment tour of the area. Photos by Jacqueline Hooftman.
By Jacqueline Hooftman
BEACON HILL--With only one access road, the 300-400 residents of the Beacon Hill community face a significant risk of being trapped on the small peninsula in the event of a hurricane, flooding or fires. The Red Cross assessed the situation on Saturday morning and emphasised the need for emergency supply storage within the Beacon Hill neighbourhood.
A Red Cross team arrived at D’s Beach Bar around 7:45am Saturday and met with a small group of Beacon Hill residents. Except for one tenant, all attendees had lived in the neighbourhood long before Hurricane Irma struck on September 6, 2017.
Wayne Wilkie, who purchased his home in 1998, recalled wading through waist-deep water while trying to exit the neighbourhood on foot. “In the event of a hurricane or tropical storm, Maho Beach disappears; all the sand ends up on Beacon Hill Road and the airport runway, forming hills of sand that block access to our neighbourhood. Only heavy machinery would be able to clear a path.”
The entrance to Beacon Hill is the lowest point in the area, acting as a basin that collects water from the rocky peninsula, which rises several metres higher in elevation. After a day of rain, the access road is covered with water, forcing all vehicles entering and exiting the neighbourhood to drive through large puddles. In the event of a storm, the water level can rise to a point where vehicles are unable to pass through.
Homeowners in the area, who previously spent significant amounts of their own money to jointly finance the asphalting of the sandy Sea Urchin Road, offered the former Silveria Jacobs-led administration to finance the installation of a proper drainage system at the entrance of Beacon Hill to prevent further flooding. However, Pride of Beacon Hill Homeowners Association (PBHA) received no response from the government regarding their proposal.
On seeing that the drainage system on Sea Urchin Road is blocked with mud and the solid steel cover appears to have been damaged by a heavy vehicle, the Red Cross team concluded that it is essential to restore the drainage system.
On the same road, there is one of the very few empty lots in the area. It is the only vacant property with a wall in front of it and is considered by the Red Cross to be the best location to store a container with tarps, drinking water and non-perishable foods for the neighbourhood.
Residents indicated that the empty lot is owned by the former director of a local insurance company. After assessing three other vacant parcels, it was concluded that the centrally located plot on Sea Urchin Road would be ideal as a central distribution point for the Red Cross in the event of a natural disaster or other calamity.
The homeowners indicated that water is the main challenge. Not only are there risks associated with flooding in the area due to rain or high waves from the surrounding sea, but there is also limited access to drinking water. One resident pointed out that only older homes have a cistern. “Every newly built property doesn’t have a cistern. And when electricity is cut, the drinking water can no longer be pumped up to the level where it is accessible. Without electricity, we have no water.”
Through their conversations with the residents of Beacon Hill, the Red Cross team learned that the community is primarily made up of retirees. While many are physically active, there is also a significant number dealing with illnesses and major health issues, making them dependent on others for support. One tenant found a neighbour who had fallen in the street, but was unable to lift himself up. Other neighbours were called for assistance to help rescue the man.
The Red Cross team was surprised to learn that there is only one access road. On the main road through Beacon Hill – Beacon Hill Road, two major commercial developments have been announced, which will impact the flow of traffic and significantly increase the population density of Beacon Hill.
Right behind the entrance to Beacon Hill, on the right side, a local developer purchased three family-deeded lots from the relatives of an American who had passed away. He then hired an architect to design The Phoenician, a six-storey, three-tower building consisting of 70 condos, without taking into account the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Parking Standards, which require two parking spaces for every two-bedroom condo, along with six to eight additional parking spots for emergency services.
The developer sold the Founders Rights to The Phoenician Private Fund Foundation to a businessman from Puerto Rico in July 2023. The new owner received a building permit from then-outgoing VROMI Minister Egbert Doran, in February 2024. Appeals from the PBHA against the issuance of that building permit are currently pending in court.
Beacon Hill Road, being narrow, does not allow for parking. Further up the road, on the left-hand side, there is a billboard that unrealistically depicts the road as a two-way street in front of a planned 12-condo building on the rocky seafront.
“The Daily Herald” requested information on the building permit over the past two weeks, but has yet to receive a response from the former VROMI chief of staff or from the Ministry of VROMI. However, the billboard claims that eight of the 12 condos have already been sold.
Walking back along the same road, the residents said, “There is no inspection from VROMI.” They emphasised that there have been no inspections in the past, nor is there any inspection of the current buildings or the dumping of building materials today. They pointed out that the Villa Sasha developer illegally dumped excavated rocks and soil on Beacon Hill Road 12; neither property owner has a civil works permit to allow for this.
An exception to the lack of inspection, they noted, was a house on their left-hand side that had begun “caving in after being built without a building permit”. They explained, “Our homeowners’ association filed a complaint and then the VROMI Inspection Department came. Since then, the owners of the property have been rebuilding their residence.”
It was the only time the VROMI Inspection Department showed up, the homeowners said, noting that the ongoing construction of Villa Sasha, which is currently being challenged in court, has not prompted any visit from the department. It is unclear whether the court has personally assessed the site.
Standing in front of the building site, located in a cul-de-sac with no parking space in front, on the left, right or in the back, one resident, observing the construction, asked, “With all the rebar erected for walls covering the entire site, where are the cars supposed to be parked?”
The Red Cross confirmed that the already-overcrowded Beacon Hill area faces imminent risks in the event of a natural disaster or other calamity. This assessment does not take into account future commercial developments in this residential-only area, permitted by former VROMI Minister Doran in violation of the covenant governing residential property deeds.
Doran approved a building permit for the six-storey apartment building Phoenician and reissued a permit for the four-storey Villa Sasha after its initial permit had been revoked three months earlier. In addition, he authorised a penthouse atop Drake's residence in defiance of a court-ordered building stop – a decision that is now being challenged in court.
As planned commercial developments are set to increase the neighbourhood's density by up to 30% – and with heavy construction equipment increasingly obstructing traffic – long-time homeowners are left to wonder how the Beacon Hill covenant, which permits only single-family residences per deed, is being disregarded. Several developers have been allowed to pursue commercial projects under misclassified residential permits and are actively supporting one another in carrying out operations without the required civil works permits.
The Beacon Hill residents, responding to emergency scenarios presented by the Red Cross, said that in the past, Princess Juliana International Airport had removed a section of its fencing, allowing them to exit their neighbourhood via the airport runway. “Hopefully, the airport will be willing to do this for us again in the future,” the homeowners said.
The Villa Sasha construction site is filled with rebar for walls and an elevator shaft, even as the developer argues in court that the site will accommodate a parking garage beneath the disputed building.
The Villa Sasha developer, Bernard Grosjean, illegally dumped all excavated rocks and soil on Beacon Hill Road 12, the site of the planned Phoenician project. Neither site owner has a civil works permit.
In violation of a court-ordered building stop, the owners of Drake’s Residence added a penthouse, for which former VROMI Minister Egbert Doran issued a building permit, disregarding the court's ruling.
An additional unauthorised floor has been constructed atop a residence at 16 White Sands Road, with no permits publicly disclosed.
A lot on White Sands Road is being advertised as a commercial property, allegedly for a car rental business – an operation prohibited in the residential-only area of Beacon Hill.
