The building permit for The Phoenician issued by former Minister Doran in March 2024, weeks before he left office.
PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance Member of Parliament (MP) Egbert Doran, at the start of Wednesday’s Parliamentary debate on beach management, took the opportunity to address discrepancies in an article published in that day’s edition of “The Daily Herald”.
He said he was not obligated to attend an appeal hearing regarding objections to a building permit he issued, as “the Minister has the legal and technical staff that deals with this.”
As Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure VROMI at the time, Doran had received explicit recommendations to attend the hearing, which concerned the revocation of a permit he had issued in 2021 for the Villa Sasha high-rise at 12 Fan Coral Road in Beacon Hill. The advisory committee had sought to hear his justification for granting the permit.
A similar request for justification has now come from the Court, which is seeking explanations for both the re-issuance of the Villa Sasha permit three months after its revocation and the issuance of a permit for The Phoenician, a massive seven-story ocean-front building in an area designated for single-family homes. The permit application for The Phoenician was submitted in 2021, but it was only granted in March 2024, just weeks before Doran left office to become an MP following the change in government.
During Wednesday’s Parliamentary session, Doran also claimed that homeowners in Beacon Hill had had the opportunity to file objections after he reissued the revoked permit for 12 Fan Coral Road. However, it was confirmed in court on Monday that this reissued permit was not published in the National Gazette, as required by law. Beacon Hill residents, who closely monitor the biweekly National Gazette, were left unaware of the permit’s re-issuance.
Nevertheless, Doran maintained in Parliament that he, as Minister of VROMI, “never overturned a decision” regarding building permits and that the Beacon Hill community had had the option to object to the new permit and attend a hearing on the matter.
“The MP is merging two topics together,” said Dustin Alexander, President of the Pride of Beacon Hill Homeowners Association (PBHA), in response to Doran’s statement in Parliament. “First, he said he did not attend the hearing, which is true – he did not attend the hearing when the recommendation was made to revoke the permit. The hearing that was never held was for when he secretly reissued the permit on September 8, 2022. There was no public posting of it, so there could not be a hearing or any objections made in time.”
Doran countered this on Wednesday morning, saying: “The article [in The Daily Herald – Ed.] claims that there was no opportunity to object or have a hearing regarding the issuance of the permit. This is in direct contradiction to what was mentioned before, and I believe this needs to be addressed because both claims cannot coexist.
“You cannot say that I did not attend the hearing and then also say in the same article that a hearing was not allowed because the permit was not published in the Gazette. It also suggests a lack of transparency, and I note that such a narrative must be placed in a factual perspective because that definitely did not happen.”
However, during Monday’s appeals case between PBHA and the VROMI Ministry, the judge directly asked all three parties present – the VROMI Ministry, PBHA, and developer Sasha Management NV – whether they had seen the publication of the reissued building permit dated September 8, 2022. All parties answered, “No.”
Doran further stated in Parliament that it was “quite perplexing” to him that the VROMI Ministry was unable to provide the Court with justifications for the issuance of the building permits for both the Villa Sasha high-rise and The Phoenician. These permits, which he issued during his tenure as Minister, include 58 residential units in The Phoenician alone.
“All the relevant documents and advice were compiled during my tenure,” Doran asserted. “Why were these documents not submitted on time?”
On Monday, the judge concluded that she was unable to proceed with the case against VROMI due to the absence of justifications (verweerschriften) for both Villa Sasha and The Phoenician. The Ministry’s policy advisor, present in court, said that VROMI had been unable to locate this advisory documentation but would attempt to complete the case file for the judge’s review within the next four weeks – the time-frame set by the Court.
Due to the lack of sufficient documentation from the government, the Court postponed its handling of the case by eight weeks. The judge granted the VROMI Ministry four additional weeks to submit the necessary documents, allowing the other parties time to respond before the next court hearing.
While Doran claimed transparency in his statement to Parliament, this assertion is contradicted by an ongoing systemic investigation by the Ombudsman into his involvement in developments in Beacon Hill, which has led to multiple legal battles.
On October 15, 2021, PBHA filed a formal complaint with the Ombudsman of St. Maarten regarding numerous issues affecting the Beacon Hill community. In a final report addressed to former Minister Doran, the Ombudsman outlined concerns about development activities in the area and the handling of building permits and procedures by the VROMI Ministry.
The Ombudsman requested a response to its recommendations within three months – no later than April 19, 2023. However, no response was ever received.
Among the issues raised in the complaint was the demolition of a property, which was carried out without the required permits. When initial enquiries were made to the VROMI Inspectorate in April 2021, officials said that no permit was necessary. However, by October 2021, demolition and excavation work had continued without any clarification on the legal status of the permit.
Additionally, concerns were raised about the modification of the land lease for Beacon Hill 16, which allegedly violated restrictive covenants, particularly the limitation on the number of single-family homes. While the developer initially planned to construct 30 units, architectural renderings later revealed a total of 58 units. Despite multiple requests, a copy of the Ministerial Decree approving this modification was never provided.
Another significant concern was the refusal of the Minister to sign a permit for a security booth and boom gate in August 2020, despite the project having received prior emergency approval from several authorities. No formal permit was issued, and the Minister failed to respond to repeated enquiries regarding the matter.
The Ombudsman found multiple shortcomings in the Ministry’s handling of these concerns. The Minister took more than two years to decide on the permit for the security booth and boom gate, which should have been processed promptly.
Additionally, the lack of clear communication regarding the demolition permit status and failure to provide transparency in requests for key documents were deemed improper.
As part of its recommendations, the Ministry was instructed to provide a comprehensive response to the complainants’ enquiries, submit a copy of Ministerial Decree 2021/082, and clarify whether demolitions were legally permitted before Article 28a of the Landsverordening Ruimtelijke Ontwikkelingsplanning (National Decree on Spatial Planning) was enacted.
The Ombudsman further requested a status report within three months, stressing the need for government agencies to adhere to proper standards for decision-making and transparency. No response was provided by former Minister Doran.
Independent of the Ombudsman’s report, PBHA has filed objections to the renewed Villa Sasha apartment complex permit.
“It is very frustrating,” PBHA President said on Thursday, particularly when faced with yet another construction project in Beacon Hill – the addition of rooftop apartments to the four-story Drake’s Residences. Despite a building stop order on this project, rooftop construction has continued.
“Of course, once again, we have filed objections,” the PBHA President stated. Legal proceedings will be ongoing, with the neighbourhood bearing the burden of tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses to challenge the government’s decisions.
The architectural design of the seventh floor of The Phoenician, an apartment complex comprising 58 units.
