New Zoning to Open Expansion of the Ritz Carlton Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism wants to change the zoning of more than 200 acres surrounding the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman the land from predominantly public open space to hotel/tourism.

Such a move could open the path for expansion of the luxury hotel. The application seeks to bring the zoning up to date for parts of the land, including the hotel, which are already used for tourism.

Any expansion of the hotel would require a separate planning application. The rezoning request seeks only to change the types of development permitted on the land, outlined in the Cayman Islands Development Plan.

It is not clear whether the hotel’s owners, Five Mile Capital, have any plans for expansion. Among the plans outlined was an expansion of the nine-hole Blue-Tip golf course, which is on the larger parcel of land earmarked for rezoning in this application.

In reality, the zoning of the land as public open space has not stopped tourism development – under the terms of a lease agreement between the developer and government.

However, rezoning would smooth the way for further planning applications and provide a degree of comfort to potential buyers that such expansion of the resort was an option.

One issue raised in a recent discussion of the rezone application at the Central Planning Authority’s June meeting was the potential loss of public open space.

The Cayman Central Planning Authority, in its analysis of the application, acknowledges that changing the zone for the site of the hotel, called Area A in the discussion, is the same as bringing the hotel into conformance with the existing situation.

The Planning Authority expresses some concern about rezoning the land to the east of the highway. It points out that the land makes up nearly 70 percent of the public open space in the George Town district.

It adds that the land is not currently being used for that purpose and is largely taken up by the golf course, tennis courts and canal development. It recommends authorities seek to balance “the present reality that the site is zoned as public open space but is not being used for those purposes as contradictory development has occurred,” with the “present reality that a long-standing lease agreement is in place stating that hotel uses are within the lease parameters.”

The department suggests that as an alternative to zoning the entire parcel as hotel/tourism, that a 5.1-acre sliver of land could be retained as public open space.

Source: eturbonews.com