(CNS): The Central Planning Authority has given conditional approval to the owners of the Westin hotel on Seven Mile Beach for a $153 million redevelopment project that includes a ten-storey tower block on its current 8.5-acre site. But given the increase in rooms, to meet the planning requirement the application by Invincible Investment includes offsite parking at a vacant lot by Sunshine Suites.

According to the CPA minutes for the 5 July meeting, there are a number of conditions which must be met before work begins, including the submission of an updated traffic-impact assessment and the installation of turtle-friendly lighting.

However, it was approved because it complied with the setback, site coverage, density and building height rules. The CPA was also satisfied that the additional 385 parking spaces, which will be across the West Bay Road, were sufficient to meet planning rules.

“The Authority is of the view that hotel operations have evolved globally and in order to maximize valuable hotel land, the option of valet parking utilizing offsite parking facilities is common,” the CPA stated. “The Authority noted the comments from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism which indicated the importance of the additional hotel room stock and conference facility space on the site, which necessitated the request for off-site parking and shuttle service.”

The CPA said the objections to the project did not raise sufficient grounds for refusing permission.

There will be no vehicular access from West Bay Road across the northern boundaries of Cayman Falls, the owners of which had objected to the project because of the potential access issues. During the meeting, the owners had said that while it had previously granted access, the Westin resort does not have right of way over the plaza.

As well as turtle-friendly lighting and proof that no turtle nests on site will be negatively affected during the build, the Department of Environment’s technical advisors urged the developer to use climate-resilient design features. They pointed out that the project is likely to both contribute to climate change and be affected by it.

The DoE’s main concerns, given that the site is already man-modified, are the massive sand reserves at the location and the removal of those reserves to construct a new pool and deck area.

“The reserves are important to the resilience of the beach system and are a natural source of sand which replenishes the beach profile after major storms,” the DoE experts said. “A significant amount of sand may result from the excavation of the foundations and pool. Once excavated and removed from the beach system, these sand reserves can never be recovered, making the beach system increasingly more vulnerable to erosion, which is exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, especially sea-level rise.”

They urged the developers to keep all excavated sand on-site and place it beyond the high water mark to retain sand reserves and create depth in the beach profile.

See the minutes of the CPA meeting held on 5 July CNS Library.