July 27, 2004 – The narrowness and poor condition of the twisting and turning access road to two proposed developments raised concerns at a Planning and Natural Resources Department hearing Tuesday.
"It's a nightmare," said Norman Ferrera, who owns a unit at Serendip Condominiums, as two-dozen people at the Legislature building listened.
Carlo Marzano hopes to build 40 condominiums in 22 buildings on five acres in Enighed for his company, Enighed Condominiums. The name of the project will be Sirenusa.
Sunset Ridge Villas wants to build eight additional villas on about 1.6 acres in Bethany. It already has six timeshare villas constructed on the property. The new units will be condominiums.
The road to both projects starts at the top of Jacob's Ladder. Jacob's Ladder is a very steep section of Route 108, which is the road that runs from Cruz Bay past the Westin Resort.
Sirenusa's entrance sits about a quarter of the way along the road to Sunset Ridge. Sirenusa's architect, William Karr, said the project calls for running the road through Sirenusa one-way downhill to exit near the Pine Peace Market. This road comes out at the bottom of Jacob's Ladder.
Karr said the developer would pay to widen and improve the road along its entire length from the top of Jacob's Ladder through Sirenusa to near Pine Peace Market.
There are obstacles in the way of that proposal. In some cases, people's homes are very close to the road, a leftover from the days before setbacks were required. At Serendip Condominiums, located between the top of Jacob's Ladder and Sirenusa, the road encroaches on the property.
The ownership of the road northward of Serendip Condominiums is also in question. While Karr said it is a government-owned road, resident Alfredo Alejo maintained it was a privately owned estate road.
"If it's an estate road, who do they have to blame if it's in disrepair?" Karr asked.
He said, if it were a public road, he'd take up the matter with the Public Works Department so Marzano could make repairs.
Roger Harland, a St. John Realtor who lives in the neighborhood said that the section of road they plan to use as the upper access to Sirenusa is in fact a right-of-way for the adjacent homeowner. It was cut when a developer could sell a lot that didn't have enough road frontage. The right-of-way met that need.
Alfred Augustine raised the issue of the easement through the Pine Peace area to be used as an exit for the Sirenusa project, noting that it appears the easement may go through his property.
Karr said he would research this, but added that a title search showed the easement came with the property purchase.
Karr said he and his staff tried to visit every neighbor near the project to explain what Marzano planned to do. When no one was home they left a letter asking the property owner to call, he said.
"We had phone calls from people who cussed us and said they would shoot us if we came on their property again," Karr said.
However, Augustine and Elroy Henley both claimed they had had no visit from anyone on Karr's staff.
Although Karr repeatedly stressed that his staff had tried to visit everyone, Marjorie Emmanuel, who serves as director of the Planning and Natural Resources Department's Division of Comprehensive and Coastal Zone Planning, wasn't satisfied.
"We do not want to have a lack of good relationships develop," she said.
Sunset Ridge years ago made their villas more accessible by paving the section of road from north of Serendip to their property, but the road is narrow. New development in the area has increased its usage.
Thomas Harrington, who represented the Sunset Ridge owners, said that the owners asked the neighbors if they would contribute to the road's upkeep, but received no response.
Emmanuel said at the end of the meeting that Planning Commissioner Dean Plaskett will make a decision on granting the permits.
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