Nov. 5, 2008 — If you want to know more about or weigh in on the William and Punch resort project planned north of Frederiksted, the Coastal Zone Management (CZM) committee is holding a public hearing at 6 p.m. Thursday in St. Gerard's Hall in Frederiksted.
Developers will show charts and drawings and present their most recent CZM submittal to the public, and the public will have an opportunity to comment and ask questions.
William and Punch Partners applied to CZM last November, but CZM asked for more information and deemed the application incomplete. The partners submitted a new, updated application Aug. 25, which CZM deemed complete Sept. 12. (See "William and Punch Developers Update CZM Application.")
Once over the CZM hurdle, William and Punch must get the Army Corps of Engineers to sign off. William and Punch has been focused on CZM because it comes first, but talks with them have suggested there are no major problems on the horizon, Elliot said.
The proposed resort project borders Rainbow Beach on the south and Sunset Beach on the north. Plans call for a 378-unit main hotel. Of those, 322 will be in one central hotel and casino complex. Around that will be three swimming pools: an adult pool, a family pool and a recreational pool with a water slide and other attractions, Elliot said. An 18-hole public golf course is to run eastward up into the forested hills of Estates William and Punch.
Developers plan to cut two channels inland, carving a lagoon for a 64-slip inland marina and providing two ways for water to come in and out. The channels and lagoon will create a small beach island of sorts, with a small bridge coming over where the existing road intersects with the planned channel. On the artificial island, developers plan a 56-room beach hotel. Three residential areas called "golf villa complexes" are part of the project, too. They are to have 144 residential lots of about an acre each.
The most controversial aspect of the plan calls for moving the shore road inland. Plans have the road splitting off at Rainbow Beach and going in about 800 feet, turning north. Then it will blend with Creque Dam Road before rejoining Northside Road. (See "William and Punch Developers Address Concerns About Roads, Beach Access.")
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