Around 100 community members were present Tuesday at the Ruth E. Thomas Auditorium on St. Thomas for a town hall hosted by the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, where the department discussed the proposed policies for their Comprehensive Land and Water Use Plan.
The Comp Plan is a guiding document that will serve as a roadmap for the way land development and coastal water uses are reviewed and permitted in the USVI. According to DPNR Commissioner Jean-Pierre Oriol, the zoning code has been governing land uses in the territory. It contains a table of permitted uses that outlines what is “right” or “subject to conditions” as it pertains to land and water use; however, the table has not been updated in the last forty years. As a result, the Comp Plan is being instituted.
Before the town hall commenced, community members were encouraged to arrive early for an open house where they could review ten display boards scattered throughout the auditorium with information pertaining to different issues the Comp Plan will address. After the open house, the town hall began with a presentation by members of the Horsley Witten group (a company that provides engineering, design, science, planning, training, and outreach services) updating the community about the status of the plan, the issues shaping its policies, and strategies for its development.
Nate Kelly of Horsley Whitten began with a baseline report and discussed issues outlined in the Comp Plan and how it is being developed. The number one issue he highlighted was the need to make water use as prominent as land use issues. According to Kelly, after the last town hall meeting in February, there was a low response rate by community members. Only 30 responses were given. Of the responses, however, Kelly said that emphasis was given to “focus on people, culture, and heritage” and focus “on government transparency, accountability, and capacity,” as well as “more opportunity from local decision making and not necessarily from the top down.”
Jeff Davis of the Witten Group also spoke about the importance of restoring, healing, preserving, and cultivating awareness of cultural resources in land and water use policies as “critical to the economic success of the USVI and cultural experience of future generations.”
According to Davis, the Comp Plan will provide homes for everyone and connect people, commerce, and places by building stronger public transportation systems and providing safe roads. The plan will protect natural resources and improve and maintain quality of life by providing public amenities and public health services. Economic opportunity and resilience will be built through food production, processing, storage, and service, and more infrastructure will be built through tools such as microgrids, battery storage, underground utilities, and facilities to treat and store water supplies.
After the presentation, audience members again reviewed the display boards. Some asked questions about the impact of groundwater use and the demolition of buildings. All seemed interested to know how the plan would work.
Development of the plan began in February and is anticipated to be fully drafted and ready to be presented to the Legislature in August 2024.
“I’m hopeful that after we go through this process and have a few more community meetings and town halls, as we continue to progress the different ideas and the different sectors, that there is more and more buy-in from the community,” said Commissioner Oriol.
According to the commissioner, there has been a lot of appreciation from the community for taking initiative to develop the plan. But the most negative feedback about the Comp Plan thus far is skepticism that it may not happen.
“I hope that we can adopt the plan. People should know that a plan does not fix everything but rather it provides guidance. And then you have other things that supplement,” said Oriol.
Town halls will be held on each island this week. On Wednesday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Sprauve School on St. John and on Thursday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the UVI Great Hall on St. Croix. A virtual open house is online until August 6 with details of the plan. Following these dates, one to two more town hall sessions are expected before the completion of the Comp Plan. For more information or to provide feedback, visit https://www.planusvi.com/share
