Court freezes construction at Dillsbury site
Published:Tuesday | October 29, 2019 | 12:11 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Construction of a multistorey apartment complex in the upscale Dillsbury Avenue community has been ordered halted by the Supreme Court, with a stay being granted against the building permits issued by the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).
The court order is the latest twist in a legal tug of war between the developers and residents of the Kingston 8 community who allege a number of building breaches, as well as neglect by the KSAMC and the Natural Resources Conservation Authority, which are named as respondents.
The Gleaner had first reported that the National Environment and Planning Agency had, on July 17, served notices on Plexus Limited, the developer of the project at 29 Dillsbury Avenue, for failing to post a sign, tree flagging, and hoarding the site.
The recent stay of permits and permission to quash actions by the respondents were handed down on October 22 by Justice Anne-Marie Nembhard.
But residents allege that despite the court decision, they had observed work continuing at the premises up to last Friday.
Checks yesterday revealed that the site was still operational, as while a news team was visiting the location, a concrete-mixing truck entered the property.
“The clients are nervous. They believe that the authorities – the KSAMC, in particular – have no regard for them. They have not responded to us and have not taken any steps to stop the construction yet,” said attorney-at-law Gavin Goffe.
According to court documents obtained by The Gleaner, the stay of permits issued shall remain in effect until the first hearing of a judicial review.
“No date has been obtained yet for the first hearing. We first need to file the claim form within 14 days, and then the first hearing date ought to be set within 28 days of that,” Goffe said.
... Residents’ objections
In an affidavit, the applicants listed among their objections to the proposed development that the five-level apartment block exceeded the four floors permitted in the Barbican Local Planning Area under the provisional development order and that the proposed siting and design of the apartment block would undermine privacy.
Another section of the affidavit states that on July 17, 2019, pursuant to an access to information request made of the KSAMC, one of the applicants said they received an incomplete copy of the approval letter issued by the KSAMC to Plexus Limited.
The Gleaner has learnt that every other page was missing and that it was approved by the KSAMC on November 7, 2018.
“Therefore, at the time that notice was given to me and other applicants, the plans had been submitted to the KSAMC some 17 months prior and had been approved by the KSAMC more than five months prior,” one of the applicants said in the affidavit.
The applicants cited that the KSAMC acted unlawfully and in breach of the Kingston and St Andrew Building Act and the Kingston and St Andrew Building (Notices and Objections) Regulations by granting permission without considering the objections from applicants.
The applicants also said the KSAMC acted in breach of the principles of fairness and natural justice.
Brian Morris, chief architect and principal at Plexus, in a previous interview with The Gleaner, maintained that the company did not act in contravention of the Building Code or Building Act.
However, when contacted yesterday, Morris said he had no comment on the official order from the Supreme Court.
Calls yesterday to Kingston Mayor Delroy Williams and Town Clerk Robert Hill went unanswered.