May 2, 2001 — St. John has officially gotten the go-ahead to begin planning for the improvement of downtown Cruz Bay as what the National Park Service calls a "Gateway Community" — a town which is host to large numbers of visitors passing through en route to visit a nearby park.
On Wednesday, V.I. National Park Supt. John King and St. John Administrator Julien Harley announced the establishment of a nine-member Gateway Planning Council that will lead community-based efforts to cope with issues related to Cruz Bay's strategic location.
As a joint National Park Service and community initiative, such councils have been established in small population centers near park sites across the country to address such concerns as rapid growth and infrastructure demands stemming from their proximity to a national park.
Last year, as a requisite for the establishment of such a council, a series of information-sharing meetings for representatives of community organizations and the general public took place on St. John. National Park Service personnel outlined the requirements for a council to be established and to receive support in the form of expertise and, possibly, federal funding.
St. John's Gateway Planning Council has these mandates:
– To identify two or three "small but highly visible" short-term beautification or improvement projects to be undertaken.
– To decide on a single "defining community planning issue" to be the focus of long-term planning.
– To develop a "vision and action plan."
– To provide for broad-based, ongoing input from the community, including youth.
– To seek funding for planning efforts from private donors, foundations, the V.I. government, the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, and other sources.
– To undertake tasks jointly assigned by the park superintendent and the island administrator.
The council members are King and Harley (or their designated representatives); representatives of the Port Authority (Darlin Brin), Public Works (Ira Wade), St. John Community Foundation/Gateway Committee (Mary Blazine and Raphael Wesselhoft), Good for St. John Committee (Ed Bermingham) and St. John Rotary (Myron Allick); and at-large representative Chris Angel. The council is being chaired by Harley and staffed jointly by the V.I. National Park Superintendent's Office and the St. John Administrator's Office.
A memorandum of intent sets forth the council's purpose as being to advise and assist the St. John administrator and the V.I. National Park superintendent "in planning for the improvement of the Cruz Bay area as a gateway community to the Virgin Islands National Park." While planning will focus initially on the downtown area, it states, "additional areas could be considered based upon consensus of the council."
The council's key functions are planning, sharing information and coordinating activities by community groups. The panel "will be involved in anything and everything affecting the future and improvement of downtown Cruz Bay — beautification projects, transportation planning, infrastructure improvements, commercial development, public services and visitor services and facilities," Harley said in a release.
The council held its first meeting on April 19. According to the release, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull was present and expressed his support for its work, stating that it could serve as a model for local advisory groups to lead community-based planning and beautification efforts on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
King noted in the release that the council is not intended to replace or undercut the efforts of existing community civic groups. "To the contrary," he said, "the council will build upon the energy and efforts of these groups and, by having representatives from each group as members, be able to coordinate their independent efforts and create a stronger political force for responding to increasing growth pressures in Cruz Bay."
