Feb. 6, 2008 — More than a year after the Friends of Coral Bay and Eleanor Gibney, David Grove and Richard Sullivan initially filed suit against Reliance Housing Foundation for alleged environmental violations at its Calabash Boom affordable housing site on St. John, U.S. District Chief Judge Curtis V. Gomez dismissed the case.
"We are very heartened by Judge Gomez's decision in favor of Reliance," said Reliance President Robert O. Jackson in a news release issued Wednesday. "Reliance and V.I. Housing Finance Authority remain committed to providing critically important affordable housing, in an environmentally responsible manner, at Calabash Boom. It is our hope that Friends of Coral Bay and the individual plaintiffs will work together with their neighbors and Reliance in reaching this goal."
The judge dismissed the suit Friday.
Reliance is currently installing additional erosion- and sediment-control measures to deal with the large amount of sediment-laden water that flows onto the site from the uphill neighbors, Jackson said.
Tests show the sediment contains oil and gas from vehicles using the road, Jackson said in a phone interview. Reliance is installing oil and gas filters on the erosion and runoff controls.
The uphill neighbors, including members of the Friends of Coral Bay, contribute to the oil and gas sediment, as well as other runoff problems, because the road is not paved, Jackson said.
The downstream neighbors, Martin and Tanagra Netsky, have offered the use of a portion of their property for additional permanent storm-water detention measures designed to mitigate the excessive runoff from the single-family homes and dirt roads above the Calabash Boom site, he said. The runoff will get captured in Reliance's basins before it gets to the bay, he said.
"It is our hope that Friends of Coral Bay will put aside their self-interests and follow our other neighbor's lead in working with Reliance to resolve issues which are important to the longterm cohesiveness of the St. John community," Jackson said.
The "desperately needed affordable housing" can now proceed without the threat of the lawsuit, said Clifford Graham, director of the V.I. Housing Finance Authority.
"I truly hope that now the Friends of Coral Bay will join with us to ensure the completion of the 72 units with minimal disturbance to the environment," he said.
Friends of Coral Bay attorney Alan Smith did not return a phone call requesting comment.
The Friends of Coral Bay began their salvos shortly after Reliance started work in early 2007. The latest came Jan. 14 when the Friends of Coral Bay filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction because the organization claimed polluted runoff from the project is being discharged into Coral Bay. Gomez's ruling includes the Jan. 14 filing, Jackson said.
In many pages of legalese, Gomez essentially ruled that the Friends of Coral Bay and the others who filed suit were not injured by Reliance and that claims that they were injured were filed after the case's hearing.
"Essentially, the plaintiffs seek to have two bites of the apple when they are entitled to only one," Gomez wrote. "Indeed, since the hearing on the merits in this case, the plaintiffs also filed a motion for leave to file a second amended complaint, a motion for summary judgment, and another motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. These motions are only an attempt to reopen their case. The plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden in showing due diligence, and as such, their motions will be denied."
It cost Reliance about $1 million in attorney and consultant fees to fend off the suits by Friends of Coral Bay, Jackson said. He understands the Friends of Coral Bay spent about $250,000.
"That's a lot of wasted money," he said.
It should take about 16 months for the project to be completed, Jackson said. The tax-credit program used to build the project is currently not in jeopardy, he added. However, if appeals are filed and construction is further delayed, Reliance could lose the tax credits.
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