A multibillionaire’s bid to build a personal dock in Cowpet Bay has rankled St. Thomas environmental activists and public-access advocates.
The Virgin Islands Legislature gave 555 Madison IV, LLC — a Delaware-based company controlled by private capital lender Lawrence Golub — permission to build the private dock in December. The bill, introduced by then-Senate President Novelle Francis at the request of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr, was overshadowed by passage of the long-awaited Comprehensive Land and Water Use Plan on the same day.
The dock would extend more than 63 feet southward into the bay from Golub’s Water Point property at 7W Estate Nazareth. Because the total square footage would be less than 500 feet, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources’ Coastal Zone Management division was able to approve a minor permit without a public hearing, DPNR officials said.
The 20-year lease approved by the Senate would cost Golub — who Forbes magazine estimated to be worth $2.2 billion — $9,000 annually.
Laura Martin, who frequently recreates in the area, said a public hearing for the CZM permit would have been more appropriate. She and other boaters object to the dock intruding into the bay where students from the nearby yacht club zig back and forth through the waterway popular with water sports enthusiasts and sea turtles.
“To me, the whole idea of having a private dock in a public space was inappropriate,” Martin said.
Environmentalist Jason Budsan also wanted a public hearing on the permit, saying the dock was unnecessary, a violation of the spirit of community use of the area, and a clear danger to threatened undersea wildlife.
DPNR said they had received public comments both for and against the permit before making their decision. Budsan penned one of the letters in opposition to the dock permit. He sent much the same letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, whose approval is needed for the dock to be built.
“I urge that the plans for this proposed dock be denied,” Budsan wrote to the Corps in November, “for several environmental reasons and if not, that a public hearing for further input should be required.”
Budsan argued the proposed site was located within the boundaries of the St. Thomas East End Reserve, an area of environmental protection established in 2011 and updated in 2023.
Two coral species federally protected under the Endangered Species Act — Acropora palmata (Elkhorn coral) and Orbicella annularis (Boulder star coral) — have been identified less than 50 feet away from the construction and pile-driving installation of the dock, he said.
“I believe that environmental impacts of site building and construction will occur to the coral reefs, hard bottom benthic communities of fish and invertebrates surviving there. These are just some of the target resources that the STEER management aims to protect, enhance and restore,” he wrote.
Budsan also objected to Golub’s proposed privatization of the public space.
“I’m not against him. I am against his plan. And I want to protect St. Thomas land that is protected for the people of St. Thomas, for the general population of St. Thomas. It’s not anything personal,” Budsan told the Source.
Golub’s neighbors took a more hands-off approach.
Bylaws for the Water Point Estates Property Owners Association cover design and other aesthetic choices but not docks, said Brian Samelson, the 32-member association’s president.
“We don’t have anything specific in our declaration that has any mention of docks or building on the water. And really, it is our philosophy that there is plenty of governmental oversight for these things. And in lieu of us having anything, we more of less defer to the government,” Samelson said.
The subdivision’s architect reviewed the plan, and in May 2023, the homeowners association sent a letter to the Legislature saying erosion controls and other considerations appeared to meet their standards.
Personally, Samelson said he didn’t object to the idea of a private dock in the area.
“We’re on water. From Water Point you can see the St. Thomas Yacht Club. There’s certainly plenty of boat traffic here,” he said.
Representatives from the Army Corp of Engineers said Tuesday the project was still under review and were not sure when a decision might be made.
Efforts to reach Golub and 555 Madison IV were not immediately successful.
