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I think the big thing was the road condition which he refused to fix during construction.

It is most certainly not on a separate island. It's on the same island, just across the lagoon. It is connected by land and is the western peninsula of the island of AC. Not a separate island.

Does anyone know if SB will be supplying employee housing for any of its 400 employees? You can bet there will be a flood of newcomers to the island to work but unfortunately San Pedro does not have a lot of affordable housing.

I'm not sure it's possible to adequately fix a sand/mud road during active construction.

I built my new clinic building 3 years ago and the entry/exit driveways stayed in horrible shape until the building was completed and the paving completed.

I understand. I'm just repeating the main issue of contention I remembered from the RV threads.

jzb - i think the eia said yes to housing the employees.

A few quick notes.

SweetJane I enjoyed meeting you and your family and hope to see you all again in the near future.
You and I discussed South Beach. You made your comments and I made rebuttals. You are very passionate about your wish that San Pedro stay the same - I am pragmatic and realize that change (good and bad) will occur on the island. I know that in order for a community to survive development and growth must occur in order to provide jobs - homes, security, etc. for our future generations. That is not the same as saying I am "for" South Beach. I am a Libran - I tend to be a mediator and try my best to see issues from all sides, not only the side that I would benefit from most. I can see the benefits and detrimental effects that the South Beach project could cause to our community and our environment.

Regardless of whether the Hol Chan Marine Reserve boundaries and were designated after the land was in private hands has no bearing on the fact that the laws protecting the reserve are enforceable. There is a lot of privately owned land located within reserves in Belize. Although the lands are privately owned the laws governing the reserves do pertain to these lands too.

Even privately owned land has development restrictions. In the US they tend to refer to these restrictions as zoning restrictions. In some areas your privately owned property is restricted to the point that you are told what you can and cannot build, what materials can be used, what the facade must look like etc.

The Hol Chan Marine Reserve boundaries were recently expanded to now include Cayo Cangrejo (south of the Boca Chica River cut.)

Ambergris Caye Development Company Limited is/was a private company (not a government entity.)

Costa Del Sol (if memory serves me well) is an area encompassing approximately 2,000 acres, possibly a little more. Costa Del Sol is working on a master plan but I don't believe it has been submitted yet. This entity recently made a $500K donation to the town council for road improvements in the community. Granted donations do not give a company the right to ignore zoning restrictions but giving to the community that is hosting your developments tends to be a wise and admirable stance.

So money really can buy happiness?

I'm sure that generous contribution went a long way into winning over some of the local officials and residents but I doubt it had any impact on those of us who still live abroad.

My question remains unanswered. Why is 500 acre South Beach considered to be so bad by so many here but "2,000 acre" Costa seems OK?

When you have a grader on sight, I wouldn't think that it would be a problem to make a pass with it every couple of weeks.

Methinks it is unlikely that anybody will choose to answer your question.