Controversial Gifft Hill Container Apartment Complex Receives Support After Developers Announce Revised Plans

Lawmakers on Wednesday considered three rezoning requests for infrastructural developments in the St. Thomas-St. John district.  First was Bill 35-0137, a request for a use variance to allow Ari Goldschneider’s company, Gifft Hill Land LLC, to lease individual bedrooms under the “lodging/rooming house” category on a plot of land across from the Gifft Hill School in Cruz Bay, St. John. Goldschneider had originally requested that the Department of Planning and Natural grant him a rezoning from R-2, Residential Low Density to R-4, Residential Medium Density.  That rezoning would have permitted him to construct 6 residential buildings with 74 ensuite bedrooms and communal living spaces in each building. Goldschneider’s original intention was to offer affordable, long-term housing by leasing individual rooms at a monthly rate of $1,500, exclusive of utilities. However, his plan was met with much resistance from residents in the area. According to Territorial Planner Leia LaPlace-Matthew, ...