Development

Senate Reviews St. Croix Rezoning Requests Covering Restaurant, Apartments, Self-Storage Facility and DOH Lab

Lawmakers are weighing several St. Croix zoning measures that would clear the way for a family-run restaurant with short-term apartment rentals, a six-unit residential development, a climate-controlled self-storage facility, and the Department of Health’s continued use and planned modernization of its public health laboratory property. The proposals were reviewed by the Committee of the Whole and include requests for rezoning or use variances across Christiansted, Strawberry Hill, Barren Spot, and Estate Penitentiary Land. Bill No. 36-0272 seeks to rezone Plot No. 4 of 12 Estate Richmond, St. Croix, from R-3, Residential-Medium Density, to B-2, Business-Secondary/Neighborhood. The property owner intends to open a family-run bar and restaurant on the bottom floor, with three short-term rental apartments on the top floor. Because the site is within the historic Christiansted town district, all permits must be reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission. Although opposition was ra...