LEGISLATIVE HEARING TESTIMONY
LEGISLATIVE HEARING TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF THE PETITION TO AMEND OFFICIAL ZONING MAP NO. STZ-9, APPLICATION NO. CCZP0095-25 BR26-1026 (An Act to rezone No. 19-2-111 Estate Smith Bay, Nos. 1, 2, and 3 East End Quarter, St. Thomas, from A-1 to R-3) By Selwyn Gumbs and Asiah Clendinen Gumbs Monday, March 16, 2026, at 10:00 am Rezoning Request – Selwyn and Asiah Clendinen Gumbs Good morning, Senate President Milton Potter, esteemed members of the 36th Legislature, Mrs. Leia Laplace-Matthew, Territorial Planner of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, Division of Comprehensive and Coastal Zone Planning, Legislative Staff, and all viewing and listening. My name is Asiah Clendinen Gumbs, and I am here today with my husband, Selwyn Gumbs. We are the recent owners of Parcel No. 19-2-111, Estate Smith Bay, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, East End Quarter, St. Thomas, seeking your support for our rezoning application to amend the official zone map from Agriculture 1 to R-3 Medium density. …
Download the original document · Plain text (TXT) · Browse the archive · How this archive works
SHA-256 0924817efaa7f9fa8329252294393335752ca7f04427176cd473c5fd642498d5
Re-using this document
A proceeding of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, open to the public under 3 V.I.C. § 881, which reaches any committee of any branch of government and permits the news media to publish what it records.
Our description, tagging, arrangement, extracted text and machine transcripts are released under CC0 1.0. We assert nothing about the document itself.
Archive identifier LF-0924817efaa7
Document text
LEGISLATIVE HEARING TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF THE PETITION TO AMEND OFFICIAL ZONING MAP NO. STZ-9, APPLICATION NO. CCZP0095-25 BR26-1026 (An Act to rezone No. 19-2-111 Estate Smith Bay, Nos. 1, 2, and 3 East End Quarter, St. Thomas, from A-1 to R-3) By Selwyn Gumbs and Asiah Clendinen Gumbs Monday, March 16, 2026, at 10:00 am Rezoning Request – Selwyn and Asiah Clendinen Gumbs Good morning, Senate President Milton Potter, esteemed members of the 36th Legislature, Mrs. Leia Laplace-Matthew, Territorial Planner of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, Division of Comprehensive and Coastal Zone Planning, Legislative Staff, and all viewing and listening. My name is Asiah Clendinen Gumbs, and I am here today with my husband, Selwyn Gumbs. We are the recent owners of Parcel No. 19-2-111, Estate Smith Bay, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, East End Quarter, St. Thomas, seeking your support for our rezoning application to amend the official zone map from Agriculture 1 to R-3 Medium density. Before we purchased the property, the home had operated for almost 30 years as a two-story, four-unit dwelling, demonstrating its long-standing use as a multi-unit residence while zoned Agriculture 1 (A-1). We respectfully request a zoning amendment from A-1 to R-3 to allow the property to be used in compliance with Virgin Islands zoning regulations, permitting three dwelling units within the existing structure. The surrounding area already reflects a mix of zoning designations, including R-1, R- 2, R-3, B-2, B-3, and commercial. Given this context, the requested R-3 designation is consistent with both the current landscape and the area’s ongoing development. This small-scale residential use would also support sustainable, long-term housing while maintaining the property’s existing appearance and compatibility with the neighborhood. For these reasons, we concur with the recommendation of DPNR, and we respectfully request favorable consideration and approval at the appropriate time. We believe this rezoning aligns with responsible land use planning and will not negatively impact surrounding properties. Rezoning Request – Selwyn and Asiah Clendinen Gumbs Thank you, Senators, for this opportunity and your time. We are happy to answer any questions that you may have.