CONVINCED that development is being stifled because of unnecessary rules, civil engineer and councillor for the Mount Salem Division in St James, Kerry Thomas wants new guidelines put in place for housing developments across the parish and the slate wiped clean of existing breaches.

“People are going to want to develop, and you can’t stop people from being ambitious. We have to be able to bridge that gap to facilitate development, but at the same time not put in place ridiculous, stringent rules,” said Thomas.

He pointed to Cornwall Court, where violations range from buildings that are too close to the road to some structures being dangerously close to power lines as owners expand upward. Thomas, who was elected on a People’s National Party ticket, acknowledged that the existing breaches have occurred for years, under successive administrations.

His view is that any breach which poses an immediate danger should be corrected, but others should be forgiven.

“There are things within the remit of the parish council because you don’t necessarily want to go and tell a man who spent all his life savings to build a house — where we allow him to build — to lick it down because it’s in breach. So ultimately, we’re going to accept it,” Thomas told the Jamaica Observer. “There are so many breaches that I would recommend that for communities like those — at this stage they are so far gone — we look at the overall covenant that governs the place so it creates relief for the people and at least make it seem like it is orderly.”

The councillor’s proposal is that existing breaches should be analysed and used to shape new covenants which would then be enforced going forward. Among the changes that he anticipates, based on how many units are already in breach, is the limit placed on the number of storeys allowed on each lot. He said the authorities who crafted the rules of development for Cornwall Court and similar communities did not envision what they would become. The typical approach is to slowly expand as much as the land space allows and to also go upwards, creating impressive structures that are a far cry from the original unit. In many cases no approval is sought from the local authorities, or builders do more than what is approved.

Thomas pointed out that the existing situation has implications for financial transactions and estate planning because a property that is in breach cannot be sold or used as collateral for a loan. Now, the typical approach is to ask the municipal corporation for a waiver of the breach — but that can be a lengthy and costly process.

The elected official anticipates that there will soon be an increasing number of applications as homeowners in older communities, such as Cornwall Court and Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, pass on property to their heirs. If the rules are redefined, as he suggested, Thomas foresees a significant reduction in the time it now takes to process applications to waive breaches.

“It would be a simple letter to the parish council or to the relevant body to say, ‘This is the new covenant.’ Now, you have to apply and go through a whole process. [With new covenants] you’d have shortened the period for doing such things from [about] a year to one month,” he estimated.

Municipal and central government authorities have long waged a largely unsuccessful war against individuals and enterprises that disobey the rules of orderly development. Thomas believes the key to success is community engagement through citizens’ associations and homeowners’ groups.

“There are many communities where the association has to sign off on whatever expansion is taking place before the parish council approves,” he said. “While [political] administrations may change, the people who live in and own the house don’t really change that much. Once they organise themselves properly and utilise the legal positions that they have, then they will make a difference and be the watchdogs for their own communities, irrespective of Administration.”