loud objections from neighbours.

But Mr. Shirley, who estimates he has spent more than $40,000 in development fees without breaking ground, said it is his silent neighbour who concerns him most.

Abutting Mr. Shirley's 3.5 acres on Happy Talk Lane is the home of Planning Director Mr. Erwin Adderley. Perched on the South Shore, Mr. Adderley's back door is a few feet from Mr. Shirley's property line.

"I believe there's an awful lot of smoke coming from over the hill there,'' Mr. Shirley said, motioning toward Mr. Adderley's home. "But I can't get to the fire.'' Among Mr. Shirley's complaints is his difficulty acquiring a permit from Planning to store his own boat on his own land.

And despite having the proper zoning, getting approval to build apartments on part of the land was "subject to inordinate and inexcusable delays,'' according to Mr. Shirley's lawyer.

But Mr. Adderley says that in all but one instance, he has maintained a hands-off approach to Mr. Shirley -- who has however faced opposition to his plans from as many as 11 other neighbours.

Mr. Scott Johnson, who has been in the marine business for 18 years, said that with the exception of Mr. Shirley, "I've never heard of anybody saying they had to get a permit to put a boat on their own property.'' And professional surveyor Mr. David Summers, president of Bermuda Caribbean Engineering Consultants Ltd., who regularly deals with Planning said Mr.

Shirley had had an abnormally rough ride with the Department.

Mr. Adderley, who acknowledged he once challenged Mr. Johnson when he tried to place a boat on Mr. Shirley's property, maintained he has taken a hands-off approach to all his neighbour's dealings with the Department.

"I have never used my position as Director of Planning to take any action against a neighbour,'' Mr. Adderley said.

And some of Mr. Shirley's other neighbours said the 41-year-old businessman's problems are his own fault, and unrelated to the proximity of Mr. Adderley.

Mr. Leslie Center, who was a neighbour between 1979 and 1989, said he had many run-ins with Mr. Shirley and his father, Mr. Walter Shirley.

"They had a tendency to ride roughshod over other people in the neighbourhood,'' Mr. Center said. "The Shirleys did what they wanted to do and everybody else had to just put up with it.'' Many neighbours "complained to the Department of Planning about the way the Shirleys conducted their business'', he said.

Mr. Doug Shirley once cut down trees on Mr. Center's property, strung barbed wire in an area where children played, and "harassed'' Mr. Center through the Planning Department about his satellite dish.

Mr. David Mathias, who is still a neighbour, said Mr. Shirley has "created a lot of problems for himself''.

"Nobody's got any time for him, period,'' he said. Mr. Shirley admitted to disputes with his neighbours but denied most of their allegations.

It took Mr. Shirley nearly three years to get approval in principle to build a four-unit apartment building on the 0.9-acre parcel of his land which abuts South Shore Road, although the land was properly zoned.

Mindful of his history with Planning, Mr. Shirley said he approached architect Ms Ruth Holder, and told her: "Give me an apartment house that meets every last planning requirement.

"Do not ask for any easements, any favours, nothing.'' He believes the architect did that. But after he filed his application in March of 1990, a law firm filed a letter of objection on behalf of 11 neighbours. Mr. Adderley was not among them.

In June of 1990, technical officers in Planning found the scheme unacceptable and asked that it be scaled down to six units.

In August, Mr. Shirley submitted plans for a six-unit building. This time, access constraints were cited and Planning asked for a reduction to four units.

A third application was submitted in May of 1991, this time for a four-unit development. But Planning again cited problems in September and November, and the final revised plans were submitted in May of 1992.

In a letter to the Development Applications Board, which granted approval in principle last month, Mr. Michael Smith of Emsco Consulting said the proposal was well within Planning requirements for zoning, site area, site coverage, density, building height, and setbacks.

Much of the delay "could have been avoided if the Department of Planning would have presented all of their concerns at once, rather than in a piecemeal fashion,'' Mr. Smith said.

Dr. James Burnett-Herkes, Permanent Secretary of the Environment Ministry, said because the Ministry is involved in appeals of DAB decisions, it does not comment on planning applications.

But he said Mr. Adderley, who has served 20 years as Planning Director, "has always disqualified himself from any involvement in any of Mr. Shirley's applications or enforcement actions''.

On the boat storage issue, Mr. Shirley admits owners paid him to store boats on his property in 1987. At one time, there were up to six boats on the land, he said.

Planning acted after neighbours complained. Eventually, Mr. Shirley was fined for unauthorised storage in May of 1991. The court ordered all boats removed, but Mr. Shirley said he was assured by Planning staff that an application to store his own boat in winter would be favourably received.

Mr. Shirley applied and paid his $115 fee in early November of 1991. In July of 1992, well after the end of winter, he received a letter from Senior Planner Ms Aideen Ratteray-Pryse which said the Department opposed the application.

"If approved, boat storage on this vacant lot would become the established principal use on the land,'' she said. "That use has already been the subject of a stop notice and enforcement proceedings...and is considered contrary to the zoning of the property, in addition to being visible from South Shore Road, a major tourist route.'' Mr. Shirley said the 27-foot boat was stored 150 feet from South Road and could only be glimpsed by a passing motorist who looked directly inside his gate.

He finally received approval to store the boat after he wrote a letter of complaint to Environment Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright-DeCouto in October and threatened to copy it to the news media. He believes his letter and DOP approval were linked.

Dr. Burnett-Herkes acknowledged that storing a boat on one's property "generally speaking is looked upon like storing a car''.

But Mr. Shirley's problem "probably would never have arisen had he not been using that property for commercial storage,'' he said.

The Mr. Shirley's boat is used commercially for his powerboat tour business, Bermuda Barefoot Cruises, could have delayed approval of his application, he said.

Mr. Shirley said he still feels treated unfairly, in that he apparently will have to re-apply to store his boat each winter, and pay $115 each time.

Mr. Adderley told The Royal Gazette he was acting as Director of Planning, not as a neighbour, in once questioning Mr. Johnson when he saw him placing a boat on Mr. Shirley's land.

"My responsibility in law is to try to assure that the law is not broken,'' Mr. Adderley said. "I saw somebody doing something which I considered to be breaking the law.'' Mr. Shirley, who took a chainsaw to trees on part of his property which was zoned woodland in the Bermuda Plan 1983, and successfully objected to some of the zonings then placed on his land, was angered when earlier zonings re-appeared in the Draft Bermuda Plan 1992.

"It is as if the Appeals Tribunal never met,'' Mr. Shirley wrote to Mrs.

Cartwright-DeCouto. "It seems planning policy is; If you don't succeed at first, try and try again.'' Mr. Summers of Bermuda Caribbean said to look at the zonings placed on Mr.

Shirley's property in the recent draft plan, "one needed a good sense of humour, and unfortunately humour at Mr. Shirley's expense.'' However, Mr. Summers said he was also surprised at the zoning placed on thousands of other properties, and "at this stage I would prefer to give the Planning Department the benefit of the doubt''.

Dr. Burnett-Herkes said "the 1992 Plan is very much a conservation plan,'' and Mr. Shirley's position is "by no means unique''.

PLANNING COMPLAINT -- Mr. Doug Shirley has a long list of complaints about the Department of Planning. Beside Mr. Shirley's undeveloped land, left, is the home of Bermuda Planning Director Mr. Erwin Adderley, right.