The redevelopment of the Pink Beach resort property is progressing through the planning process, but a luxury home intended for the site has been recommended for planning refusal.

In-principle approval has already been granted for most elements of the $51.5 million project, including the hotel itself, infrastructure work and a series of condominiums and guest units, but the residential unit proposed for the southeastern corner of the property is reportedly too tall.

According to planning documents, the three-storey residential building is made up of a four-bedroom main house and a two-bedroom “groundskeeper’s cottage”, but under the 2008 Bermuda Plan such buildings are capped at two storeys.

According to the Board Report, agents for Sardis Development Ltd noted that the Pink Beach Club as it previously existed included three-storey buildings, meaning the impact of the residence would be neutral and consistent with the previous development at the site.

The Planning Department however stated the Development Applications Board (DAB) didn’t have discretion to approve three-storey detached houses, and that the majority of buildings at the previous Pink Beach Hotel had been one- or two-storey in height.

During a meeting of the DAB this week, the board expressed concern about how the application had been advertised — while it had been advertised as part of phase four of the project and received no objections, it had not been advertised since being separated into its own phase.

The Planning Department told the board that readvertising the residence was not necessary, but the board unanimously elected to defer a decision on the application for two weeks so that the application can be advertised.

Another aspect of the plan — a subdivision application to separate the home from the resort property — had previously come under fire for making a beach on the eastern side of the property private, affiliated with the luxury home.

Representatives of the developer, however, said the erection and sale of the private home was key to the economic viability of the project, and in the current market the high-end nature of the property meant the beach had to be reserved for the residence.

The subdivision application was approved, but objectors subsequently launched an appeal to the Minister. According to planning documents, the Minister dismissed the appeal, but modified the granting of planning permission and added additional conditions to the in-principle approval.

The new conditions require that the hotel and associated amenity components of the project are completed before a certificate of occupancy is issued for the private residential development. The residential development must also be placed in the hotel’s inventory for at least six months per year for the first five years.