The Tribune

• Owner says residents complaints don’t add up

• $400k cafe/store to create 10 jobs if approved

• A Stone’s Throw Away hits at noise, traffic fears

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamas hotel proprietor last night said he would be “killing” his $500 per night core business and status as the “quaintest” property in Nassau if the complaints of nearby residents were at all valid.

Oneil Khosa, owner of A Stone’s Throw Away, told Tribune Business he felt many of the parking, noise and crime fears voiced by homeowners in objecting to his plans to develop a grocery store and cafe on part of his property had either been “blown out of proportion” or were irrelevant to the application currently before the Town Planning Committee.

Speaking after Monday night’s hearing, where he made the case for approving a $400,000 investment that will create between five to ten full-time jobs, the former Paradise Cruise Line chief executive said he aims to be “a good neighbour” and pledged to Tropical Gardens and Gambier Heights homeowners that whatever he does will be with their “consensus and full support”.

Reiterating that he is “not here to fight anyone”, even though several residents spoke out before Town Planning against his proposal for the site at Tropical Gardens Road’s junction with West Bay Street, Mr Khosa argued that some of the complaints submitted about his property are “totally wrong” and “not factual”.

He also suggested that much of the opposition appeared to be based on “emotion”, and appeared to stem from grievances dating back to when its original developer constructed A Stone’s Throw Away more than 20 years ago in the late 1990s. Noting that he only acquired the resort some five to six years ago, Mr Khosa said there was little he could do to resolve matters that pre-dated him.

And, while nearby residents have complained the resort plays loud music that has “literally shaken the walls of our homes”, Mr Khosa said this was totally incompatible with A Stone’s Throw Away’s market positioning as a high-end, secluded retreat given that it would also keep his guests awake.

Asserting that these allegations made no sense, he told this newspaper that he was unaware of some legitimate concerns because they had never been brought to his attention. Mr Khosa said the property yesterday cleared landscaping from its wall to create ten new parking spaces for staff, in a bid to resolve complaints about the lack of parking, and has also promised that valets and a parking management company will be present whenever weddings and functions are held.

Nearby homeowners had hit out over parking and traffic congestion when such events are held at A Stone’s Throw Away, but Mr Khosa again argued these concerns are overblown because the resort has only hosted seven functions in the past year. And he added that he had previously cleaned up the property he is now seeking to redevelop once rezoned for commercial use, saying its previous dilapidated state had attracted homeless persons and drug users.

“I think this thing has been blown out of proportion,” Mr Khosa told Tribune Business of the opposition to his plans, “and the reason for this seems to be a lot of miscommunication. I partly blame myself for that; speaking more these days may be better than speaking less.

“I told the residents I’m not here to fight anyone, and whatever we do we will do with the consensus and full support of our neighbours. Having said that, it was quite clear to me that the opposition to the rezoning is not stemming from opposition to the cafe but other grievances over the last 20 years.

“It seems like it’s more emotional, and by no means am I blaming anyone, by no means am I saying anyone is crazy. Everyone has an opinion, everyone has a perception of the world.” Pointing out that he could not be held responsible for what happened before he acquired A Stone’s Throw Away, Mr Khosa said the resort was constructed at a time when parking availability did not receive the attention it does today.

“It was not my doing,” he added, while revealing that landscaping on the hotel’s walls had been cleared yesterday to create more parking for staff. “These concerns were never brought up to me in the last five years since I owned it. I said that if this is a problem I can do this,” Mr Khosa said. “We just released ten parking spaces today by doing that. It looked nice, but if it was causing an inconvenience let’s get the landscaping out and the neighbours feeling good.”

The resort proprietor added that he would be undermining his own business model if he played music at the volume suggested by residents, effectively cutting off his nose to spite his face. And the resort’s ten-room size meant it was not a major contributor to traffic congestions in the area and on Tropical Gardens Road.

“Our traffic is very transient. Our guests fly in from Europe, the US and Canada. That’s 70-80 percent of our business,” Mr Khosa told Tribune Business. “They don’t rent a car; they get brought here by car and are picked up by taxis. We have a ten-room hotel. If you take a load factor of 60 percent, that’s six rooms.

“This notion about loud music coming out of A Stone’s Throw Away, check out the view, check out the profile. People pay a lot of money to sleep at our hotel. How is it possible I am playing music that causes walls to shake? What do you think is happening the people in my hotel?”

Mr Khosa said the music coming from his resort “won’t be heard 50 feet away”, and said of the concerns submitted to Town Planning: “The noise is totally wrong. It’s not factual. This notion we are causing a lot of traffic; we are the quaintest resort in Nassau. People come to stay, to rejuvenate, to go to the Family Islands, to have a quiet night’s sleep before they travel.

“We have the best view in Nassau because we have the best elevation. We have the quietest rooms and quaintest atmosphere. If anyone thinks we’re rezoning that place and trashing the image and environment, nothing can be further from the truth.... I’m not going to step on my bread and butter no matter what anyone thinks.”

Mr Khosa added that the residents had given the impression that traffic congestion and noise occurs virtually every day and night of the week. However, he added that the former only appeared to be an issue when functions are staged, and A Stone’s Throw Away only hosted seven in a 365-day year in 2022.

Pledging that a valet and parking management company will be hired to deal with the problem on event days, the hotel proprietor added: “Had I known and it had been brought to me early on, I get their point. I’m not unreasonable. I didn’t know this was causing an issue. Now I know, this is what I told them we will do. Seven days there is a wedding in the afternoon. Is it really the end of the world?”

Turning to the actual site that is the subject of the rezoning application, he added that the proposed redevelopment would fill a void in western New Providence’s market for an upscale cafe and flower shop, adding: “You tell me a place between Sandyport and Old Fort Bay where you can get fresh-cut flowers.”

“When I bought that land five to six years ago it had two dilapidated properties,” Mr Khosa said. “We had two dilapidated buildings that could have crumbled at any time, homeless people were going in there, staying in there and doing drugs, and the whole property was used as a dumping ground by neighbours.

“When I took it over, it was an eyesore for the hotel. I cleaned it up, we fixed the buildings. We did not add to the footprint of the building, but felt it made sense to have a nice cafe with nice coffee, juices, flowers and a small neighbourhood store. To me, that improves the whole curb appeal. My aim was to have this cafe and create a nice path from the hotel down for guests and residents.”

Asserting that parking and access to that property are the key issues, Mr Khosa said there was “ample room to park” because the buildings only covered 10 percent of the site and, while the land is sloped, 40 percent is not that steep. “You cannot have 500 cars when you only have a 500 square foot cafe,” he added. “There’s enough land for parking there.”

Residents have voiced fears that, if rezoned for commercial use, there would be nothing to stop A Stone’s Throw Away from developing a nightclub, bar or fast-food restaurant at the site. The latter was said to be the usage considered when the last rezoning bid was rejected in 2020, but Mr Khosa said this was an incorrect description of his plans provided by a contractor of which he was not aware of “until after the fact” and the application’s rejection.

And, again, he suggested that the property’s use as a nightclub or bar is incompatible the resort’s business. “My main business is a perfect sleep for my guests upstairs,” Mr Khosa told Tribune Business. “I am the last person to be having noise in the evening because that kills my main business. My room rates are $500 a night for an ocean view. How many beers do you think I have to sell to make $500?”