Cayman Islands Development Setbacks Confirmed

New legislative amendments have addressed a discrepancy in the Development and Planning Regulations (2015 Revision) (the "Regulations") in respect of setback requirements for buildings of more than seven storeys.

The recently enacted Development and Planning (Amendment) Regulations, 2016 (the "Amendment") have addressed the issue of setback requirements for buildings above seven storeys in height. The Regulations, prior to the Amendment, had permitted the construction of buildings up to ten storeys in certain designated areas in the Cayman Islands, but were silent on setback requirements for those buildings where they exceeded seven storeys. However, despite the construction of several high-profile ten storey developments along 7 Mile Beach over the past few years, the difficulties posed by this apparent omission went unnoticed until the decision of the Grand Court in the case of Grand View Strata Corporation v The Planning Appeals Tribunal and ors (unreported) on 8