Dollarama executive’s plan to expand Saint Lucia property prompts outcry over lack of protections for UNESCO site

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A vacation home owned by a senior executive at Dollarama Inc. and his plans to add another dwelling to the property have created an uproar on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia, prompting criticism that the government has not done enough to preserve the country’s most cherished site.

Since he began construction on a 3,500-square-foot home in 2019, at the base of Gros Piton – one of two picturesque, volcanic peaks on Saint Lucia’s southwest shore – the development plans of Geoffrey Robillard, a senior vice-president at the Montreal-based retail giant, have sparked debate on the island.

Petitions, social media campaigns, and scathing letters to news media have accused the government of failing to protect the Pitons – lush green spires designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and which are so integral to the country’s identity they are featured on Saint Lucia’s national flag.

But a recent court decision concerning Mr. Robillard’s plans to add an additional 6,500-square-foot house to the site, obtained by The Globe and Mail, has offered additional ammunition to the government’s critics. In July, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled that the Saint Lucian building authority was wrong to reject Mr. Robillard’s latest building application, and faulted the government for not enshrining in law a set of guidelines it relied on when it shot down his permit. The court said the government’s reliance on mere guidelines was an overreach that violated Mr. Robillard’s constitutional rights.

UNESCO has long called for Saint Lucia to codify those guidelines into law, and in his 85-page ruling High Court Judge Shawn Innocent warned that unless the government made such a move, “Saint Lucia may very well lose its standing as a World Heritage Site under the [UN] Convention.”

The ruling doesn’t mean that construction on the new house will automatically proceed, but rather, Justice Innocent ordered the building authority to reconsider Mr. Robillard’s application.

The chairman of Saint Lucia’s building authority declined to comment on the ruling. The Prime Minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

In an interview before the ruling was issued, Ignatius Jean, chairman of the Development Control Authority, said the area is of significant environmental and economic importance to the country, and helps make Saint Lucia an attractive location for people to enjoy its land and sea ecosystems, “and so we wouldn’t want to compromise any of that.”

Mr. Robillard was unavailable for an interview, but his lawyer in Saint Lucia, Peter Foster, told The Globe his client is a conservationist who is committed to protecting the Pitons’ UNESCO status. The proposed new home on the 79-acre property, as well as the existing structure, are not visible from the ocean, a stipulation listed in the building authority’s guidelines. Ian Harrison, Mr. Robillard’s property manager in Saint Lucia, supplied photos and video to back that up.

As for the court decision, Mr. Foster acknowledged that the ruling could open the door to applicants seeking new approvals to build near the Pitons. “We are happy with the decision, but this is the troublesome aspect,” he said.

Even before the July decision was released, the situation at the Pitons had caught the attention of the United Nations.

UNESCO sent a letter on May 24 to Saint Lucia’s government, asking for clarification about recent development projects, the agency’s World Heritage Centre said in an e-mailed statement to The Globe. The government has not responded to questions about its response.

The UN agency declined to specify which projects it was referring to, though it said it was prompted in part by awareness of a petition circulating online. That petition, which has 20,000 signatures, refers to Mr. Robillard’s property. (The petition raised concern over access: Local residents have, at times, said they were denied access to a hiking trail, and to the beach, which is public. Mr. Harrison disputed these allegations, saying that although vehicle beach access was temporarily blocked, there was always pedestrian access to the beach and that a trail closing was temporary for maintenance).

UNESCO has not yet commented publicly on Justice Innocent’s decision.

The World Heritage designation refers to places deemed of outstanding universal value to humanity, which should be protected for future generations to enjoy. The world heritage outlook ratings, by the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which advises the UN, list the Pitons as an area of “significant concern,” in part because of pressures from tourism and housing development.

Although the Pitons are known best as a landmark in photographs, there is much more to the area than the peaks, including natural forests, coral reefs and hot springs. They are integral to the country’s history: Indigenous petroglyphs and artifacts dot the site. Sugar estates stood in the area in the 18th century, and some escaping slavery eventually settled at the foot of Gros Piton, in a community called Fond Gens Libres – Valley of the Free Peoples.

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Of the development, “I see it as a bit of disrespect to our natural heritage, because the Pitons are of spiritual value to our ancestors,” said Kensley Charlemagne, who grew up in the area and lives nearby, and is part of a group that pushes for stricter regulations on development in the area.

UNESCO said it is too early to determine whether the site could lose its world-heritage status, which cites the Pitons’ “superlative beauty” in its official designation. The agency, however, said it asked for information about new construction and may organize a monitoring mission to the area.

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James Fletcher, a former minister for sustainable development for the Labour Party – the same party that currently forms government in Saint Lucia – said he expects that the ordeal will raise red flags for the international agency.

“There are so many other places that you could build. But there are a few pieces that we should keep sacrosanct. Would we go and build something at Stonehenge or Machu Picchu or in Yellowstone National Park, just because we can?” Mr. Fletcher said. “If we don’t allow someone to put up a family home adjacent to the Taj Mahal, why would allow someone to do the same to the Pitons?”

Mr. Fletcher said the government should enshrine the guidelines into law, and consider using new sustainable-financing mechanisms to purchase land from private owners.

He thinks the developer should play a role in protecting the site as well. “It’s incumbent on them to return to the government of Saint Lucia and say, ‘Okay, you know what, how can we correct this? We don’t want to be seen as unwelcome visitors.’”

Mr. Robillard has modified his construction ambitions since his initial application in 2017. The initial size of the proposed house was 11,000 square feet, Mr. Foster told The Globe. Mr. Robillard eventually agreed to split the project into two parts: the existing structure, which is placed on the slope of Gros Piton, was approved. The new structure, under dispute, which includes a pool, is proposed to be on a valley floor.

Dollarama sales, profit jump as inflation keeps driving consumers to discount stores

As the head of sourcing international products for Dollarama, Canada’s largest dollar-store chain, Mr. Robillard has done well by the strength of the performance of Dollarama’s shares.

Trading records show that in the nearly 14 years since the initial public offering, he has netted $126-million, pretax, on sales of Dollarama stock. In the last fiscal year, Mr. Robillard earned a base salary of $1.5-million plus a $500,000 bonus, according to Dollarama’s proxy circular.

With reports from Stephanie Chambers and David Milstead in Toronto, Frédérik-Xavier Duhamel in Montreal and Tony Nicholas in Castries, Saint Lucia