Anaks seeks stay on AK dealership project

The Anaks Ocean View Hill Homeowners Association is asking the Superior Court to put on hold the Zoning permit issued to Atkins Kroll to build a Toyota/Lexus dealership and vehicle repair facility in Puerto Rico.

Anaks, through attorneys Kathryn B. Fuller and Colin Thompson, has filed a stay on the Zoning permit issued to Atkins Kroll for the construction of its new dealership and auto shop, claiming irreparable harm.

If the stay is granted, the ruling would essentially put the construction project on hold. The project broke ground last week.

“[Anaks] requests that the court issue a stay with respect to Zoning permit 2022-10382 to prevent irreparable harm to Anaks, and if it determines that oral arguments will assist the court, hold a hearing in 15 days,” motion states.

Anaks argues that the conditional permit subjects Anaks residents to imminent exposure to a dramatic increase in noise pollutions and exposures to carcinogenic air pollutants, among other things.

“The proposed project will generate noise from a standby generator, and unknown number of air compressors, and unknown number of impact wrenches, as well as air conditioning units that will run 24/7. No one can accurately predict the cumulative level of noise generated by the project because [Atkins Kroll] failed to model the decibel level from the facility at the property line despite Anaks’ concern,” said the motion.

Previously, the NMI Supreme Court ruled in favor of Anaks’ appeal to vacate the Superior Court’s previous decision to dismiss its petition against the Zoning permit issued to Atkins Kroll. The Supreme Court found that the association’s petition was filed within the time required, therefore the Superior Court’s previous dismissal should be set aside.

The case has now gone back to the Superior Court for its review of the Zoning board’s decision.

Aside from its request to overturn the Superior Court’s dismissal, Anaks also moved to stay the effective date of the conditional use permit issued to Atkins Kroll and asked that the high court take judicial notice of various documents that the Zoning board considered before issuing the conditional use permit.

However, because the dismissal has been vacated and the case has been remanded back to Superior Court for review, the motions are considered moot.