Court denies stay on Toyota dealership

The Superior Court has rejected Anaks Ocean View Hill Saipan Homeowners Association’s request for a stay on the Zoning permit issued to Atkins Kroll to build a Toyota/Lexus dealership and vehicle repair facility in Puerto Rico.

Superior Court judge pro tem David Wiseman rejected Anaks’ request to issue an order stopping the construction project, saying Anaks has not shown adequate justification for granting a stay of conditional use permit.

“Anaks has not met its burden of showing a combination of probable success on the merits and the possibility of irreparable injury. Second, Anaks has not met its burden of showing that serious questions are raised and that the balance of hardships tips sharply in its favor,” the judge said.

Also, the judge found that the physical and environmental harms alleged by Anaks are purely speculative and consist of largely unsubstantiated concerns.

“The record demonstrates that these concerns were addressed at length by AK during the permitting process. Anaks’ concerns are even more tenuous in view of the fact that, for these concerns to become a reality, AK would have to violate the conditional safeguards embedded in its conditional use permit, an act which itself would subject AK to penalties of $1,000 per day for noncompliance as well as the risk of permit revocation,” Wiseman said.

In March 2023, the CNMI Supreme Court ruled that the Superior Court has jurisdiction to review a permit issued by the Commonwealth Zoning Board to Atkins Kroll for the Puerto Rico project. Anaks then requested the Superior Court to issue an order to stop the project.

Atkins Kroll’s planned dealership and vehicle repair facility is located next to the Anaks condominium complex in Puerto Rico. On March 18, 2022, the Zoning Board approved Atkins Kroll’s application and issued the permit on April 13, 2022. The Anaks homeowners association then filed a petition to challenge the permit in Superior Court. The court, through Wiseman, dismissed the petition, saying it was untimely filed.

But on appeal, the local Supreme Court held that the Anaks petition was timely filed and set aside the dismissal. Following the decision, Anaks renewed its request to review the Zoning Board’s decision.

Anaks also requested the court to issue a stay order on the Zoning permit. The court has officially denied the request a second time.