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Court upholds permit for resort hotel
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Posted on Apr 12 1999
The permit issued to Lucky Resort Hotel Inc. to build a multi-million dollar resort on Saipan received affirmation from the Superior Court after the company was instructed to wait for the resolution of the going case of the Estate of Vicente Muna.
The court supported in part the decision of the Development Appeals Board which agreed to the decision of the Coastal Resources Management to issue the permit to Lucky.
However, the court reversed DAB’s decision which defined the implementation of the permit only after the final resolution of the Muna case.
The court asked for a decision without the conditional language.
In 1996, the CNMI entered into a lease agreement with Lucky for a property in San Antonio where the resort will be constructed.
The company then earned the permission of CRM to build the resort after a public hearing.
However, by the following month, the Estate of Vicente Muna contested the decision of CRM.
Following a public hearing, the DAB supported CRM’s decision but placed the conditional provision in the permit.
Both Lucky and CRM asked for a judicial review of DBA’s jurisdiction to condition its support with the Muna case.
Meanwhile, former congressman Stanley T. Torres is asking the Judicial Branch and the CNMI Bar to investigate Judge Bellas and Attorney Rex Kosack who are both involved in the Hillblom estate.
Torres said the U.S. law requires judges to withdraw from lawsuit which they have vested interest.
Bellas and Kosack are close friends and are seen wining and dining in public, he said.
Their friendship opens controversy to the appointment of Kosack as Special Master to the Hillblom Estate. Bellas made the appointment.
In his letter, Torres asked the court if both parties violated the government code of ethics and judicial code of conduct.
