Former United States Presidential candidate Ross Perot will find out next week if he has overturned a decision by planners to refuse him permission to build a second luxury home and swimming pool.

The Texan billionaire was knocked back in July when he applied to build the two storey house and pool adjacent to his home `Caliban', in up-market Tucker's Town.

The Development Applications Board (DAB) rejected the application on the grounds that the 5,500 square feet house would encroach on green space or open space off Tucker's Town Road.

One of Mr. Perot's neighbours, Richard Paddon, who lives in "Spindrift," wrote to the DAB to register his "very strong objections to his plan to build another large house on his land, which , among other things, encroaches on a conservation area".

Mr. Perot's architects, Conyers and Associates, appealed against the decision at a hearing on Monday arguing that the conservation zoning was arbitrary, and claiming planning had scope for discretion.

At the hearing, architect Harold Conyers also submitted that the encroachment "does not cause unacceptable negative impact to the conservation area" because only nine percent of the building is in the conservation area.

Reducing the size of the house on that site would be unacceptable because Tucker's Town residents expect to be able to build luxury homes, said Mr. Conyers in his submission.

"We have achieved the minimum encroachment possible. To reduce the room sizes, layout and/or seek a substandard front setback compromises the intent of why this oversized lot was created in the first place; to accommodate a luxury, high-end, large floor plate home comparable to other Tucker's Town homes," said Mr. Conyers.

And while planning suggested moving the house "the benefit of dramatic siting was lost by the house being too close to the road," he said.

"This also resulted in a major reduction to the high level of privacy to be reasonably expected in this area of Bermuda. Most homes in this area benefit from taking advantage of their dramatic sitings and greater privacy by being set back from the road further than the prescribed minimum."

In a bid to resolve the objections, Mr. Perot has offered to "trade" his croquet lawn to make up for the conservation land which would be used up for the development.

Mr. Conyers stated that the croquet lawn - which Mr. Perot offered to hold in perpetuity as open space - measures 3,962 square feet, whereas the lost green space would be 1,093 square feet. He said the encroachment into the open space ranged from eight to 21 feet.

Government Conservation Officer Jeremy Maderios had visited the site and agreed there was no discernible difference in the land zoned open space/green space and the land zoned residential, said Mr. Conyers.

But a report from Director of Planning Rudolph Hollis maintains the decision to reject the application was correct.

The report states the land was subdivided to allow a "reasonable form of development" outwith the conservation areas. And the approval for the lot was on the condition it would not have an impact on the "quality, character or function" of the conservation area.

"The proposed development is at variance to the primary considerations of the open space provisions that specify that the retention of undeveloped open space shall take precedence over any other planning considerations," said the director's report.

"Notwithstanding that there is no distinction in the physical character between the residential and the green space area, the encroachment of this significant structure into the protected area will result in the loss of an area of undeveloped land by erosion into the open space."

Planning inspector Brian Field visited the site with the parties on Monday and will make a recommendation to Environment, Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister, who can accept or reject his findings.