An environmental charity has raised questions about plans to redevelop the Elbow Beach Hotel property while praising efforts to work within environmental constraints.

An in-principle planning application, submitted by The Loren group, proposes turning the property into a luxury site with 76 guest rooms and 22 detached villas that will operate as part of the resort’s rental inventory — with an anticipated opening in 2029 after “extensive reconstruction”.

In a letter of concern, Janice Hetzel, of the Bermuda Audubon Society, said the charity was pleased to see the redevelopment of the Elbow Beach site progressing but wanted to ensure that the environment was respected and protected as much as possible.

She added: “Clearly the applicant has gone to great lengths to achieve this with development plans that generally respect the boundaries of the conservation zones and areas on the property.

“However, the application raises several questions and concerns that we believe need to be addressed before it is given approval.”

Ms Hetzel said that while the plans do note encroachments into woodland reserves and setbacks, they do not detail how the developments will encroach, if the encroachments are necessary or if there could be alternative solutions.

She also noted that the plans show structures being erected on an existing parking lot located in land zoned as open-space reserve.

Ms Hetzel said: “With a demolition and redevelopment of this size, there is an opportunity to enhance and improve the protected areas on the property and perhaps correct encroachments of the past.

“Consideration should be given to how these buildings could be located elsewhere on the property.”

She also noted that the coastline of the property had been hit hard by past storms, but the plans do not indicate what shoreline protections are planned.

Ms Hetzel said: “It is imperative that a development of this size in close proximity to the coast carefully considers the potential impacts and the recommendations of the report.

“We do not want to see the situation where the villas are built in a vulnerable area and then extensive coastal remediation is needed to protect them after the fact.

“We believe that the details of what is required to protect the proposed development should be available at the in-principle stage of assessment.”

She questioned what measures could or would be put in place to make sure that hotel residences built on the property remain a part of the hotel operation “including after any future subdivision or change in ownership”.

While the planning application reported that the old wastewater treatment plant is defunct and a modern system that did not give off ocean discharge would be created, Ms Hetzel said it was not clear where the new plant would be located.

She also questioned if there was an “existing deficiency” with the infrastructure serving Fritholme Gardens, if the old plant was no longer in operation.

Ms Hetzel urged the questions to be answered before the plans receive in-principle approval so that the project can move forward in a manner that is both economically viable and consistent with the protection of Bermuda’s environment.

She wrote: “We reiterate that we are supportive of the redevelopment of the Elbow Beach Hotel in principle and recognise the efforts made by the applicant to work within the environmental constraints of this important property.

“However, the scale and location of the proposed redevelopment make it particularly important that the natural environment, protected areas and coastal resources are adequately safeguarded.

“The concerns outlined above relate not simply to the construction phase but to the long-term environmental and planning consequences of the development.”

The Elbow Beach Hotel was in operation for 118 years before it closed its doors in early 2020.

The property was purchased by The Loren group last year with the intention of running both it and the company’s redeveloped Pink Beach hotel property, in Smith’s, as a single hotel with two locations.