The controversial Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute has been granted planning permission for a new restaurant, parking lot and dock.

A special application for a building permit, however, must be made and approved before any construction begins.

Strict conditions have been imposed by the Development Applications Board on the three features of the Institute, which is to be built on East Broadway at a cost of $10 million.

They include the maintenance of a safe flow of traffic on the busy thoroughfare by requiring that sight lines of at least 90 feet in length be created in either direction of the Institute's point of access.

The DAB also required that the first phase of the BUEI's landscaping scheme be completed before the commencement of building and that any storm water be disposed of within the confines of the site.

The BUEI must also reach an agreement with the Works and Engineering Minister on the area of foreshore encroachment and obtain the requisite foreshore license from the Minister of the Environment.

The conditions were set at a DAB meeting on February 15.

The BUEI, whose developers include Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul and accountant Mr. David Lines, has been at the centre of controversy since a DAB decision to reject the project in June of 1994 was later overturned by Acting Environment Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess.

Opponents like the National Trust have argued that the BUEI's proposed physical structure is "entirely incompatible'' with its planned situation at the foot of Hamilton harbour.

They have also opposed the proposed foreshore encroachment to build the dock.

In October, however, a Puisne judge's decision to give a green light to building plans by the developers of the Bermuda Financial Centre prompted the Trust to drop its own appeal to the Supreme Court of Mr. Burgess' ruling. The Trust was appealing the decision on the similar grounds that there had been bias between current and former Cabinet Ministers.

In the October decision, Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ground found "no real danger of bias'' in chief BFC developer and former Information Minister the Hon. Michael Winfield's past role in Cabinet.

The BUEI, which will include a simulated submarine ride and moving marine exhibits, is to consist of six attached buildings and a central structure that stands 31 feet over Crow Lane.

The dock is to be built on 4,000 square feet of reclaimed land.

In other development news, the DAB also gave planning permission last week to Mr. Richard Butterfield of Old Slip Lane in Pembroke to build a solid concrete dock.

The permission was given on the same condition that Mr. Butterfield enter an agreement with Works and Engineering over the area of foreshore encroachment and obtain the requisite foreshore license.

The DAB said it was swayed by the fact that a solid concrete dock was better able to "withstand local wind and wave conditions'' than an ordinary concrete dock.

The Ice Queen restaurant at Rural Plaza in Paget, meanwhile, was given planning permission for the addition of a storage room.

The Ice Queen has been undergoing renovations of late.