A CHURCH group has lost its appeal against a Supreme Court ruling that it is not entitled to recover $3.5 million in damages from the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) for its refusal to grant approval for a multi-purpose building at 4 to 6 Fairway Avenue, St. Andrew.
Temple of Light Church of Religious Science of Kingston, Jamaica Ltd. had brought a motion in the Supreme Court seeking an order to quash the decisions of The KSAC and the Town and Country Planning Authority (TCPA) turning down its building application.
Justice Hazel Harris heard the motion in the Judicial Review Court and dismissed it.
The issue arose as to whether the church, which is a registered company, could be the beneficiary of a permission granted in 1978 to the previous owner of the land which is in a residential area.
In 1978, the TCPA granted approval to R. L. Villiers for Metaphysical Study Group to use the premises as a centre for religious group meetings. Metaphysical Study Group was the owner of the property at that time. Three years later, the group changed its name to that of the appellant.
The Court of Appeal said that when permission was granted in 1978, for the change of use of the premise, conditions were imposed.
The conditions were that the level of noise resulting from the proposed use should not be such as to cause justifiable grounds for complaint by the residents in the immediate area.
There should be no alteration undertaken that would in any way impair the residential character of the premises. Parking facilities were to be confined to the rear of the premises. It also stated that approval applied only to the then applicant or owner at the time and was not transferable.
The approval was granted specifically to Villiers or the owner, which was the Metaphysical Study Group, said the Court of Appeal, comprising the Hon. Ian Forte, Justice Ransford Langrin and Justice Algernon Smith.
"The approval is therefore not transferable to any other person or persons who may have an interest in the property at the time when approval was granted, and neither could it be transferred to persons who obtained an interest in the property subsequent to the grant of approval," the court held.
Attorney-at-law Rose Bennett, who represented the KSAC, and Lackston Robinson, Senior Assistant Attorney-General, who represented the other respondents, the Minister of Environment, the TCPA, the City Engineeer and the Attorney-General, had argued that the permission was not transferable.
The church had sought damages on the grounds that because of the delay in granting approval, there was an escalation in building costs.
It contended that particulars of the damages totalled $3,501,045.50 and included land sur-veyor's fees for $35,000; the KSAC's application fee for approval amounting to $42,504.50; professional fees of $1,695,900; GCT and expenses of $219,958 and escalation in building costs over the period of delay amounting to $1,507,683.
