ST. THOMAS — An equipment rental and souvenir vendor at Lindbergh Bay Beach who was erroneously granted a business license to sell food and beverages is facing eviction by the Virgin Islands government for operating a restaurant without a permit from the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation.
Wilbert Coakley, co-owner of One Love Beach Rentals LLC, had a permit from DSPR that expired on July 31, 2024 for itinerant vending and the rental/sales of beach equipment and supplies. The permit did not authorize the sale of food and beverages.
Coakley subsequently received a business license by error to also operate a restaurant on the beach, according to the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs.
In addition to the restaurant license, DLCA issued One Love Beach Rentals a business license valid from Feb. 1, 2024 to Feb. 28 for itinerant vendor license, tavernkeeper A (distilled and fermented), rental of equipment, tavern, and rental of watersports equipment.
Coakley, a native Virgin Islander from the west end of St. Thomas who grew up on Lindbergh Bay Beach, is questioning the government’s actions after establishing his business that rents beach chairs and umbrellas seven years ago next to Emerald Beach Resort before expanding to offer food and beverages.
“The last three years, I obtained a bar and a restaurant license, and then it seems like it became a problem,” Coakley said, adding that Emerald Beach Resort started complaining to the government that he was taking away its business by selling food and drinks.
DSPR, in a letter to Coakley dated April 3, 2024, informed him that his permit was solely for a pop-up and mobile business on the beach for the sole purpose of renting beach equipment and selling souvenirs. The letter acknowledged Coakley had constructed a permanent booth and was operating a restaurant on the beach, noting that he did not obtain any permits from the Department of Planning and Natural Resources for the construction of any structures. It also informed him he had no approval from DSPR to sell food or beverages. DSPR requested for him to remove the structure and indicated the department would not be renewing his permit.
After Coakley’s vendor permit expired last summer, DSPR sent him a letter dated December 12, 2024 that formally requested him to vacate the beach for violating DSPR rules and regulations by operating a restaurant. DSPR also ordered Coakley to remove the structure within 30 days of the date of receipt of the notice.
When Coakley received the letter from DSPR last month, he questioned the reason considering he has a business license to operate a bar and restaurant.
“I spent a lot of money building this stuff up here,” Coakley, who has 12 employees, said. “I did a lot of work in this area here. I’ve been the first person vendoring on this beach. Now, we have everybody here on this beach now vendoring, and it’s like I’m the bandit.”
The Virgin Islands government subsequently filed a petition for eviction on January 14 in the Superior Court, Division of St. Thomas/St. John against Coakley and Shammie Carr, co-owner of One Love Beach Rentals.
Coakley is not ready to leave the beach though.
“We’re going to fight because I ain’t came here as no criminal; I’m not going to leave as a criminal,” he said. “I have all my license. They even went and had a session against me inside the Legislature.”
Former Sports, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Calvert White, who resigned January 10 after pleading not guilty the same day to federal bribery and wire fraud charges, was among the government officials who testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, Justice and Public Safety on November 12, 2024 about public concerns regarding illegal activities at beachfront properties with a focus on Lindbergh Bay Beach. He told senators One Love Beach Rentals illegally-constructed a wooden beach bar in violation of the DSPR lease agreement. He said the vendor’s attorney sent correspondence acknowledging that the proper procedures had not been followed and requested a 30-day extension to secure the necessary approvals for operation of the business. White said DSPR maintained that the requested extension was unnecessary, emphasizing that the department had no intention of granting permission for food and beverage operations.
Assistant Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Horace Graham said during the Senate meeting that One Love Beach Rentals initially presented his department limited documentation that led to approval of a restaurant B and tavernkeeper A business license to operate a bar and restaurant.
“We have now gotten that straight and have taken appropriate steps for revocation of that license,” Graham told senators.
Graham, when contacted today, said DLCA’s actions against One Love Beach Rentals are still pending.
“It’s an ongoing case,” he said.
Management from Emerald Beach Resort testified during the Senate meeting that One Love Beach Rentals was among multiple vendors on the beach operating outside of the permitted guidelines. Michelle Felder, who represented the resort’s management, told senators Coakley operates his business from a structure located inside the limits of the resort’s leased land.
“It encroaches past our boundary marker, and he is, again, also operating outside of the scope of which he’s allowed to operate, and there’s been a lot of commotion between him and different other vendors and Emerald Beach management,” she said.
Marlon Hibbert, director of the Division of Coastal Zone Management within the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, told senators during the meeting that DPNR only approved one jet ski business to build a structure on Lindbergh Bay Beach.
The government, in its petition to evict One Love Beach Rentals, requested the Superior Court to enter a judgment awarding immediate possession of the permitted premises to DSPR, enter an order directing all defendants to immediately quit and vacate the permitted premises, and issue an order authorizing demolition of any and all structures illegally erected by the defendants from the permitted premises. The government also requests to be awarded costs, including attorneys’ fees, and any other relief the court deems just and proper. The petition was submitted on behalf of Attorney General Gordon Rhea by Assistant Attorney General Ariel Smith.
