Public Road or Private Property? The Hangar Controversy Exposed

What happens when a public road starts feeling more like private property? That’s the question swirling around “The Hangar,” a stretch of seafront in Belize City that has quietly become the center of a heated land dispute. A group of well-connected residents recently sought to carve up the area, hoping to subdivide and purchase the land directly in front of their homes. They argue it’s about safety, coastal preservation, and protecting their properties from erosion.

On August 23, 2024, several residents of the Home Park area formally applied to the Ministry of Natural Resources for provisional approval to subdivide the area known as the Hangar. The proposal sought to convert what is currently a public road into privately owned property, an unprecedented move for a stretch of land that has long been open to the public.

The application listed several prominent names, including Louis Leslie, Henry C. Fairweather, JRD Holdings Limited, Kenneth Clifton Fairweather, and Nicolas Hastings. The clients behind the filing were Allen McNab, Jules Vasquez, Managing Director of 7 News, Louis Leslie, and Michael Fields.

These names also appeared on a 2022 petition asking the Belize City Council to close off public access to the Hangar. That earlier request was denied. But according to ministry documents, the group tried again, this time aiming to legally own the land itself. The proposed subdivision map divided the Hangar into five parcels: one each for JRD Holdings, Leslie, McNab, Fields, and Vasquez. All applicants reportedly authorised Dhiraj Nandwani to act on their behalf in requesting to purchase the government-owned land in front of their properties.

When News Five reached out to the Ministry of Natural Resources for clarification, CEO Paul Thompson confirmed that the application had indeed been submitted to the Physical Planning Section for onward transmission to the Land Subdivision and Utilization Authority. However, he said it never made it that far. “The said application was instantaneously deemed to be a nonstarter,” Thompson explained. “Applications to subdivide can only be made by the legal landowner, in this case, the Government of Belize.”

The ministry said that no application for lease or purchase of the land currently exists, and that the area remains government property. But the rejection raises more questions than answers: who decided the file would not advance to the Authority, and on what legal basis, given that Section Ten of the Land Utilization Act states that all subdivision applications must be received for formal review?

Meanwhile, the residents behind the proposal have gone public with a press release defending their actions. They say their concerns stem from years of safety, environmental, and quality-of-life issues. Severe coastal erosion, they argue, has already begun to threaten their homes, and if no action is taken, the sea could reach their front gates within the next seven years. According to them, subdividing and acquiring the land was the only practical way to finance repairs to the seawall and responsibly manage the area’s upkeep.

However, critics have questioned whether this is truly about conservation or about exclusivity. Who exactly signed onto the proposal? Do they represent all seafront residents along St. Luke, St. John, and St. Edward Streets, or only a select few? And what does “subdivide and acquire” really mean? A sale? A lease? An easement?

After the failed 2024 subdivision attempt, the same group reportedly revived their earlier 2022 petition to the Belize City Council, this time with the support of the Belize Police Department. The Council subsequently approved the request, allowing residents to restrict vehicular access to the Hangar, effectively blocking off the area to the wider public.

Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner confirmed to News Five that the Council’s approval only extended to limiting vehicular access. “We acted on the request of residents who make their home in the area and that was done through a petition,” Wagner explained. “Our action was to limit access to the area only by foot. That is the extent of our action.”

When asked whether he was aware of the subdivision request, Mayor Wagner said he had “no knowledge of this,” clarifying that land matters fall outside the Council’s jurisdiction. However, when pressed on whether he would support similar proposals in the future, the Mayor offered a telling remark: “Those sorts of requests have been made in the past by many residents. And on some occasions, based on the circumstances, we have allowed. I believe we will see more of such requests in the future. Personally, I am for prioritizing quality of life for all residents of the city.”

Minister of Infrastructure Development Julius Espat also distanced his ministry from the controversy, telling News Five that the Hangar falls squarely within Belize City Council’s jurisdiction.