WATLING’S ISLAND PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION
WIPOA
WELCOME! Many of you may not be familiar with WIPOA so here is a little background/history. In the early 1970’s a development called Columbus Landings was started on the southern portion of San Salvador, Bahamas, also called Watling’s Island. The name Watling, comes from a pirate who resided on the island.
The original development plan of Columbus Landings, which started in the early 1970s, included approximately 4200 lots, zoned for a combination of single family, muti-family, commercial, hotels, parks, and even a golf course. Much of the original plan, i.e. the golf course and hotel sites, never materialized. However, approximately 2100 of the original lots were sold, mostly to individuals. The other 2000 + lots that were not sold are owned by Columbus Landings Ltd., an off shoot of the original Columbus Landings. There was little sale or building activity for many years, but now that Columbus Landings has been under new leadership since late 2003, sales and construction have shown an increase. While the sales effort is still international, many of the new property and home owners are from the island.
The original Columbus Landings plan called for the creation of an association of property owners, to represent and undertake certain activities on behalf of the property owners. That association was formed and registered with the Bahamian Government in 1981, under the original name Columbus Landings Property Owners Association Limited. The name was changed in 1989 to Watling’s Island Property Owners Association. (WIPOA) Membership in WIPOA is tied to owning property. Thus every property owner is a member of WIPOA. In 2004, WIPOA began to re-establish its purpose and become a more active association. Part of that activity has been to ensure that all property owners are aware of the requirement that as a member of WIPOA, property owners are required to pay annual dues. Those dues are used by WIPOA to support its activities of mailings/newsletter to members, some road maintenance, mowing brush/bushes from sides of roads, maintaining a web site, overseeing compliance of building codes and other covenant issues.
Over the years, one of our challenges was developing a relationship with the Island Council and Island Administrator for including WIPOA in their process for issuing building permits in Columbus Landings. This was essential if WIPOA was going to be able to ensure that our building and use requirements were followed. As of 2009, that relationship is now in place, and all construction, well drilling, etc. must be approved by WIPOA before the Island council will review any plans.
The Board of Directors of WIPOA, is elected each year at the annual Association meeting, which is held on San Salvador, the second Tuesday in February. All members are encouraged to attend and participate. Also, any one interested in being considered for the board should contact one of the current board members. They are;
Mike Weber, President, mjjlweber@aol.com Montrose, CO
Jo Ecklund, Sec/Treas joecklund@yahoo.com Houston, TX
BrendaLee Jones-Strachen brendaleejones@hotmail.com San Salvador, BA
Bill Bickle WBickle@rogers.com Courtice, Ontario
Ray Parino usmraywahoo@yahoo.com Boston, MA
Stefan Bommerer bommerer@aol.com San Salvador, BA
Steve Harris sfharris@gmail.com Billerca, MA
As of May 2009, there are 37 homes that have been built in Columbus Landings. Below are the number of homes by section;
Section I 1 home
Section II 0 homes
Section III 6 homes
Section IV 30 homes, and a 12 unit single story condo
Homes under construction:
Section I 0
Section II 0
Section III 3, plus a 6 cottage mini-resort
Section IV 6
Electricity from power lines is only available in some portions of Section IV. The other areas rely on combinations of generators, solar panels and wind generators for their household needs.
A warehouse for basic building materials was built in Section IV, in 2004.
While there hasn’t been a lot of development on Sal Salvador over all these years, maybe that’s a good thing. It remains a beautiful island, with stunning oceans, great fishing, snorkeling, diving and of course the friendly, smiling island locals. Come see and enjoy.