PHILIPSBURG--An administrative judge has suspended the recent changes to District 721’s operating permit, ruling that last month’s amendments by Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Grisha Heyliger-Marten were “unsubstantiated and unreasonable.”
Court of First Instance’s verdict on Monday is the latest in a series of legal battles between the government and the open-air nightclub in Cole Bay involving decisions made by Heyliger-Marten. This time, District 721 took the Office of the TEATT Minister to court over a ministerial order on October 20 that revoked the nightclub’s permission to play music, hold performances and live shows, and allow dancing at its venue on Welfare Road.
The order also pulled back its mandated closing time from 3:00am to midnight. These amendments were based on the nightclub allegedly breaking conditions attached to its new operating permit, such as exceeding the 75 decibel noise limit and staying open past 3:00am. The order also cited multiple warnings about excessive noise, “repeated complaints from neighbours and the business community about noise pollution and ongoing disturbance to public order and peace,” and an advice from the St. Maarten Police Force KPSM that was backed by Justice Minister Nathalie Tackling.
District 721 and its lawyer Monique Hofman of Bermon Law Office argued in an emergency hearing last week that Heyliger-Marten’s order violated the government’s Residential Economic Policy (REP). District 721 did receive a formal warning for excessive noise in May, based on a reading on April 30. However, Hofman argued that this could not be used to justify Heyliger-Marten’s order because the nightclub had appealed and the outcome of that process is still pending. There was another notice from TEATT inspectors in September, which showed a noise reading at 78 decibels and three others just below 75.
But Hofman pointed out that the letter stated: “This communication is issued for transparency purposes only. It is not a sanction, not a warning.” Hofman also told the court that District 721 made 85% of its income between midnight and 3:00am, arguing that the order was therefore unreasonable because an earlier closing time would have far-reaching and irreversible consequences.
Government’s lawyer Richard Gibson Jr. argued that the order was not unreasonable and that District 721 is the only business in the area to have received noise complaints. Additionally, the order is less drastic than completely closing down the business, he argued. The judge sided with District 721 in Monday’s verdict, ruling that the order violated the “general principles of good governance, and the implementation of the decision would cause disproportionate harm to [District 721 – Ed.]”.
The judge ruled that the order did not provide any evidence that the nightclub had opened past 3:00am, and it had not outlined the “nature, scope and frequency” of the noise complaints. Citing the REP, the judge pointed out that District 721 is located in a so-called “mixed area” that allows both residential and commercial buildings.
“This is public policy from 2009, which residents could have taken into account when choosing to live in this area. It is therefore quite possible that nuisance has been experienced and complaints have been filed, even though the permit is being adhered to,” the judge said, referencing a letter that TEATT inspectors sent District 721 on April 24. This letter stated that the nightclub had been placed under “enhanced monitoring” due to noise complaints but added: “To date, inspections conducted by the Inspectorate have not confirmed a breach of the maximum allowable sound level.”
With District 721 having only received one warning this year, the judge also ruled that Heyliger-Marten’s order violated the REP, which states that permit changes can also be mandated after two written warnings. The judge dismissed Gibson’s argument that last year’s warnings counted toward the total, ruling that only those issued after the new operating permit, which came into effect in February, should be legally considered.
As the losing party, the judge ordered the government to pay Cg. 1,400 for District 721’s legal fees. However, the judge also noted that there have been several readings above the allowed noise level this year and urged the nightclub to adhere to its permit conditions. “[This] judge has not yet found sufficient substantiation for [District 721’s] argument that noise measurements should only be conducted at the front and on the ground floor.
[District 721] must therefore ensure that noise levels on the first and higher floors of the neighbouring residential and commercial buildings do not exceed the standard,” it was stated in the verdict. Although Monday’s verdict allows District 721 to resume its normal business activities and continue to close at 3:00am, it does not spell the end of this new legal battle with the TEATT Minister, as the government has the right to an appeal.
Past cases In June 2024 – about two weeks before District 721’s grand reopening following a devastating fire a year before – the TEATT Minister revoked District 721’s business licence and the director’s licence of investor Mario di Palma. District 721 successfully petitioned the court to set aside these decisions, with an administrative judge ruling later that month that they violated “the general principles of good governance.” Heyliger-Marten complied with the court’s decision and withdrew the two decisions on August 28, 2024. Later that night, officials from her ministry and law enforcement officers shut down the club for playing music too loudly.
The nightclub was officially closed by ministerial order on September 2, 2024, for not having a valid operational licence. A judge upheld this order in an emergency hearing in October 2024. He sided with government’s lawyer Gibson Jr., who argued that the previous licence had expired when the nightclub burned down in January 2023.
According to Article 40 of the National Ordinance on Permits, an operational licence automatically expires when a permit holder loses their premises for more than a year. District 721’s reopening in late June 2024 was roughly 16 months after the fire. After losing the emergency relief case, District 721 continued its legal fight in a non-urgent substantive hearing in January 2025, with its lawyer Hofman filing a US $300,000 compensation claim for loss of income and reputational damage.
Meanwhile, District 721 received a new operational licence in February 2025. In March 2025, an administrative judge dismissed District 721’s six-figure claim. This verdict rejected Hofman’s arguments, ruling that Heyliger-Marten’s closure order in September 2024 was “carefully prepared and properly motivated.”
