PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Businesses operating on land behind Mullet Bay Beach could be forced to leave after the Court of First Instance ruled that the Government of St. Maarten unlawfully leased or allowed third parties to use property belonging to Sun Resorts.
In its July 7, 2026 judgment, the court ordered government to stop behaving as owner of the disputed property and prohibited it from leasing or granting the use of Sun Resorts land to third parties. Violations could result in penalties of up to US $1 million per occurrence.
The court further ordered government, within 14 days of service of the judgment, to notify all persons and businesses occupying the land that government is not the owner of the property and was not authorized to lease or allocate it to them.
The ruling stems from a long-running legal battle between Sun Resorts and the Country of St. Maarten over ownership of Mullet Bay Beach and the adjacent lands.
Sun Resorts sought a declaration that it owned the property up to the normal high-water mark and argued that ownership of the beach had passed to one of its predecessors through an 1852 transfer. Through a series of later transactions, ownership eventually passed to Island Gem Enterprises Ltd. N.V., which changed its name to Sun Resorts Limited N.V. on May 31, 1985.
However, the court rejected the claim that Sun Resorts owned the beach itself.
“‘The beaches belong to the people,’ argued government’s attorneys during the proceedings,” the judgment states, noting that public accessibility to beaches is a fundamental principle in St. Maarten.
The court said Sun Resorts had assured the court that it had no intention of closing Mullet Bay Beach to the public, even if it were to succeed in proving ownership, and had stated that any future sale would include a condition guaranteeing public access.
The judges nevertheless concluded that Mullet Bay Beach has always remained public property.
A central question in the case was the meaning of the term “strand der zee” (“beach of the sea”) in the original 1852 deed. After examining historical legal texts dating back to the writings of 17th-century Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius, Roman law and earlier Caribbean legislation, the court concluded that the term referred to the public shoreline up to the high-water mark.
The judgment cited Grotius’ conclusion that while the sea and the shoreline belong to everyone, “the bare beach belongs to the people of the land.”
As a result, the court ruled that the owner of the Mullet Pond lands in 1852 could never have transferred ownership of what is today the sandy beach at Mullet Bay because the beach was already part of the public domain.
The court did, however, rule in favor of Sun Resorts regarding the land behind the beach. According to the judgment, government never disputed that Sun Resorts owns the property extending landward from the natural vegetation line behind the beach.
The court found that government infringed on Sun Resorts’ property rights by issuing permits, leasing land and allowing commercial activities on privately-owned property without the company’s permission.
The judgment specifically notes that Sun Resorts demonstrated that trees and vegetation had been removed to make way for the current location of Kalatua restaurant.
“The restaurant is therefore not located on the beach,” the court concluded.
Kalatua was developed in 2021 by developer Frank Teboul, owner of FT Development, which is also behind several major real estate projects on St. Maarten, including Fourteen at Mullet Bay, The Hills Residence in Simpson Bay and Acqua Resort in Cupecoy.
At the time of the project’s launch, then-Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications Roger Lawrence welcomed the investment, describing it as an example of the confidence investors have in St. Maarten and its people.
Teboul had presented Kalatua as an upscale beach concept inspired by destinations such as St. Barths, Miami and Ibiza, with the aim of elevating Mullet Bay’s tourism offering.
The project also revived discussions about restoring the historic Mullet Bay boardwalk that existed prior to Hurricane Luis. Teboul expressed support for rebuilding the boardwalk as a community project and symbol of resilience, while government invited residents to share memories and photographs as part of the initiative.
The court’s judgment does not order the immediate closure or removal of Kalatua. However, it establishes that the land on which the restaurant is located belongs to Sun Resorts and that government lacked the authority to lease or allocate the property without the company’s consent.
As a result, businesses operating from privately-owned land belonging to Sun Resorts without the company’s authorization could ultimately be required to vacate those areas or regularize their arrangements directly with the landowner.
