Daily News Photo by CRISTIAN SIMESCU Golden Gaming's owner Paul Golden shows a rendering of his proposed $120 million casino-resort during a Thursday morning hearing.

ST. CROIX - The V.I. Casino Control Commission on Thursday granted New Jersey-based developer Paul Golden a sixth extension on his conditional casino license, giving him four months to get his finances in place, complete construction plans and secure all permits for the $150 million resort and casino he plans to build on St. Croix's south shore.

The latest extension would have expired today, but the commission's extension now gives the developer until Aug. 30 to secure financing, complete design and construction plans and resolve legal issues with his major Coastal Zone Management permit.

"The project is very close to the finish line," said Golden, who appeared before the Casino Control Commission on Thursday with his attorney, Treston Moore. "The extension gives us the ability to continue moving forward."

Golden said he anticipates breaking ground on the casino-resort project in July or August, and a flagship hotel chain is expected to announce its affiliation with the development in June during a hospitality conference in New York.

The casino-resort project near Great Pond includes plans for a 400-room hotel, a spa, an 18-hole golf course and a $32 million conference center to be financed by the V.I. government.

Last month, the V.I. Public Finance Authority gave Golden's company, Golden Gaming, a fifth extension to get his financing in place. The government funding hinges on whether the company can prove it has lined up 80 percent of the financing to complete the resort project.

Golden Gaming's project has been in the planning stages since 1999 and is expected to generate more than 1,200 permanent jobs, but it has been controversial because of concerns about the potential harm to the area's ecosystem.

It took Golden Gaming more than a year to get a major coastal zone permit - by default - after the St. Croix Coastal Zone Management Committee failed to act on its application within the required time. After several appeals to the Board of Land Use Appeals, Golden Gaming received its permit in January 2005.

The V.I. Conservation Society petitioned for a writ of review in V.I. Superior Court in February 2005, asking the court to review the Board of Land Use Appeals' decision. The organization maintains that the board did not have jurisdiction in the decision to grant a CZM permit and that Golden's permit has already expired because he failed to break ground on the project within 12 months of the permit's issuance.

The case is now pending before Superior Court Presiding Judge Maria Cabret. A hearing date has not been set and Cabret has not rendered a decision.

Casino Commission Chairwoman Eileen Petersen said the case must be resolved before a casino license is granted.

"The commission will not grant a license if he does not have a permit," she said.

Several residents and taxi operators came out in strong support of Golden's project, asking the commission to grant him another extension.

Navetta Webster, a St. Croix resident, said the time had come for St. Croix to be promoted as a premiere destination and called for all government agencies and residents to work together to make it happen.

"Our economy is dying," she said. "Any development can be beneficial to all of us who live here."

Miles Plaskett, an attorney representing developers for the $500 million Annaly Bay project, opposed the conditional permit extension because the V.I. Casino and Resort Control Act only allows for two casino licenses for hotels that have between 300 and 1,499 rooms.

Divi Carina Bay Resort has a casino license but falls in a different category that has fewer hotel rooms.

Annaly Bay will involve three phases developing during a span of 12 to 15 years. The development includes three hotels: a 500-unit hotel-casino, a 350-room to 400-room bungalow hotel and beach club and a boutique hotel or eco-lodge.

Golden has one provisional license and William and Punch Partners, a St. Croix company co-managed by Kevin Rames and Chris Elliott, applied for the other license earlier this year for its beachfront hotel, casino and marina and possibly condominiums and a championship golf course just outside of downtown Frederiksted. The commission is still reviewing that application, Rames said Thursday.

Plaskett told commissioners Golden has had more than enough time to get his project off the ground.

"Time is being taken away from others who are trying to bring projects forward," Plaskett said.

Petersen said she has petitioned the V.I. Legislature to revise the law but has received no response.

Commission member Devin Carrington said he could not understand why major projects that are in the works for St. Croix continue to face bureaucratic delays. He commended Golden for staying the course.

"This is really a bread and butter issue," he said. "We need jobs and our youth need more of an occupation than killing themselves."