“No to the modification of land use,” read the signs displayed by residents of the Sábalo Country subdivision on Tuesday, August 6.
They came out to express their dissatisfaction with what is, perhaps, one of the biggest urban problems that the municipal government of Mazatlán allowed to grow and created with the authorization of construction licenses.
Santos Joel Cañedo Rodríguez, president of the Association of Residents of the Sábalo Country Club Subdivision. A.C., estimated that, since the last months of the three-year term of the former mayor, Fernando Pucheta Sánchez, three of the first term of Luis Guillermo Benítez Torres, and one more of his second round as reelected mayor, the municipal government granted some 20 construction licenses for the construction of towers.
After the resignation of Chemist Benitez, he said, they managed to stop the continued issuance of construction permits in this subdivision, but they observed that in recent months more permits have been granted because there are new constructions.
“As they are leaving now, well, coincidentally they happen in the period in which they are leaving, they are starting to give permits again, which violate the land use of the subdivision,” he accused.
There are four new towers for apartments of dimensions that do not comply with official provisions.
“According to what is stipulated in the Urban Development Master Plan, which is the one that regulates, which is the one that commands, because not even the municipal president or anyone else can do that, it stipulates that there are three levels, and a maximum height of 9 meters, now they are starting to give permits of 12 meters of construction,” he said.
Among the constructions, he added, is that of a religious group, located on Mojarra Street; Other towers belong to the project called La Marea, and a new house in good condition was demolished, despite the fact that it is prohibited by law.
He mentioned that they had gone to the Municipal Institute of Urban Planning of Mazatlán (Implan) and they were right.
“Implan agrees with us, the architect Fabiola Zambrano, who is the deputy director of Land Use, says that it is nine meters high, nothing more,” he explained.
However, he added, there is a permit signed by her and the director of Planning, in which they give the green light for a 12-meter high one to be built, and the argument is that the permit had already been granted by Jorge Estavillo Kelly, but “he is not the one to modify the use of his salary.”
Only one license was granted with the consent of neighbors: mayor
Mayor Edgar González Zatarain said that during one year and nine months that he has been in charge of the port’s mayor’s office, he has not granted any more construction licenses.
He only acknowledged having granted one to the group of nuns because they submitted the request with a letter of consent signed by the neighbors, and because it did not represent the generation of problems, as would be the apartments for vacation rentals.
To put things in order, he explained, it is expected that in September the new Urban Development Master Plan will be approved, in which the conditions and new parameters to be taken into account will be delimited.
—Will the use of land, the height, and dimensions of the buildings be taken into account?
—Yes. What is it that is being sought and what is being taken into account in this matter? There are many things, among them the issue of densities. For example, the densities, you mentioned the case of Sábalo Country, but I can give many examples, El Dorado, even Gaviotas, have very low density, they do not even meet the 300 inhabitants per hectare, what the plans suggest is that, as there are many vacant lots, we also see a lack of inhabitants that later become problems of insecurity, because there are few inhabitants and maintenance is expensive (…)
He pointed out that it is not the mayor or the administration that determines it, nor the director of Planning, it is through a consultation that is being done.
The mayor did not agree with the neighbors’ statement in the sense that construction licenses continue to be granted.
“From the information that the Planning Department has given me, they only have some cases that come from the past that have been regularized, that is, that were granted in previous periods and lost validity and have been updated because if we do not do it, they will order us through court to do it,” he explained.
There is already an investment there, they already have a permit, right or wrong, and obviously you cannot oppose that, he explained, it is not that simple and it is irresponsible to leave the municipality with problems of that kind.
—During the three-year periods that the neighbors mention, were there irregular changes in land use?
—Yes, they did happen. There are many such cases, they have been reported, and some cases of this type from the past have even been reported to the Internal Control Body (ICB) by citizens, associations, organizations, yes, they did happen.
Source: riodoce
