A high court ruling on Monday afternoon was what led to the suspension of the eviction and demolition proceedings on Hotels Suerre and Las Palmas. More than 120 officials from the police, fire and coast guard who had arrived along with work crews went home on Tuesday to await the court’s final decision.

But the ruling was a temporary injunction only while the court studies the issue more. The next step will be a public hearing for all involved parties set for November 27.

The high court originally ordered the demolition of the two hotels in 2001. But action on this has been suspended by 11 injunctions, two lawsuits, one habeas corpus writ and now Monday afternoon’s ruling.

More: Tico Times: Caribbean hotels saved by high court halt on demolition

Hotel Suerre was notified Thursday evening at 6:30 to begin vacating he hotel.  They have already begun to take all the steps to comply as best as possible with the order but do not feel it is humanly / physically possible to prepare the hotel in time for Tuesday.

It was apparently never clear to them that they were included in the original order put out last month.

They say that they signed an agreement in 2005 which indemnified them; and that they paid a fine that went towards infrastructure improvements in Manzanillo.

At Hotel Suerre, there are 20-30 employees that are losing their jobs and the hotel is booked this month for the Regatta – and all those reservations are being canceled.

Writing in the Newburyport Current in Newburyport, Massachusetts, writer Michael Cook has bemoaned the passing of the sleepy little Puerto Viejo he once knew.

The article is certain to raise some hackles with caustic lines like: “[as] I sat on the upper level of the southern California “BoBo”  chic restaurant in the new, glitzy mini-mall built, you guessed it, by an American “Faux Green, Land Rover Liberal, BoBo” who blew into town a couple of years ago with a trust fund as big as all outdoors and decided he was going to remake Puerto Viejo in his own image, or at least his California hometown’s image.”

Cook’s definition of a BoBo is a Bourgeois Bohemian.

Cook says that it “all began to change about five years ago when, with Costa Rica at the height of its hip and trendiness among American ”Faux Green, Land Rover Liberal, BoBo’s”, (not to mention some right wing American whack jobs with good government pensions who love the fact they can often shoot first and ask questions later here), many ”faux green BoBos” found themselves priced out of “Nueva Calfornia”, aka Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. ”

Gone are the dirt roads and “near total absence of cars” which allowed wild horses to roam the streets of town. Instead he observed so much traffic and development that “cars, quads, and, of course, Status Utility Vehicles, clogged the avenue so that pedestrians and bicyclists could barely pass through, never mind a proud stallion with his harem and foals.”

The full article can be found on the Newburyport Current site but I’m sure the article will generate as much controversy here amongst the pro and anti development camps as his original article bemoaning similar development in Newburyport did there.

New Palí store in Hone Creek on opening day. Local artisan David at Muebles Rustico across the street from the new Palí The new Banco Naciónal bank building

Today was the opening of the new Palí in Hone Creek.  They are known throughout Central America as the discount grocer.  Controlling interest of Palí along with 4 other Central American supermarket chains were bought by Walmart a few years back.  If today’s line ups and traffic jam to get in are any indication, it will be a huge success.

David, local furniture builder and wood artist who works right across the street, seemed happy with the opening.  It seemed more important to him that there would be more women to watch than the opportunity to sell more furniture.

Hone Creek was also just graced with a new office for the local water company.  It seems that Hone creek will be the central town for most supporting services to the area.  Large construction material provider, Colono is located right in the center and opened just over 1 year ago.

The new Banco National Building which is right next door to the Bank of Costa Rica has just been completed and is ready for occupancy.  In addition to the bank there will be some offices and retail also in the buillding.

As if one new Supermarket was not enough, developers are wasting no time in constructing a new Mega-Super right in downtown Puerto Viejo.  Prices will not be as low as discounter Palí, but will provide some competition for the current markets in town whose prices often seem aimed at tourists, making living and shopping in the community difficult for locals.  This can be a real hardship for the locals, when typical salaries run $400- $500 month.

And finally, a gas station.  Just down from the new Palí is a new gas station just going in.  It should be ready in a couple months.  Right now, the closest one is in Penshurt, 22 kms away, so advance planning and wasted fuel is required for a fill-up.  Local sources say it will have the same owner as the station in Penshurt.

Not all are thrilled by all these displays of capitalism, as the lively debate on the Talamanca News on previous development news has proven.

New gas station building site, Hone Creek.

New Mega Super site, Puerto Viejo.

In a long awaited decision released on Feb 25, the Sala Constitucional declared that the law making Cahuita and Puerto Viejo cities was unconstitutional.

Law 8464 passed in October 2005 had declared that these communities were municipalities. This would have allowed people who have lived in these areas for many years to obtain title to land as the city designation would have exempted these areas from some of the provisions of the maritime zone law which states that the first 200 meters of property from the high tide line is public property. Under this law, in effect since 1977, the first 50 meters can not be developed at all and the next 150 meters can only be leased from the government as a “concession”.

But law 8464 was challenged from the very beginning and it also did not specify the boundaries of the proposed cities. So local property owners and governments were left in limbo as to who would ultimately be responsible for making rules and determining development planning.

Real estate agent Manuel Pinto told the Talamanca News that this decision is unfortunate for those long time residents who would’ve obtained more valuable legal title to their land.  But much of this land had also been bought from those long term residents by speculators in the hopes that title would come through.  Those residents and those to whom they have sold will now have to abide by the maritime zone rules.

While giving title to those currently holding such land would’ve been a boon to them financially it would have also opened up that land to development which didn’t necessarily respect the natural environment or character of the area.

Local property developer Christer Ericsson stated that “longtime residents have no reason to fear eviction if they truly have been living on their lands before the law took effect and obtained it in a lawful manner. They will simply get the right to the concession inheriting the rights and obligations that come with it. Concessions will be granted by the local government (Municipality) and ICT only. The arrival of a plan regulator is setting the stage for proper planning and zoning that will protect our community in the future from indiscriminate development.”

Ericsson said his impression is that overall “the community is welcoming this decision and are happy to see all institutions unified working together for the sake of all residents and the future of the community.”

More:

• Nuestro País: Cahuita y Puerto Viejo en Limón no son ciudades (in Spanish) (Google translation to English)
• A.M. Costa Rica: Sala IV strips Cahuita and Puerto Viejo of city status

Anyone who has traveled the road between Hone Creek and Puerto Viejo knows what a danger it is: unpaved, huge potholes, full of dust, lacking in signage, shared by bicycles and cars and pedestrians with no separation between them. It has always been a strange exception in that the route between San Jose and Hone Creek is one of the better routes in the country, but those last 5 kilometers to Puerto Viejo remind you you’re still in the developing world.

Locals have been complaining to the municipality for years to get the road paved. The municipality always responded that they didn’t have the money to fix the road. Finally last year, the road was declared a national route by CONAVI, the national roads council.

But so far the Conavi designation hasn’t translated into a road up to standards. The minimum width of a nationally designated road is 20 meters. Darwin Mena, an engineer working with Conavi, said that this road at points is only half that and that the width is encroached upon at several points by buildings owned by the Municipality of Talamanca which need to be removed.

Neighbors complain that the many cars and buses traveling at high speeds are a daily risk to people on bicycles and on foot that are covered by clouds of dust. Not only does the narrow potholed road cause collisions, the clinic in Hone Creek reports that they treat at least 4 people each week who were hit by stones thrown up from the road.

At the Hone Creek clinic doctors have also reported another hazard of the road — increased cases of asthma. The cases have been reported by those who need to commute the road daily by bicycle, children who walk along the road to get to school and those living near the dusty road. The director of the clinic, Wilman Rojas said that 80% of those living on the edge of the road are suffering from respiratory problems.

Eddie Ryan of the Chamber of Tourism says “As inhabitants of this place, we feel completely abandoned. Puerto Viejo is a unique tourist destination and the need for repair of this road is urgent.”

Ryan stated that the road receives maintenance every six months, but weeks later is damaged again. “The grader scrapes the street and spreads the material, but when it rains you lose all the work.”

The engineer Mena said that the repair of the road could be done in two years. Funds are supposed to be budgeted for 2010 to execute the work.

More:

• La Nación:Ruta en Talamanca es peligrosa para viajeros
• La Nación: Polvo afecta salud de los habitantes

Grupo Caribeño Internacional S. A. has put their plans to build a marina in Puerto Viejo on hold.

The news comes via a letter that the company’s president, Jan Kalina, wrote on July 31st to CIMAT, a government body whose regulatory approval would’ve been required for the project to go forward.

The project would have built a 100 berth marina (reduced from the original plan for more than 400 berths) and accompanying development totaling some $40 million US.

The project had been strongly opposed by many groups in the area which called for a more sustainable development model for the community and were concerned about the damage to the coral reef which recent studies had shown that while less than 9% of the reef remained alive, there were possibilities of regenerating the reef.

In his letter to CIMAT, Kalina complained that the opposition was “a minority, not the [opinion of] the people of Puerto Viejo”.

The company asked that the project be shelved but left open the possibility of restarting the development in the future “if there are better opportunities”.

Source: La Nacion: Plan de marina en Puerto Viejo se archiva.

There’s a meeting for all interested in what’s happening with the Marina.

Next Tuesday, the 15 of July at 6 PM in the Proniño building.

Thanks to Alaine at Greencoast News for the heads up.

The anti-marina movement has prepared a petition with the help of a lawyer for which they are urgently seeking signatures this weekend in order to present it to the national government on Monday. 

The movement, which is now known as the “Comité Unidos por Talamanca y Caribe Sur” with the goal of continuing to lobby for sustainable development of the area, plans to present the petition as soon as possible as they have found out that the Congress has the issue of the marina law on the agenda for the coming week. Congress is proposing to amend laws in such a way that would allow investors to get a provisional concession from the Municipalicity and Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT) and a go ahead from the environmental ministry prior to the completion of a full environmental review. With this provisional concession, the investors would be able to start the project without waiting for their official concession and the full review of their plans.

The proposals before congress is intended to “speed up investments” in Costa Rica.

Puerto Viejo area legal residents, i.e. those holding a cédula de residencia or Costa Rican cédula, are invited to sign the petition.

The newspaper Seminario Universidad of the Universidad de Costa Rica had quoted Walter Coto, an ex-government minister who now acts as the lawyer for Grupo Caribeño Internacional S.A., saying that the company projects “a design and use of construction techniques certified by the ecological organization Greenpeace.”

The article was first published in February, but got the attention of Greenpeace when it was referenced by the Argentinian news source Argenpress.info Tuesday.

“Greenpeace does not have, nor has had, any kind of relationship with the Grupo Caribeño Internacional S.A.,” said Milko Schvartzman, the ocean campaign co-ordinator for Greenpeace Latin America.

“Greenpeace has not certified any project of that corporation and does not dedicate itself to certifying projects,” he added

The organization’s statement also said that it opposes projects that have a negative effect on the environment. After analyzing documents by scientists and environmentalists about the marina, it continues, Greenpeace manifests its opposition to the marina project.

Due to pressure from environmentalists, who say the five-star marina resort will damage nature reservations near Puerto Viejo, the company has already said it will only be constructing a marina with 100 slips for yachts rather than the originally planned 398.

Source: A.M. Costa Rica: Greenpeace denies it has approved Puerto Viejo marina plan