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 Editorials | Opinions | May 2007 
A Wake Up Call for Vallarta
 David Lord - PVNN
With his smile bright and much toothier than required, he stood among us as if he were here to save the mountain, not destroy it as he had. My eyes refocused from him momentarily and roamed over to the debris field visible over his shoulder, scraps of concrete jutting out of the dusty pulverized soil, these chunks still awaiting removal after a month of the continuing repairs.
The cut and shattered face of the loose rock wall is being drilled into again, to anchor it with cable where the four fallen condo's on Amapas Mountain had been. I watch his smiles surface and reside, then morph into the serious and sincere demeanor needed for these obnoxious residents with the nerve to ask questions about his newest development. He is answering our questions frankly, without guilt, as if his destruction cannot be seen. Making us believe his endeavors are from his heart and not about his pocket book - he thinks.
He is listing his years of service to the community, building roads, where the city would not, ect., ect., etc., but his visible and involuntary shaking hands tell me of the rush of adrenaline being pumped through his body. This autonomous and involuntary response is in our nature, you cannot hide it. Called the fight or flight survival response, it kicks in when under stress. I know, you know too, it comes in those close call situations, such as a near miss while driving a car, or in moments that you cannot be prepared for, when your back is against the wall trying to defend your botched project.
These twenty local residents stand at his projects boundary wanting answers to questions, because the reality for them is that their homes are at stake, their families are at risk due to his actions. Even simple access to their homes over the single lane steep cobblestone road has now been put into the hands of this stranger.
How can this small road handle the additional traffic from his project, which will include the traffic from one hundred and two new parking spaces? It's his job to make his investment pay, nothing personal you understand, just good business he tells us sincerely. "I will build in compliance to existing zoning permits, and that means for every one square meter of land I owned I have the right to build one point two square meters of construction."
The meeting is tense, it was not planned to include this developer, he happened here by chance when inspecting his handy work. The City Officials that were present went off without us, happily escaping the annoying but valid concerns of the adjoining property owners.
The intended questions went unheard by them, and in their place is standing this developer, explaining the city zoning laws to us, (although this area was designated an ecological sensitive zone), saying it allows development at urban density levels.
Taking steep jungle terrain and applying city density codes is absurd, to build three, ten-story-high condo buildings on this soil of loose rock, to remove the trees and natural vegetation in its path, the mountain itself thuds out a warning as huge machines beat it to pieces, birds scream warning, animal life leave as their homes are ripped apart...
Multiply one developer over and over into dozens of them, and the need for common sense about building codes is self evident. Developers are not gentle by nature, they are people making money where they can, but future consequences to the ecology and economics of Puerto Vallarta is tremendous.
This morning I received an email stating that more than ten thousand dollars of rental monies collected from visiting tourist has had to be returned this week alone from one office, due to the construction frenzy and resulting noise in and around and above the old town area. The agent said it clearly, "we must choose between tourism (that profits the entire city economy) or foreign investment (that profits the rich developers.)"
This destruction of the green living Amapas mountain is due to the out right stupidity of using zoning laws that have been in place since 1996. These zoning law do not excuse the overbuilding on Amapas Mountain by anyone, the City infrastructure cannot support it anymore than the ecology can handle it.
The Public Works Department has identified fifteen high risk construction zones, (the monsoon storms in the rainy season are from mid-June into September) these zones are at risk of failures. Extra-high water will be running in the streets of Olas Altas and Basilio Badillo, and I predict that the new underground city parking garage in Old Town will be a flooded building.
The rain run-off will increase proportional to the area that has been covered over. These massive building sites high above Old Town will increase the force of the water going down hill, not absorb into the ground, then accelerated by the new concreted drainage pathways from these high up super sites will cascade into the older quaint city streets below.
Last Sunday, Susan and I walked up high on Amapas Mountain, over newly constructed roads, behind other super monolithic condos projects towards Concha Chinas. Passing beyond the active construction zones it became so beautiful. I listen to the winds rustle the palms branches and feel the coolness below them. I am protected under these branches and in their shade I ask myself, will this be my last walk in the vibrant green jungle of Amapas Mountain? Who will protect these precious spaces filled with song birds and sleeping iguana?
The city needs new zoning laws now, support the new group V.I.E.W. (Vallarta Independent Environmental Watchdogs), a new way to report your environmental concerns. Email me for information.
 David Lord served in Vietnam as combat Marine for 1st Battalion 26th Marines, during which time he was severely wounded. He received the Purple Heart and the Presidential Unit Citation for his actions during the war in Vietnam. In Mexico, David now represents all veterans south of the U.S. border all the way to Panama, before the V.A. and the Board of Veterans Appeals. David Lord provides service to veterans at no fee. Veterans are welcome to drop in and discuss claims/benefits to which they are entitled by law at his office located at Bayside Properties, 160 Francisca Rodriguez, tel.: 223-4424, call him at home 299-5367, on his cell: 044 (322) 205-1323, or email him at david.lord@yahoo.com.
Click HERE for more Veteran Affairs with David Lord »»» |
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