Thanks to all who attended last Thursday's meeting in Coco. Representatives of Los Almendros, Bahia Pez Vela, and ADICOCO, all expressed their support for the Ocotal Neighborhood Association's opposition to the proposed Azul Paraiso project. Below is the position paper that we distributed at the meeting. We will let you know when further meetings are scheduled.
SAVE PLAYAS OCOTAL AND AZUL

The Ocotal Neighborhood Association is adamantly opposed to the Azul Paraíso project that PIO, S.A. intends to build in the Maritime Zone of Playa Ocotal, and also in, and adjacent to, the Maritime Zone in the hills above Playa Azul (Bahia Pez Vela).

We have been told by representatives of PIO, S.A./Azul Paraíso that they intend to build six 5-story, 20 meter high condominiums at the beach in Playa Ocotal. That 1.8 hectare portion of the project will consist of 60 condos, a beach club, a commercial center, dry marina, etc. The location is to the west of Father Rooster and to the east of the tennis court at El Ocotal Resort. We have also been told that PIO, S.A./Azul Paraíso intends to build approximately 260 condos and 40 villas above Playa Azul and Bahia Pez Vela.

In our opinion, this project will irreversibly damage the beauty and tranquility of the environment of Playas Ocotal and Azul, and substantially impair the quality of life of the residents, businesses, families living between Playa Ocotal and Playas del Coco, and tourists who visit Playas Ocotal and Azul. Playas Ocotal and Azul are already sufficiently developed, considering their small size. Playa Ocotal’s Maritime Zone has the El Ocotal Resort and Los Almendros Villas, and Playa Azul’s Maritime Zone has the Bahia Pez Vela Resort. Additional high-rise, high-density development will be detrimental to the entire community.
A brief outline of our specific objections follows:

1. Environmental Destruction
A. The ocean and aquifers will be polluted by runoff of sewage water and the chemicals used to treat that water.
B. Destruction of flora and fauna including trees, monkeys, parrots, reptiles, etc. Also destruction of the estuaries running through the property to be developed.
C. Beach overcrowding and additional garbage caused by that overcrowding.
D. Air and noise pollution caused at first by the construction process itself and later by the additional number of condominium residents.
E. Visual pollution caused by 20 meter buildings high above the tree line and visible from land and sea in the Maritime Zone, making Ocotal the prime example of irresponsible beach development in the Gulf of Papagayo.

2. Excessive Waste of Natural Resources
The Gulf of Papagayo area is already experiencing shortages of water, electricity, and landfill for garbage. Every new high-density condo project exacerbates this problem. In regard to the water, the Coco-Ocotal Water Project is not a long-term solution to this problem.

3. Public Safety
There is only one road leading from Playas del Coco to Playas Ocotal and Azul, and this road cannot be widened without destroying hundreds of homes and businesses. This road is already too narrow and overcrowded to accommodate the current amount of vehicular and pedestrian traffic that must use it. It is already a threat to the safety of the pedestrians and bicyclists, many of them children, who live between Coco and Ocotal and must use this road to travel to school, work, church, and shopping. Also, the ability of emergency vehicles to reach Playas Ocotal and Azul is impaired by traffic congestion.
In this stretch of road between Coco and Ocotal there are currently more than 2,000 condominiums or apartments in the process of construction. The additional traffic congestion resulting from those projects, plus the proposed PIO,S.A./Azul Paraíso project, will make travel from Coco to Ocotal a very serious public safety concern. Furthermore, tourists and prospective home buyers will abandon Ocotal for destinations that are easier to reach

4. Legal Impediments
A. It is our understanding that the Regulatory Plan for the Maritime Zone of Playa Ocotal does not permit the construction of condominiums within the concession purchased by PIO, S.A./Azul Paraíso. It does permit the construction of a hotel, but only a low-density hotel with a small number of rooms, with the remaining land reserved for green space. It is also our understanding that PIO, S.A./Azul Paraiso cannot obtain a modification or change of the Regulatory Plan without the consent and approval of those already residing in Playas Ocotal and Azul and the surrounding neighborhoods.
B. Playa Ocotal’s Regulatory Plan, enacted in 1987, does allow for a low-density hotel with a height of up to 20 meters. However, it is our understanding that MINAE Decree #32967 (published in La Gaceta #85, May 4th, 2006) prohibits construction of any buildings within the Maritime Zone that are higher than 3 stories or 14 meters, and that use more than 30% of the surface land.

5. ICT Initiative
The ICT has recently undertaken a much-needed consolidation of the Regulatory Plans for the Maritime Zones of Playas Azul, Ocotal, Coco, and Hermosa. It makes no sense, and is likely to be counter-productive, to consider any applications to change Ocotal’s current Regulatory Plan before the ICT has completed their consolidated plan for all four beaches. In our opinion, all appropriate governmental agencies should impose a moratorium on any and all construction within the Maritime Zone of the beaches mentioned above, until the ICT completes its work.

6. Social Responsibility
Finally, no large development project should be granted permission by the government to build in any community until they have demonstrated that their project will provide substantial benefits to that community. Having met with representatives of PIO, S.A./Azul Paraiso, and having reviewed documents that they have filed with the ICT, SETENA, the Municipality of Carrillo, etc., we have been unable to identify any substantial benefits to our community. On the contrary, we have only seen the numerous detriments mentioned above. Although the PIO, S.A./Azul Paraiso project will no doubt enrich the developers, it is clearly not in the best interest of the residents of Playas Azul and Ocotal, and all our friends and neighbors living between Ocotal and Playas del Coco.
Respectfully submitted,
OCOTAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION September 6th, 2007