Paitilla residents take development fight to Supreme Court

PAITILLA RESIDENTS  don’t  give up easily in their ongoing battles with authorities and what they see as out of control development,, and are now girding up for a renewed face off against the developers of the Ocean Front and Sea Point construction projects,

This time they are heading for  the Supreme Court.

The latest charge follows  a Jan. 27 ruling issued by the National Land Management Authority (Anati) which stated that the two projects are not violating rules on the preservation of coastlines.

After a survey in December, Anati determined that the projects are encroaching on areas where development is prohibited, but said the restrictions do not apply since the properties themselves were created before the creation of the law in 2009 prohibiting that development.

“In this particular case, the titles were issued prior to the law, which is not retroactive,” said Anati Administrator Carlos González.

Official data of the entity shows that the properties have titles dating back to 1972 reports La Prensa.

The Anati report supports a decision by the Maritime Authority of Panama (AMP), which also certified that both Ocean Front and Sea Point “are being constructed within the limits of their property boundaries.”

Harley Mitchell, who represents property owners fighting the developments, said that the decisions issued by Anati and the Maritime Authority violates the constitution. He plans to file a complaint before the Supreme Court to halt the projects.

Work on Ocean Front, a 40-story building, began in 2013 and construction of Sea Point, a 30-story building, started  in 2015.