Climate change cited in Casco hotel challenge

GLOBAL WARMING and rising sea levels have been dragged into the debate over the Casco Viejo hotel project by its legal representatives.

The hotel is  on the site of the original Union Club  and in later years the Officers Clun during the military dictatorship. More recently the shell of the building was converted  into a night club scene. Jose Agustin Preciado, one of the lawyers for the developers came to the defense of the tourism project after criticism by several Heritage advocacy organizations   who claim that extending the  site over the sea is  breaking the law and that already it has usurped  some beach areas.

Preciado , said the developer of the hotel, from the beginning, has complied with the guidelines of the Department of Historical Heritage.

According to Preciado, the design was prepared in collaboration with the authorities of the National Institute of Culture and has complied with the observations of the entities.

“There is no danger to heritage in the Old Town and the promoters are clear that everything must be endorsed by the Department of Heritage,” he said.

The building should be ready in 2018.

One of the aspects most criticized by opponents of the hotel Casco Viejo is a part of the building rises over the sea but Preciado said that “the site  dates from 1917and  was born with part of it over the sea, and “at that time  that was not forbidden.”

If the state wants to take possession of the site  where the property is built, it is considered that the only way would be to expropriate and for that, the owner. Would have to be compensated he said.

He concluded that in the last 100 years sea level has been rising due to climate change, so one gets the impression that the work is taking up sea space,

Harley Mitchell, Jr., former legal director of l of the defunct National Environmental Authority, beaches and sea shores are public domain and cannot be subject to private appropriation, according to the Constitution.

“There is no legal argument to substantiate that you can usurp a heritage that belongs to the state, as does  the sea and beaches,” he said.

Mitchell has represented the residents of Punta Paitilla, district, in various legal proceedings against buildings that rise in this area over the sea, and the interface between high tide and low tide.

“I nvading the marine heritage space  violate the Constitution. The authorities have been very lenient on this issue for decades,” he said

Thomas Engler, leader of the Citizens’ Urban  Network, said  that the sea shores and beaches cannot be awarded to individuals.

“The common good takes precedence over private interests. It is time for entities to make decisions on this issue, “he said.