Paitilla residents win development fight

PANAMA’S Supreme Court (CSJ) has come down in favor of Paitilla residents who have been fighting a zoning change in their community.

The Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) provisionally suspended the zoning change.
A Ministry of Housing and Land Management (Miviot) urban code resolution increased the density the of a hectare lot on Via Italia from “low” to “high”
The decision of the Supreme Court suspended the construction of a 37-story apartment building.
The representative of San Francisco, Carlos Pérez Herrera, said there are other similar cases that might share the same fate.
According to Herrera, this situation arose because the former Miviot authorities held public consultations at the offices of the entity and not in communities as indicated by the Municipal Resolution No. 343, October 2008.
“At least that requirement allowed residents to be heard,” he said.