TAMARINDO, Guanacaste – As unpaved roads kick up dust next to partially built four-story condominium buildings and new shopping malls, it can be hard to tell where the construction sites end and life begins in this booming Pacific coast town.
In the past three years, the area has become a hotbed of largely foreign investment, yet paved roads, sewage treatment and a sufficient source of potable water have yet to follow the luxury hotels and full-service malls. As the constant presence of tractors and dump trucks indicates, the construction boom is showing little sign of waning, to the horror of residents who worry that too much of a good thing will bring the downfall of all.
While concerned residents point fingers at the Municipality of Santa Cruz, which is located approximately 37 kilometers inland and has jurisdiction over the Tamarindo area, for allegedly carelessly granting construction permits, sometimes in violation of zoning laws, municipal officials told The Tico Times they, too, are worried the area is threatened by excessively rapid development.
“We are arriving at chaos. But not chaos because of saturation, chaos because of poor planning,” said municipal engineer Miguel Torres. Longtime Tamarindo resident Jerry Hirsch agrees. “It is just uncontrolled growth, because no one is looking at the big picture,” he said.
Tamarindo development is not entirely lawless. The community has a regulatory plan, a precise document that intends to regulate all new construction. However, the plan applies only to the Maritime Zone – the first 200 meters from the high-tide line – and only along a portion of the coast.
Development in Tamarindo extends far beyond this limit. Outside the plan boundaries are three urbanization areas that offer some vague zoning regulations, such as density requirements and green areas, according to Hirsch, a U.S. citizen and member of the Tamarindo Community Improvement Association.
The association has formed a zoning committee to look into the status of the regulatory plan and what rules are defined under the separate urbanization areas. The committee is also exploring the possibility of revising the regulatory plan to include all Tamarindo.
However, Santa Cruz Mayor Pastor Gómez said government officials are instead looking to include Tamarindo in a regulatory plan for the entire canton. In addition, the municipality agreed last month to begin developing soil-use regulations or a regulatory plan for the areas around the Las Baulas National Marine Park – including Playa Grande and Playa Langosta – for the conservation of turtle-nesting sites near Tamarindo.
The existing Tamarindo regulatory plan limits buildings to three stories, according to Gómez. But a glance at the Tamarindo skyline, and at artists’ renderings pitching upcoming condo developments, shows many projects exceed that limit.
Not only is the regulatory plan limited to a small area of Tamarindo, it does not apply to property registered before the Maritime Zone was formed by law in 1976, according to engineer Torres. This has cleared the way for controversial projects such as a series of seven-story condominium towers planned only meters from the beach at what is presently the Tamarindo Resort.
View-blocking towers are one of the greatest concerns among area residents.
“Now, because land has been bought up and there are threshold barriers, people are finding it more worth it to build up, instead of just out,” said U.S. citizen and Tamarindo resident Bruce McKillican.
According to Torres, the towers at Tamarindo Resort could be built up to nine stories because, without the limitations of the regulatory plan, the only height restriction regulating the property says buildings are permitted up to 1.5 times the width of the facing street, which in this area is 18 meters.
“They have also gotten special permission from INVU (the Institute for Housing and Urbanization) and SETENA (the Technical Secretariat of the Environmental Ministry),” added Mayor Gómez.
The granting of such special permissions has left many residents in Tamarindo crying foul play and making accusations of corruption in the municipality. However, these critics admit they have no proof of corrupt acts.
“I’m not going to say there are permits being given illegally… but I know in the past there have been a lot of irregularities, green areas have not been respected, parks have been sold to developers. The municipality has been part in this unfavorable business,” said Belgian citizen Greit Depypere, president of the Improvement Association.
Construction also often starts without proper permitting, Depypere added. Costa Ricans in the area also allege foreigners are given preferred treatment in the construction permitting process.
Municipal officials Gómez and Torres denied allegations of corruption. However, Torres explained the speed in which a project receives approval does depend on resources.
“There are no preferences, but if you are a company with resources, you can pay another firm who knows the techniques and approval processes. But if you are just coming in, you don’t know. You often have to return over and over again, because the project gets rejected for one reason or another,” he said.
An Italian developer of one of at least two shopping malls under construction in the area said with the help of his lawyer, he had no problem in the permitting process.
Developers and investors in the area come from all over the world, and Tamarindo is known for its population that is as much international as it is Costa Rican. Santa Cruz municipal officials estimate the beach town’s population at between 5,000 and 6,000.
“People come here and think they can just relax, and have the life they always wanted. But then they realize, things cost, people have to work. And they find investments, projects…” Hirsch said.
With these new residents have come the businesses to serve them, including an English-language school attended by more than 140 students, as well as dentists, doctors, and this year a gym. Three years ago, most of these services were not available, and their presence has made the area more attractive to foreign residents, according to realtor Lisa Simmons with RE/MAX Ocean Surf Realty.
“Things are selling faster than we can build,” she said.
At the Sunrise Residential Condominiums, an upper-end, four-story project, 45 of 48 units have been sold and the buildings will not be complete for at least six months, Simmons said.
“It started since the Liberia airport began receiving international flights. This pace has been going for about a year and a half,” she said.
Many residents believe the only way to handle this explosive growth is to place a moratorium on new construction until the area’s infrastructure can catch up. In the meantime, area businesses, community associations and unofficial pirate taxi drivers have taken infrastructure matters into their own hands and begun repairing dismal roads.
Both Gómez and Torres said they are not opposed to the idea of a moratorium.
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea for the municipality to say, ‘until such and such a date, we aren’t going to give any more permissions; we are going to take six months to better plan the area,’” Torres said.
Gómez added, “but asking for a moratorium would be difficult to do, because we can’t claim there is no drinking water. There still is. We can’t claim the water is contaminated, when it is not yet. But we are running a serious risk of these happening in the very short term if we don’t do something.”
