Boutique hotel located next to Club Nautico, in La Floresta, east of the Ajijic delegation.  Photo: Sofía Medeles.

Sofía Medeles (Ajijic).- Three of the seven floors built by developers of the boutique hotel under construction La Floresta will have to be removed, following an agreement between representatives of Club Náutico and members of the Fraccionamiento La Floresta. 

The president of the Asociación de Colonos del Fraccionamiento La Floresta, Fernando Plata, said that after approximately seven years of conflict, the problem was finally resolved with an agreement unprecedented in conflicts of this type, given the legal framework in Mexico. 

The developers must remove three floors of the seven that have already been  built, and instead of constructing the  three buildings originally  approved – one for 8 stories – only one four story  building with a  Roof Garden  can be constructed.

Plata explained that the  court trials and the  negotiations to reach  an agreement with which both parties were satisfied took about seven years. He added that the approval and beginning of the  project  were irregular and were handled without informing the administration of the subdivision.

«Construction or modification projects in La Floresta first go through the colonos association to be approved or rejected, according to the regulations and norms of the area. This project never went through the office and we only found out about it after construction began,» said Fernando. 

The neighbors were even more surprised when they learned of the magnitude of the project: three buildings of five stories each. They were also surprised at the time period the developer got the approvals;  according to the representative’s calculations, it was between 2012 and 2014, and the work began in 2015, completely unknown to the neighbors.

«The subdivision  (La Floresta) has been residential, low-density and single-family since it was created. Over time, some of the local names  have changed, but the same character has been maintained. In addition to these characteristics, there is a maximum of two stories and a height limit that today is six meters and 30 centimeters. The Hotel Real de Chapala and the Club Nautico de Chapala, were originated with the subdivision, and adhered to the rules of this,» added Plata.

In 2016, with two lawsuits and a building that already had six floors built, the neighbors  managed to get a judge to suspend the work.  However, the Chapala administration of  Javier Degollado González (2015-2018), did not comply with the order until at least a year and a half after it was issued. But a few days  after the suspension, the permit  was modified and a license for eight floors was authorized, ignoring the judges order.

The president of the colonos reported that it was not until 2021, at the end of the administration of Moises Alejandro Anaya Aguilar, that the municipal authorities intervened to bring both sides together to reach an agreement.

«With knowledge, common sense and understanding on both sides, the director of Urban Development, Gilberto Chairez, brought us together with the developers and we started working on the agreement. You have to understand that in this case, winning was not entirely winning,” said Fernando,  “ if we won, the developers could sue the municipality for granting permits that could not be executed, and if they won, their hotel would be  a target for further action because of the conditions under which the permits were granted,»  he explained.

After approximately ten months of meetings, an agreement was signed before a notary, with the legal description  of the land,  the approved project was registered before the Public Registry of Property (RPP), a Federal Judge and the Magistrate of the Administrative Court were notified. 

Every two months, they  (Federal Judge and the Magistrate ) receive progress reports on the work at the colonos’ office.

«They have only removed the first of the seven floors, and have stopped on the other two, because they need to reinforce the structure  before continuing to remove stories. They have complied and I am sure they will continue to comply,» said Platas.

Fernando commented that he feels satisfied with the work and the agreements reached after seven years of conflicts, and that neither he, nor the neighbors of La Floresta, are opposed to the developments, as long as they are coherent, have a balance, and also conserve the essence for which make the municipality of Chapala a popular  tourist destination.

Translated by Patrick O’Heffernan