MONUMENTAL DECEPTION: Municipality allows construction in Panul
Mayor Rodolfo Carter's amendment to the Municipal Zoning Plan allows the construction of 60 apartment towers in Bosque Panul and once again puts the precordillera at risk.
Mayor Rodolfo Carter had assured that the amendment made a year ago would prohibit housing in Bosque Panul and protect the precordillera.
Residents discover key information that contradicts these claims by the mayor.
Today, 60 four-story towers with 937 apartments could be built in the heart of the native forest.
Faced with this bleak scenario, the community defending Panul calls for new mobilizations.
For months, La Florida's mayor Rodolfo Carter told various media outlets that Bosque Panul would be safe, thanks to a housing ban he implemented through the Municipal Zoning Plan. (Amendment No. 9, http://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1074597&idVersion=2015-02-09)
This Zoning Plan was harshly criticized at the time, not only because it did not create a green area in Panul, but also because it allowed its urbanization and subdivision into 10,000 m² plots, with their respective streets, sewage systems, public lighting, and even parking lots, shops, public transit terminals, rodeo arenas, cell towers, etc. (http://www.redprecordillera.cl/informate/noticias/8-noticias/94-miercoles-municipio-decide-futuro-del-bosque-panul)
But now, the promises of a housing ban have also turned out to be completely false, as it has come to light that this same amendment allows, at any time, the construction of 937 apartments in the heart of the native forest.
The trap lay in the fact that the mayor and the municipal council maintained and even expanded the benefits for construction in a zone designated "E-AM2" of the Zoning Plan — a zone that incorporates the western sector of Bosque Panul and the eastern part of the Lo Cañas district, covering approximately 30 hectares.
In this zone, 130 housing units per hectare can be built, which would result in a real estate project of 50 luxury buildings in the heart of the forest, not counting hundreds of others that could be built in Lo Cañas.
65 buildings in Bosque Panul
200 buildings across the entire "E-AM2" zone
This zone was created in 2001 under the administration of former mayors Gonzalo Duarte (DC) and Pablo Zalaquett (UDI), and has allowed the Navarrete Rolando family to submit real estate projects in Fundo Panul at any time.
The maintenance and even expansion of this zone for real estate interests was concealed by the municipality — for example, in key instances such as "citizen participation," where only the newly created zone (ESP-4) was presented, and not this one, which was equally vital to the future of the forest. We should recall that this amendment had the support of Intendant Orrego and the deciding votes of councilmembers Marco Espinoza (DC) and Nicanor Herrera (PS). (http://www.redprecordillera.cl/informate/noticias/22-reportajes/137-corrupcion-bosque-panul-en-peligro)
Beyond this vile deception, many residents are aware that the only guarantee of real protection is the creation of a Community Park. Red por la Defensa de la Precordillera calls for new mobilizations to achieve the definitive protection of the forest.
Red por la Defensa de la Precordillera, communications team. January 2016.
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