Municipality of La Florida working on a new zoning plan for Bosque Panul

The municipal council approved last Wednesday the initiation of a new amendment for Bosque Panul. Mayor Rodolfo Carter proposed the measure, which seeks to create a "private green area" in part of the forest, keeping ownership in the hands of real estate developers. The measure is inadequate, as it does not create a public park, does not address the current subdivision project submitted by the real estate company, and does not eliminate the streets defined over the forest in the municipality's Road Plan, among other issues.

-The current zoning plan in force since 2015 allows subdivision and urbanization projects in the forest.

In January of this year, the real estate company Gesterra, owner of Fundo Panul, submitted a subdivision and road construction project, availing itself of the current Zoning Plan approved by Rodolfo Carter in 2015 — a plan that was promoted as "the savior of the forest."

The Mayor stated through various media outlets that this subdivision had been rejected, but the truth is that the project is still proceeding before the Dirección de Obras, and as long as this project is not rejected, any zoning plan proposal will be meaningless.

-A new Zoning Plan for Bosque Panul?

This Wednesday June 23, the municipal council approved initiating a change to the Zoning Plan (No. 14). The Mayor's proposal is to create a "private green area" in part of the forest — which, in addition to coming too late, does not create a public park, does not address the streets planned over the forest in the municipality's Road Plan, and excludes important sections of Panul, such as the lower part. Coincidentally, it is in this zone where two of the lots from the project submitted by Gesterra are located.

Moreover, the Municipality has not submitted the project for Strategic Environmental Assessment (EAE).

-A closed process, with no publicity or public participation.

Some council members received this proposal just a few hours before the vote, with no information and little time for analysis. If we are talking about a matter of transcendental importance for the urban planning of our municipality, the proposal cannot be handled this way — rushed and poorly done — but requires greater reflection and public participation.

-Community proposal to protect Bosque Panul.

We hope that the Mayor, and in some matters the Municipal Council, will make a gesture of genuine protection for our last urban forest in Santiago, and among other measures:

-Reject the ongoing subdivision project by Gesterra

-Request from Minvu a freeze on construction permits in the precordillera

-Present a change to the Zoning Plan that:

1. a) Creates a "declaration of public utility" making the entirety of Bosque Panul (including zone E-AM-2) a designated park
2. b) Eliminates the streets planned over the forest that the real estate company is requesting to urbanize
3. c) Incorporates the entire ecosystem. The forest is a single unit and destroying part of it will irreversibly affect the rest.

-Explore alternatives for creating a Public Park in the forest, through an official appraisal, and use their authority to purchase and/or expropriate at a fair price.

-Develop a new, participatory and democratic Zoning Plan, open to the public, with timely and concrete information.

-Enact a municipal ordinance protecting our soils and prohibiting the illegal extraction of natural resources from the precordillera.

These are simple measures that, if implemented, would move in the right direction to protect Bosque Panul. Other measures are patches for past mistakes and will accomplish nothing today.

Mayor Carter's proposal is inadequate and does not resolve the current problems — several of which were created under his own administration.

The community will always support measures that genuinely advance the protection of our territory.

Red por la Defensa de la Precordillera

June 29, 2021