On one final a very sad note there was a horrible occurrence on our street last Friday. I was on my way in the morning to go over to see Antonio our mortgage broker and when I got near Pacific Plaza I found this tree lying in the middle of the street. If you want to know why then you can go on to read my latest article of development here gone mad.
This article is going to the Tico Times for printing. Now many have concerns over the time it has taken for us to get our permits even with that said I do not condone what others have done and have no intention of ever following in their footsteps just for the sake of expediency.
The process needs to apply to all for very good reasons and all the reasons for not doing so are so contradictory to what our project stands for in the first place and the type of people that want to own here and stay here will in the long run both be most appreciative of those efforts that we make each and every day to make this dream come about.

Have yourself a great easter.

Trevor

Speaking out on Development Gone Mad!!!

I read your front-page article of March 16th with great interest from two points of interest, that being from one that loves Costa Rica and that also of a small developer here. I think it is high time that those of us who do not come to Costa Rica to be rapers and plunderers to speak out and condemn those that have come here for most obviously less than high ideals. Those of us who have strong ties and interests in our paradise here cannot ignore the obviously positive affects that development and a strong inflow of foreign capital into the country can generate. Yes I want to see these positive affects for all ex-pats and Ticos alike. However, with that being said, to do so without checks and balances on developers gone mad cannot ever justify environment hara-kiri and the toll that will take on future citizens and residents of Costa Rica.

Stripping the top off of the Fila Costena and not spending a ton of money on erosion control to stabilize dirt in an area of heavy rainfall (over 4 meters a year) so that all this pollution cannot wash down stream into the rivers and ocean is just plain stupid, irresponsible and ignorant to the environment left behind for others. Let's get to the bottom line; this is only being motivated by one objective, greed.
The objective is to simply wring every cent out of a piece of property and make a return on investment (R.O.I.) unheard of in developed markets is just plain offensive and this developer and others of this ilk should be in only one place… JAIL!!!! If you pulled stunts like this in Canada, that is exactly where you would end up.

I am in awe of the amount of money and level of profit that I know most are making on their developments here. Such a level of return just simply does not exist way up north, hence why such acts against the environment are even more offensive as it is not caused by a lack of money to clean up after yourself. It is caused by an unwillingness to put back into the project and community as a whole. That is the real insult added to the injury. I might add that many owners/investors of such developments don't even live here so they have no tie or REAL concern to what they leave behind. This of course is why those of us that do come here to be responsible developers need to speak up and condemn such actions and attitudes louder than anyone else.

The one excuse given is that the appropriate departments are understaffed and cannot keep an eye on such plunderers. Well folks, I call you to action when you see such things happening in your back yard. Yell, scream, do what ever it takes to bring such atrocities to the attention of the appropriate authorities to correct such in the bud. WE should never see ghastly pictures like this showing what happened after the fact rather than such activities being nipped in the bud.

Now most Ticos in these out of the way places will not bite the hand that feeds them, nor is it their style to go on the attack of the wealthy and worldly rapist developer. Some may even view such with awe instead of the contempt they so richly deserve. Now the other common thread through your article was from developers complaining on how long it takes to get approvals. Well sorry folks, that is a sad excuse and is just plain B.S. Out there in the real world that is not run like the wild-wild-west it is not uncommon for a major development to take a year plus to get approvals and for the developer to have to prove their case of a well-organized responsible development. That is why these laws should and do exist in the first place; to reign in the irresponsible not the majority of us that do have a concern for what we leave behind in our paradise.

Those that make this statement automatically qualify themselves as being completely ignorant and proves they have never developed anything anywhere in the U.S.A. or Canada. This time lag is not uncommon where there is a serious concern for the future citizens. This is all quite do-able following the law, for an example to prove this point, we have waited by patiently to build our own project legally and have not built even a doghouse without a permit. We even suffered a slightly longer process due to the fact that we initiated environmental protections higher than those required by law by using technology not known in Costa Rica for wastewater treatment. Those same standards are also why we initiated energy saving technology to lower our demands on the grid system to help ICE cope with where to get the power from for all this new expansion.

Costa Rica is marketed around the world and ICT spends millions a year promoting but one motto, "No Artificial Ingredients". Now I ask you dear readers and lovers of Costa Rica, how does stripping tops off of mountains, building high rises on turtle beaches and cutting down 300 year old trees on public property fit into this motto? I submit to all, not worth shit! In fact it undermines all that most of us love about this country and such acts of insanity threaten to choke the real golden goose. I am now in my sixth year of living in Costa Rica and have noticed this "rape and plunder" mentality has taken off like a rocket in the past year in particular. What we need to do is get most aggressive, both people and government, in turning this tide and telling these low life type developers to hit the road and go find their wild-wild-west someplace else that will tolerate such insanity. Yes that is what it is: complete insanity. I sure do not know how you can call stripping the top off of a mountain anything but that. I sure do not know how the developer behind Diamond Towers on the south end of Hermosa Beach (you may have noticed their huge add adorning the walls of the airport) can come here and suggest building side by side 17 story towers in front of a turtle nesting beach, in a wetland area full of birds and in front of what is known around the world as one of the very best surfing beaches with the most consistent winds and surfs anywhere to be found, as being environmentally intelligent.

What could possibly drive such insanity other than greed and how to wring millions out of each square meter of beach bought for pennies? How exactly are you going to shroud a 17-story monster from emitting light pollution to scare off our dwindling turtle population? What other reason could possibly be driving this insanity to build two ugly monsters on what is currently a totally deserted beach. I have news for all; Costa Rica still has hundreds of kilometers of desolate beach that we hardly need to pollute the skyline with such idiotic ideas there is plenty of space left to build intelligent low-density developments. High rise towers is an urban planning design for a city population base suited for South Beach and Rodeo Drive, would you please tell me where the city is at Hermosa Beach??? Dear perspective buyer have you considered what your protection is when a disaster strikes a tower in the middle of no where, one that most likely does not have fire sprinklers and it sure as hell does not have a ladder truck to rescue your ass off of the fourth story let alone the seventeenth. An urban setting with an urban population has equipment to protect your hinny in the event of a disaster, the jungle does not nor should not meet the needs of an urban product that is misguided and most certainly misplaced on any level of sanity. I cannot imagine the possibility of this nightmarish idea getting anything but a thumbs-down from every regulatory authority. No doubt this wise developer does not promote the real environmental impact issues with their perspective buyers that are putting deposits on something that should not have a snowball's chance in hell of being approved, EVER.

Just as a third and final proof as to how far this insanity has gone happened the morning of March 30th when I happened upon a centuries year old Saba tree, that has been in the center of the street in Jaco long before Jaco even existed, lying in the middle of the street beside Plaza Coral. Why you might ask? Well it appears that our developer neighbour got it in his wee mind that this tree on public lands had to go as it was not esthetically pleasing hence needed replacing by a fountain. So they went to Garabito Municipality and got a permit to cut such down who then obliged without a word to anyone else in the neighbourhood. Of those I have discussed this with none are so inclined to agree that you end the life of a tree of this stature with the sole benefit of making one Gringo developer happy especially one who thinks what makes a forest is a meter wide strip along his fence. Our project is on this same street and we no more considered removing this tree than cutting our right arms off. A tree that has survived centuries of Ticos was done in simply because one newly arrived Gringo demands changes to suit his personal view of public property without anyone asking WHY??? It is hard for me to express the volumes this speaks of those behind such nor how much such attitudes truly disgust me.

Are these examples of how one carries forth responsible community minded development? If it is then I guess I am the one that is mad as a hatter then!!!!

My final plea is for those that are investing in property here or moving here to be cognizant of where you are putting your money, is it environmentally sound and respectful of your new neighbours?

Each raindrop is responsible for the flood!!!!

Trevor Chilton
Jardines de Ensuenos, Jaco Beach