The Secretary of Environment (Semarnat) in Jalisco, Raúl Rodgríguez Rosales, reported that the government agency stopped the construction of four condominium developments in Puerto Vallarta for not complying with regulations. The four construction projects closed are Carmelina, Harbor 171, Soho, and D’Vine.
The official indicated that Semarnat was investigating 30 reports of violations, and unfortunately, issues with four construction projects in Puerto Vallarta could not be resolved and ended in the closure of the construction site by force.
Closures were carried out by Semarnat and the National Guard.
The Carmelina project, with 52 planned condominiums, had been closed previously. Carmelina, which had already been closed, insisted on continuing construction, although they were notified last year of violations in building restrictions in the Conchas Chinas zone. This was the second order to end construction due to building violations.
In addition to closures were Soho on Highway 200 towards Mismaloya, Harbor 171 on Febronio Uribe Street on Camarones Beach, and D’vine in Emiliano Zapata.
Soho was notified last year that their building application was inadmissible, and Harbor 171 was approved for two towers of 13 floors, but actual construction has reached 28 to 28 floors.
So far, the head of Semarnat said he has only address issues at these four developments, however, there were at least an additional four developments under construction in the area that are in violation of building codes and could be closed in the near future.
Rosales indicated that he would expect the developments to continue working even with an order to stop construction. He says that the City Council of Puerto Vallarta has approved large amounts of developments without environmental impact studies, setting up a court fight between the city and the state environmental regulatory body.
