by amapaspv | Aug 1, 2014 | Junta Vecinal, News | Noticias
ANA Board Meets PDC Members
[Version Español] PUERTO VALLARTA JULY 30, 2014: The Amapas Neighborhood Association announced today that its Board has voted unanimously to join forces with the Polígono de Desarrollo Controlado del Centro Histórico de Puerto Vallarta (PDC), a new Association of all Neighborhood Associations in Puerto Vallarta’s central and tourist zones. PDC’s mission is to work with government entities and other civic associations to promote the interests of the combined region business and homeowners.
“The Amapas Neighborhood Association in the last 4 years has grown nearly 10 times to membership of over 300 neighbors, including 18 condo buildings in Amapas,” said President Tom Swale. “We were voted as the official Junta Vecinal which has the legal right by the State of Jalisco to represent neighbors in front of government entities. Our interests in fighting for better security, controlled and responsible development, and investment in infrastructure and government services such as trash collection and ecological protection are the same as our neighbors in the PDC. We are proud to join such a forward looking organization.”
“The PDC is delighted to welcome ANA to be the [5]th neighborhood association to become a part of our organization,” said Ricardo Simental, General Coordinator of the PDC. “Together, we have a stronger voice with various government entities to make sure that we make good investments in Puerto Vallarta’s Centro to improve economic development, tourism, the environment to the benefit of business and homeowners whose heart lies in our neighborhoods.”
One of the first orders of business for the Centro is to develop a Parcial Urban Development Plan or “Plan Parcial” for District 8 such as has been approved for District 9, which includes Amapas and was sponsored by the ANA. “All of us must work together to be sure that these plans are respected by developers and the government, so that we can maintain the special character of Puerto Vallarta which has drawn so many to our beautiful destination in the first place”, said Simental. “We look forward to working together with ANA to make Vallarta even better in the years to come, while enhancing our economic development.”
This alliance does not affect the operations of the ANA operating independently, but as part of PDC we will have a greater voice in city affairs and with government entities.
by amapaspv | Jul 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
Determined Residents Walk into UMA office
Tuesday morning, a group of about 20 Amapas neighbors descended on Vallarts’s ‘New City Hall’ in a show of unity and determination to have a long-idle construction crane above Calle Hortensias removed from its perch.
Neighbors have complained for years about the huge green construction crane which has loomed over the unfinished foundations of two condo towers planned to complete the Villas de la Colina II project, since construction stalled around 2008-2009.
For the past five years, the crane has stood as both a monster local eyesore and a monument to a changing real estate market. Repeated promises that new funding was on the way and construction would soon resume have remained unfulfilled. And previous requests to the developer, and to the City to have the crane taken down have gone unheeded.
In April, concerned about the crane’s maintenance and stability, and their own safety during the high winds of the coming summer storms, more than two dozen neighbors signed a petition to Director of City Planning Ing. Francisco Altamirano to have the crane removed.
On June 26, concerned neighbors noticed that, after five years of immobility, the crane’s long, erector-set arms and thousands of pounds of counterweights had begun to spin, swinging in the wind. Our ANA Administrator quickly filed a petition requesting an immediate inspection, and City inspectors served a citation to the architect in charge of the development, Sr. Manuel Orozco.
Events culminated on the following Tuesday, when neighbors representing the Hortensias and Gardenias areas converged on UMA (the City’s new administrative offices), and an official warning was delivered to Sr. Orozco: the crane must be taken down within 30 days. If the crane is not down by then, a fine of $30,000 pesos will be levied.
The 30 days are definitive, and compliance is mandatory. If another 30 days passes without the crane’s removal, an additional $30,000 peso fine will be imposed.
The Amapas neighbors have been promised that the crane will come down, even if the City itself has to accomplish the removal.
The developers have a right to appeal the City’s order, and the final decision may be left to a municipal judge.
Check our website – www.amapaspv.com – for updates on this, and other neighborhood news and ANA actions.
by amapaspv | Jun 23, 2014 | Development, Uncategorized
In response to a follow-up call from our Administrator, Architect Mirna Luz C. Montalvo, who is in charge of inspections in this area, informed him of the following:
This project has been monitored weekly since its start, due to the nature of the building and the possible danger from erosion from adjacent inclines.
The site was visited last wednesday, however, it was under lock and key and the inspectors had no access to the property- they left a citation.
On Friday they returned and accessed a neighbors property on Carretera Barra de Navidad and were informed of the erosion. They proceeded to talk to the engineer in charge of the project, who in turn started to pump concrete on the eroded hill on Saturday. This was ordered by the same inspecting architect in order to avoid further erosion and destruction.
The engineer was also notified of his obligation to repair the damage done to the adjacent properties, in this case, build a retention wall and fill in the eroded portion of the damaged property.
Furthermore, Architect Mirna, informed our administrator of the Engineer’s plan to channel the descending storm water from that crosses through the lot in construction, and to construct a storm drain in front of the property where the deflected water will be directed. ANA will be on watch for this and will keep you posted on the progress. 
by amapaspv | Jun 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
D’Terrace’s illegal construction is currently threatening collapse via landslides of neighboring structures.
In May, ANA officially informed the AMPI, Puerto Vallarta’s real estate association, that the construction of D’Terrace – a new 9-story condo tower under construction in the heart of Amapas – exceeds the limits of the District 9 Plan Parcial.
We notified AMPI that PRODEUR (Jalisco State Attorney General) has announced it will file a lawsuit to nullify the permits, which could result in D’Terrace’s demolition. D’Terrace’s permit and advertised size are double the living space that local law allows, and about 30 feet taller. The new development is represented by Applegate Realtors, an AMPI member.
To protect their clients, ANA asked that AMPI realtors not sell units in the building to unsuspecting buyers until D’Terrace conforms to the District 9 Plan Parcial – the zoning law in Amapas since September, 2012.
This week, AMPI President Harriet Murray published a letter to the ANA in her regular weekly PV Mirror ‘Viewpoint’ column, defending AMPI’s policy of looking the other way, by blaming the city for developments that aren’t in accordance with the law. AMPI’s public reply made two specific claims:
- “AMPI is not a judge” of the legality of developments. But actually it is. AMPI manages their MLS system to ensure that Developers meet certain standards for listing in the MLS. Promoting the sale of these properties is condoning them – that is, judging them – favorably.
- The ANA “does not have the right to request AMPI, or our members, to refrain from selling a property that is operating within the legalities set forth by the Municipality.” But, as the legal representative of Amapas, and having sponsored the zoning law – the District 9 Plan Parcial – it is not only our ‘right’, but our duty to defend this law.
Here is the AMPI letter in full:
Asociación Vallartense de Profesionales Inmobiliarios, A.C.
Dear Amapas Homeowner’s Association,
AMPI as an organization requires our members to have certain documents in order to represent a pre-construction development to the public.
Among the list of required documentation is a copy of the construction license. Construction licenses involve review by the Municipality using a number of building requirements.
AMPI cannot be held responsible for the acts of governmental bodies or judge the validity of such when the documents presented by our clients are deemed to be filed with the Municipality in good faith.
In the particular case involving D’Terrace, AMPI respects the point of view of the Amapas Association, but unless the license is revoked, it remains a valid document before the Municipality.
AMPI suggests, and includes in our purchase-offer contracts, that buyers of pre-construction developments seek independent qualified legal counsel to help perform due diligence.
AMPI is in favor of legality and planned organized growth, but AMPI is not a Judge.
The Amapas Homeowner’s Association has the right to oppose matters that they believe damage the colonia, however the Association does not have the right to request AMPI, or our members, to refrain from selling a property that is operating within the legalities set forth by the Municipality and has the proper documentation, unless it obtains a suspension or a different resolution.
We request that you make our response available on your Association Facebook for others to read.
The Board of the Amapas Neighborhood Association and Junta Vecinal feel AMPI’s position, as stated above, is inadequate, and its ‘let the buyer beware and get their own lawyer’ attitude is not in the best interests of the buyers it purports to conscientiously represent. To simply declare, “D’Terrace has a building permit, end of story” is to be willfully blind to the problem, and condoning the issuance of building permits that are clearly outside the boundaries of established law.
ANA asks ALL realtors to simply disclose to their clients the truth: a PRODEUR lawsuit challenging the lawfulness of D’Terrace – or any other new development – could result in the building’s demolition at worst, and at best may cause problems with passing title to buyers for many years until lawsuits are resolved.
AMPI claims to be in favor of legal and planned growth. But selling buildings that defy local zoning laws is, in fact, helping to undermine those very laws. AMPI can’t have it both ways.
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