S.C. Association minutes for 7/19/05

APFS, A.C. Meeting 25
July 19, 2005
Held at Haramara Retreat at 9a.m.

The Sayulita-only portion of the meeting began shortly after nine. Four people were present (Ken, Coco, Greg and Greg). With the possibility that Dr. Szekely will be here some time next week, we went over the issues we are involved in with him: Villa Amor; the 2002 UDP (County Master Plan) and the mechanism for presenting our suggested changes; infrastructure (particularly water and wastewater) concerns and opportunities; and the new Punta de Mita highway. We think we will have one more meeting to "script" our questions, but there was a sense that we know what we want from him. (We have had little or no response from our email community with additional concerns, so we guess we're on the right track.)

A report from a second source underscored a fear expressed several weeks ago that the county would be put under enormous pressure (during this time of changing administrations) to bend and ignore the zoning laws and building codes that are currently in force. Landowners and developers are well aware of this and are trying to take advantage of the "opportunity." Big profits can be made when density requirements are not adhered to or when non-conforming uses are permitted. We talked about how our group might act under these circumstances, particularly in regard to Sayulita-based projects.

Recently, a CFE (Mexico's power company) subcontractor put in a quarter-mile long, high tension (concrete poles, lights, etc.) electric line through a neighborhood at the south end of town. The project was paid for by an American developer. There was no notice given to property-owners in the area and it is a real eyesore. Would it be appropriate for our association to play a part in a matter of this sort? Much the same thing happened with the microwave tower that was erected on Gringo Hill. Is there some way we can be notified by these companies when they plan projects in town that have significant impacts? How do we get our foot in the door? Feedback invited....

At around ten, Magdalena, Horst, Erik, Fernando and Patrice (La Cruz de Huanacaxtle) joined in and the meeting shifted to the area wide interests of the Green Coast Alliance (Alianza de la Costa Verde). An agenda was formulated. Erik reported on Thursday's (7/14) meeting in Tepic with government officials (including the Director of Public Works) regarding the Punta de Mita highway. (Background: Most of the people reading this cannot visualize the new road or imagine its potential impact as it bisects Sayulita. (See pictures attached) The new intersection at Highway 200 continues to be a major exercise in earth-moving in order to accommodate a left-turn lane for cars coming north and wanting to go into Sayulita. After yesterday's meeting, we were coming out of the road to Haramara and watched a van and truck speeding toward town on the unpaved road at about 60 mph. As designed, the road builders guess it will take about 7 minutes to drive the 11 kilometers from the Rte. 200 interchange to the Higuera Blanca turn-off where the highway becomes four lanes, 30 meters wide all the way to La Cruz. The project has been exempted from filing any environmental impact reports.) After some initial crankiness and posturing, the government people agreed to consider some of our group's suggestions on methods to make the road more eco-friendly and invited us to submit our ideas in writing.

On Saturday (7/16), the newly-appointed Director of SEMINART (environment), Martha Ruth, came and took a tour of the road construction with local representatives. She was shocked by the magnitude of the project and some of the impacts (for example, they filled in a mangrove swamp) on the jungle environment. She is ready to bring the weight of her agency to bear on the situation and not be seen as an "accomplice." A "Swearing of Facts," including dozens of photographs showing the most grievous violations, has been prepared by Jorge Careaga in association with Dr. Szekely. (When it is appropriate, we will post this document on our website - www.preservesayulita.org). We have a powerful case and are building a strong coalition with wonderful ideas for making the road an example of how to do it right. We are drafting a letter to the Director of Public Works commending them for being open to our input and suggesting ways for the dialogue to continue. We will also try to generate support for Martha Ruth so she feels she has company out on the limb.

As we build this coalition of coastal people, it is important we continue to work with the ejido (which represents the area from Lo de Marcos in the north all the way to Higuera Blanca). Toward this end, the Litibu people have continued to meet with Felix, a resident of Higuera Blanca and past-president of the ejido.

There is a meeting with La Cruz people at the Black Forest restaurant tonight. Ken, Erik, Fernando, Horst and Magdalena will attend.

We discussed the need to incorporate the Alliance. There are choices for how to do this and we will look into it further. Implicit in the work we are doing is the need to be both cooperative and compliant, but also to have a mean dog outside in our truck. We talked about how these different roles might play out organizationally. There was a suggestion that the community groups each appoint a representative to a seat on the Alliance to keep it from becoming unwieldy.

Horst, Magdalena, Erik and Greg read two-minute-plus "mission statements" from our individual associations, both as an exercise in brevity, as well as to set examples for what the Alliance might come up with in the same vein.

There was a suggestion that we continue to expand the Alliance by the inclusion of groups with specific interests (i.e. maritime concerns, the turtle people - El Grupo Ecologico de la Costa Verde, surfing organizations, Audubon, etc.).

The meeting ended at 1:30.

(Note from the acting secretary: Sajeela, Ken and Cyndy have worked at this for years. I (Greg Hewlett) came into Sayulita by accident on May 30 and from my journal..."hooked up with some Save Sayulita people (3/31)." We have put in countless hours as volunteers and feel we are making progress. We receive minimal feedback at contact@preservesayulita.org which is the only way we have of knowing whether there's anybody out there paying heed to what we are doing. I'll be leaving in mid-September and plan to settle somewhere else in Mexico. My assessment of the current situation: We need your support now more than ever and I don't mean just financial. Three hundred + people get these minutes. If just five people emailed us with your comments/suggestions (whatever!), it would make our week. Thanks.)

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 26, 2005 at 9:00am at Haramara Retreat

Thank you all for attending.

Write us at contact@preservesayulita.org
Visit our website at www.preservesayulita.org