Follow up on the hill development in Ajijic

Dear Lakeside Expat Friend/s,

It's time to take action to thwart an illegal construction project, which if built will impact every one of us who enjoys living at the Lakeside communities, It will forever change our beloved landscape as we look to the hills, not to mention wreak environmental havoc on this sacred place. IT'S NOT A RUMOR ANY LONGER!

Chimalli Axixic

The Chimalli (from Nahuatl:Shield) was the traditional defensive armament of the indigenous states of Mesoamerica. These shields varied in design and purpose: in this case the purpose of using this word, as chosen by the Organizing Committee (comprised of Lakeside Mexicans and members of the expat community), is our call "to shield" the hillside above Ajijic from further development. Unless we rise up together and quickly stop it, it will be slated for a major construction project comprising some 30 hectares.

What many of us heard was only a rumor about the Tepalo facing a destructive facelift with a massive development project is already in the works, (albeit illegally).

This email has a twofold purpose:

1. To announce an initial meeting for the purpose of organizing action committees. The meeting is slated for Saturday, December 8 (one week from today) at 4:00 pm at the Cultural Center on the Plaza of Ajijic.
2. To solicit your financial support for the purpose of hiring an environmental lawyer from Mexico City (who has already been vetted by the Organizing Committee). In fact, all members of the committee chipped in to raise $4,000 pesos to open an account at Bancomer on the Plaza. Initially, we need to raise a total of $25,000 pesos for our lawyer to begin his work of saving the hillside and fighting the illegal action. It is estimated that the work will cost between $100,000 to $200,000 pesos.

if you can make a contribution, please go to Bancomer on the Ajijic Plaza and make your deposit into account # 0468878021.

The sooner we raise the money, the better, as time is of the essence. With the holiday season soon upon us, we can't afford to wait.

More information will of course follow but because of the urgency of this matter, I am sending this brief notice out now and will be happy to respond to any of your concerns or questions.

Sincerely,

Tim Boeve, expat Secretary
Chimalli Axixic Organizing Committee

CC: Lina Doyle, Dee Dee Camhi, Azucena Campos, Doug Reid (some members of the Organizing Committee)

P.S. Please forward this to any of your expat friends who may not have had a chance to sign the petition several weeks ago when signatures and email addresses were collected at the Plaza



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Thank you, Brigitte....
I hope everyone shows up on Sat Dec 8 at the Cultural Center to show you care about what happens to the hills above us.

So is anyone here able to provide further info after attending this meeting?

According to TOB, no one from the muni showed up.

Well personally I am not against development if it is done tastefully and in the theme of the surroundings. I wouldn't allow them within so many meters of any waterfalls, etc. It is eventually coming no matter what. I would however insist that any of these developments pay to put in a bypass from the libriemento into their complexes (with no direct access to/from the caraterra) and pay to upgrade the water, electrical and sewage treatment plants accordingly.

I think it is very significant that no one from the govt. showed up at the meeting.  This development will probably go forward, with or without what Bob suggested.

I asked Hector why the muni wouldn't cut a deal to give the restaurant at the end of the Ajijic pier a permit as long as they paid for all repairs to the park and malecon. He said "it doesn't work that way here". They need to start making it work that way here...…..

Hector is telling you what you want to hear..as far as the developments , it is not one but many all over the municipality that were granted permit without change of zoning , without study on the impact on the area.. They cannot pick up garbage, sewer have black water going into the lake , there are pots holes everywhere, the traffic is getting worse, services are getting worse and that will only make things worse since there is NO urban planning, no general plan to upgrade the infrastructures and so on.. The government of Chapala i known to be one of the worse in Jalisco as far as transparency is concerned and the new government seems to be following the old.. so good luck on improving the area.. It may look pretty from the distance but like many Latin American places not so pretty up close.

Yep.
And Harry believes everything they tell him too.

They are using the same old excuse that previous governments have used - that the old regime left them a mess with no money and they can’t do anything because of it.  Well, sorry but how would it cost anything to put an at least temporary halt to something like this pending review?  I hope I’m wrong but I’m guessing some grease is being applied already.  Same old, same old...

The old government issued a whole lot of permits with a whole lot of "irregularites" It was in the Mexican papers that they had found more than 100 projects with irregularities so the new government has 2 choices, burry the whole thing or fight it and guess what they are doing?
When the rumors started surfacing that they were a large numbers of such projects all over the municipality, the group fighting for the Tepalo and the hills in Ajijic asked the new government about the rumors and they were told they were only rumors.
When the lots appeared on the real estate lists they and to have a lawyer to get the new government to admit they were not rumors.
They asked the presidents for a meeting and it did not show up twice..
So the position of the new government is pretty clear.. and no one should be surprised they did not show up or send a representative.
It is obvious that a Federal lawyer needs to be involved as anything local will be buried on its way up.
The municipal government cannot change zoning of communal land without a public hearing and in that case a environment impact study both ere for some reason skipped and communal land is being sold as residential.. That is not to give me a whole lot of trust in the new municipal government..

And there is always the possibility this development is a "silver or lead" deal with the local cartel...….it would be one reason why El Presidente is a no show.

There are lots of possibilities and I think this one is farfetched..

Really, I sure don't. I am surprised you would think it is "far fetched" for the cartel to be involved in real estate developments. They have their hands in everything from avocados to mining. Half the vacant strip malls on the caraterra from Chapala to Joco are money laundering devices......

Gotta agree with C-Bob. They have buckets of pesos to do something with so it seems to me to be entirely possible.

I agree with CBobs theory.  And although its listed on the MLS I wouldn't bet just anyone can "buy" it. Nothing ever actually has to be built the property because the point of it all can be just to sell it and then have it be sold and resold and resold and sold again.  

But it can't be sold if it is communal land can it?  And it can't or shouldn't be rezoned without public hearings and all kinds of environmental studies which didn't happen.   Of course it can be purchased as long as no buyer objects to it not having been correctly rezoned and no one actually wants to build on it.

Can't you pick out the laundering places along the highway? Make it a game.

Someone on this forum who has lived here a very long time once suggested that whatever "approvals" this project may have once received were likely granted by authorities WAY above the municipal level.

That makes sense to me, and would shed light on - and not contradict - any of the local inaction and sub-theories expressed above.

But then who knows? None of us, I bet.

I think that scenario makes the most sense too.

Yes it is a way more logical explanation considering that there are many projects not just one all over the municipality to develop this area and eventually make it part of the greater Guadalajara.. Some projects are financed by foreign investors , other by the University of Guadalajara and who knows what the others..The indigenous community does not live on the land bether do they work it so it is the perfect opportunity for them to cash in as well..  Meanwhile some of the projects are starting without al the necessary paperwork and no one from the government is doing anything about it..turns out the tower in La Floresta is one of the many irregularities as well.. surprise surprise..
I just wsh the municipality could buy some of this land to preserve some green areas in the hills.. It is a shame to see all these projects coming up without any decent urban planning and without any plans to improve the infrastructure which is already failing.

Agree, Brigitte.
What's happening here reminds me somewhat of what went on in the Los Angeles area (CA) during my growing up years there. Homes went up on unstable beach side cliffs; everybody burned their trash in incinerators and traffic jams were "normal". The air became un-breathable, among other things, and although the situation was improved by legislation in later years, it was never again the clear blue skies and "Sunday drives" that I remembered from long, long ago.

I am a bit surprised by the naivete shown by some residents in supposing this development can be stopped at this late date. Too bad nobody knew about it in its beginning, when perhaps it could have been exposed to the public eye and possibly stopped. But...we'll see.

Also, I don't think Bob's suspicion about whose fingers are in the dish is far fetched, either. Most of the stuff going on is not visible to us.

I believe the Tepalo still can be saved nothing really  great has happened there , some others that have started construction so it is a little different. I guess it depends on the situation. The Tepalo is on communal land so that is a different story that lots on private land.Anything can be done both sides with money and influence.
I do not thing threats needs to be used when there is plenty of money involved so for that reason I do not believe in the plomo o plata scenario.

People in Chiapas stop freeways and all kinds of projects a whole lot more important than those but that requires for villages and people to work together and believe me , that one I know.. you cannot get more crooked than down there.
It all depends on how committed local people are .

Rosa Venus wrote:
Someone on this forum who has lived here a very long time once suggested that whatever "approvals" this project may have once received were likely granted by authorities WAY above the municipal level.

That makes sense to me, and would shed light on - and not contradict - any of the local inaction and sub-theories expressed above.

But then who knows? None of us, I bet.

And I still believe that is the case. More to do with money and "connections" than drug cartel threats.

Money and "connections" are, as the Chinese put it, "heavenly grease".

The last I heard about the protest group, they were going to hire a lawyer from Mexico City, and that would cost over $200,000 pesos. I wonder why one from so far away was chosen?? To avoid retaliation on a local, possibly?

the price is $100 000 not 2 so far and it has to be a federal lawyer as communal land indigenous rights, Federal zone and land and other subject are resolved by the Federal courts. Nothing strange about it.
Nothing to do with retaliation.

brigitte wrote:the price is $100 000 not 2 so far and it has to be a federal lawyer as communal land indigenous rights, Federal zone and land and other subject are resolved by the Federal courts.  Nothing strange about it.
Nothing to do with retaliation.

Thanks for the explanation. A friend sent me an official page from the organization and this was what piqued my curiosity:
"2. To solicit your financial support for the purpose of hiring an environmental lawyer from Mexico City (who has already been vetted by the Organizing Committee). In fact, all members of the committee chipped in to raise $4,000 pesos to open an account at Bancomer on the Plaza. Initially, we need to raise a total of $25,000 pesos for our lawyer to begin his work of saving the hillside and fighting the illegal action. It is estimated that the work will cost between $100,000 to $200,000 pesos."