THE Dagupan City council has endorsed the establishment of a multi-million peso hotel and resort project proposed by the CSI Group of Companies owned by the family of Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez.

However, other permits needed for the construction of the project may not be immediately issued by the city government.

Voting 9-1 with one abstention, the council certified the project after conducting a committee hearing on Friday on the draft resolution (No. 4668) proposed by Councilor Maybelyn Fernandez, the majority floor leader.

The endorsement will be submitted to the city’s zoning office, which will then have to issue a location clearance, a requirement for the issuance of a building permit by the city engineer.

But the issuance of the location clearance may not be forthcoming as Mayor Benjamin Lim recently issued a memo instructing the City Planning and Development Coordinator and the City Zoning Officer to refrain from giving such clearances for projects to be built on former fishpond lands that were backfilled with only an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) as basis.

The CSI Hotel and Resort, envisioned to be of international standard, will be built at the company’s property along the new Judge Jose R. de Venecia Expressway Extension in Barangay Lucao, Dagupan City.

COUNCIL VOTE

Only Councilor Marc Brian Lim, the mayor’s son, opposed the resolution while his colleague in the minority, Councilor Redford Erfe-Mejia, abstained.

Lim also opposed the joint committee report prepared by six council committees, namely: land utilization as the lead committee, laws and ordinances, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, environment and health and sanitation.

The vice mayor, who sits as the presiding officer of the council, and Councilor Jeslito Seen inhibited themselves from the discussion of the resolution.

Fernandez’s family owns the CSI Group of Companies while Seen is related to the family by affinity.

Councilor Alvin Coquia, chair of the committee on land utilization, said the CSI Hotel and Resort is in line with the “people’s economic vision for the city”.

The council eventually approved the resolution after the department heads were a no-show during the committee’s hearing on August 13.

The committee decided to hold its hearing at the City Planning and Development Office and the city’s engineering office after the department heads failed to appear before the council following an order from the mayor.

Mayor Lim protested the use of the engineering office for the committee’s hearing since no prior advice was given him as chief executive.

LEGAL COMPLIANCE

Coquia pointed out that the hotel’s plan as an eco-tourism facility adheres to environment-friendly requirements.

It will have two sewage treatment plants and a recycling facility to collect and process all solid wastes and will also use solar energy for some of its power needs.

As to the fear that the project might increase the incidence of flood in the city, Professor Nicanor Melecio, an urban planning expert and a known environmentalist, said that the hotel’s plan to construct adequate drainage and cross drainage and a three-meter water way should dispel such fears.

Melecio, a former environmental consultant of Mayor Lim, added that since it will be built in Barangay Lucao, identified as one of three new growth areas in the city under the city’s zoning ordinance of 2005, there should be no legal impediment to its location.

The zoning ordinance was based on the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) adopted by the city in 2003, which identified Barangays Lucao, Caranglaan and Bonuan as new growth nodes of Dagupan.

The committees, in defending their joint resolution, cited retired Municipal Trial Court Judge George Mejia’s reference to Section 458 paragraph (2) letter (x) of the Local Government Code, which states that the processing and approval of subdivision plans for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes and other development purposes is the exclusive jurisdiction of the city council.

Councilor Lim earlier asserted that the project should first be approved by the Mayor’s office before the council could act on it.

BENEFITS

The six committees that prepared the report said the CSI project is expected to generate as many as 200 jobs for Dagupan City residents.

“Having a world class hotel and resort in our midst will consequently carry with it positive ‘externalities’ to its surroundings and more visitors who will spend their money in Dagupan, resulting in more stimuli for the economy,” the report said.-LM

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