(Note from the editor: The Notes are comments from the Protect Todos Santos.org to an article published by El Sudcaliforniano newspaper) and not necessarily the opinion of this publication.
The ordinary session of the La Paz City Council approved by a majority vote the update of the Todos Santos – Pescadero – Las Playitas and Los Barriles – El Cardonal Subregional Urban Development Programs (PDU is the acronym in Spanish), as well as the creation of the Sargento – La Ventana – Los Planes Partial Plan.
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These planning instruments are to generate land use planning in the areas of greatest growth, establishing urban development zones, land use, land use policies, new roads and strategic projects. These include spaces for schools, hospitals and landfills.
Note: admission they see our areas as areas for the greatest future growth
Note: The Todos Santos plan did not show the locations, plans, cost estimates or funding for roads, schools, hospitals and landfills. In the Baja Sur Vision 2030 which is a study of the infrastructure needs for Baja Sur, not a single project for Todos Santos is planned mentioned.
The consultation and dialogue work began in February 2023 through the Municipal Planning Institute of La Paz (IMPLAN) and the General Directorate of Integrated City Management, with the participation of the community in multiple workshops, work sessions and a public consultation, in accordance with the provisions of the State Law of Urban Development of Baja California Sur.
Note: in Todos Santos there were no workshops, just presentations by the authors of the plan that got very heated because no one in attendance wanted us to lose our current PDU. The community-created plan was created over 5 years and was enacted in 2012. This new plan takes away all the protections of the Todos Santos PDU. For example, the Todos Santos PDU had the population growing to 25,000 by 2030 and the new PDU says there is room for the population to grow to 150,000 but does not give a date and does not describe where the water to serve these people will come from.
As part of the process, the inhabitants of these communities participated in 12 face-to-face hearings with the attendance of 497 people; in addition, weekly virtual sessions were held with 199 participants and 103 individual consultations were attended at IMPLAN’s facilities.
Note: IMPLAN only held 3 events in Todos Santos which were IMPLAN presentations, not workshops or an opportunity to provide feedback where people could participate. And there was not a single meeting after the final version of the plan was issued in January of 2024 which had major changes to the zoning rules. There was not an adequate response to our community’s deep concerns and the illegalities the community found in the plan. In addition, their plan did not even use current aquifer extraction data showing that double the amount of water recharged in an average year was being extracted due to the existing growth.
This citizen participation exercise allowed people to express their doubts, proposals and considerations, consolidating a territorial planning instrument based on legality and prosperity for those who currently live in these areas and for future generations.
Note: The community asked IMPLAN to let us edit the plan they proposed, but they refused.
With the authorization of these programs, the delegations of El Sargento, Todos Santos and Los Barriles will have planned the development and protection of their natural areas. In the last 15 years, these delegations have experienced disorderly growth that has caused a social imbalance in settlements and services.
Note: This is so untrue for Todos Santos. Our plan provided for orderly growth and limits based on the limited water resources. Todos Santos now has a plan that will create growth beyond the resources of water and power that are available to us.
In this way, the Municipality of La Paz seeks to organize rural communities and local lands, which, due to the lack of planning and well-established regulations, were plundered by people alien to the welfare and quality of life of the municipality.
Note: The reality is they are taking beautiful rural communities and delicate ecosystems with inadequate water to meet the needs of the current population and turning them into resort communities. It is inaccurate to claim our land was plundered by people alien to the welfare and quality of life of the municipality. I would like to know who these “aliens” are because our local communities were just sold out to the development community.
If you want to join the organizations’ efforts to have the PDU changed, go to www.protecttodossantos.org
