News stories continued:
Continued:
Tourist boulevard is planned for Playas del
Coco
|
Coco's bar is the lone
holdout of the
structures that were in the 50-meter zone. |
One lonely restaurant remains standing on the beachfront strip
at Playas del Coco, clinging on to its spot months after its
neighbors were torn down by the municipality.
Coco's bar-restaurant is a rustic affair with a local atmosphere
— a contrast to some of the fancier joints ranging from cigar
bars to health-food cafés that have sprung up on Coco's main
street.
A line of some 15 bars, restaurants and abandoned buildings
fronted the Guanacaste beach until October but were doomed once
the government started to enforce its maritime law. The law
states that 50 meters inland from high tide mark is public land
and therefore cannot be built upon.
“In my experience, Coco's will have little luck opposing the
state's desire to clear the maritime zone,” said Canales
Francisco Canales, head of the Zona Maritima Terrestre
department of the Municipalidad de Carrillo. The municipality is
clearing the way for a tourist boulevard that will replace the
buildings, he added.
The owners of Coco's are currently in a legal process and
temporarily protected by a recurso de amparo or constitutional
appeal, but they are looking to relocate elsewhere.
|
This is the strip
where municipal officials hope
to put a tourist boulevard. This also is the site that
was cleared of encroaching structures. |
“I've been working here for years,” said Angela, a waitress at
Coco's. “They will knock it down in two to three months. Even if
the owners relocate and open a similar business further into the
town, I doubt I will work there. I guess I will stay in the
area, but it will be low season, and when the tourists are not
here it's very hard to find work.”
In place of the Tico families and locals who come to the bar for
a ceviche or to drink the day away, tourists may soon be
strolling along a boardwalk that will cost the municipality an
estimated $385,000.
“The municipality is currently at the stage of collecting
donations for the project,” said Canales.
“The mayor has a very special interest in seeing that this
project comes to light. Removing that strip of buildings has
been a very good thing for the town — now there is far less
contamination on the beach, and sufficient space for people to
walk freely by the sand.”
Plans include landscaping and water fountains, facilities such
as bathrooms and showers for tourists to use after a long day in
the ocean, and the re-planting of the maritime zone with native
trees.
|
Cortas -
Short News Stories |
More tourists
This year’s first quarter, the number of tourists
increased by 92,000 --or 17 percent—as compared to the
first three months in 2007. The overall number of
visitors corresponds to those flying into Juan
Santamaria and Daniel Oduber international airports.
According to Minister of Tourism Carlos Benavides, a
majority of the visitors come from the United States, in
spite of fears that recession in that nation would
result in a decrease in the number of leisure travelers.
China, coffee, and tourism
The consumption of coffee is increasing in China,
particularly by young people and the 40 million of
tourists who visit that nation every year. Costa Rican
growers are taking steps to take advantage of that fact,
said Rodrigo Vargas, of Doka Estate plantation in
Alajuela. He added that they are planning to take
advantage of Chinese tourism also, particularly with
tours to show them all of the steps of the production of
coffee. This surfaced in a visit by Chinese diplomats to
the plantation, which will be followed by that of high
authorities from Beijing.
More Delta flights
 The
Delta-Northwest merger would mean an eventual increase
in the number of flights to Costa Rica. Delta currently
operates 33 a week to the United States, 21 from Juan
Santamaria International Airport and 12 from Daniel
Oduber International Airport in Liberia. If the deal
comes through, it would be possible to add non-stop
flights to Juan Santamaria from Northwest’s hubs in
Detroit, Memphis, and Minneapolis.
Successful filming
The Chosen One, starring Rob Schneider, includes Los
Chorros Waterfall, in Grecia, and Arenal Ecology
Tropical Park, in La Fortuna, among its locations. The
filming was successfully completed at these locations, a
spokesperson for Costa Rica Production Support informed.
The rest of the film, which is to be premiered in
November –including in Costa Rica–, was shot in the
United States.-La Nacion |
A name has already been suggested before the funds are even in:
the Amor de Temporada Boardwalk – Seasonal Love Boardwalk in
English – chosen because it is the title of a song by Héctor
Zúñiga whose lyrics describe a love affair that starts in Playas
del Coco.
AMCostaRica.com
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Continued:
Government decrees controls
on N. Pacific growth
The central government decreed what amounts to a zoning plan for
the whole northern Pacific coast Wednesday in places where local
plans do not exist.
A summary from Casa Presidencial said that the goal was to
establish density limits for construction and set the maximum
height for buildings.
The measure also will have the effect of permitting coastal
development to go ahead in the absence of a local plan regulador.
This has been a stumbling block for many coastal projects.
The decree, which has the force of law, regulates land up to 4
kms. (about 2.5 miles) for the coast. It defines its area of
coverage as the Región Chorotega, basically the northwest coast
of the country.
The package of decrees was signed by President Óscar Arias
Sánchez; Rodrigo Arias, minister of the Presidencia; Carlos
Ricardo Benavides, minister of Turismo; Fernando Zumbado,
minister of Vivienda y Asentamientos Humanos; Jorge Woodbridge,
minister of Competitividad, and Roberto Dobles, minister of
Ambiente y Energía.
Officials said that the Cámara de la Construcción, the Colegio
Federado de Ingenieros y Arquitectos and the Consejo de
Desarrollo Inmobiliario were consulted in advance.
The decrees are supposed to endure for four years in places
where the land is not covered by a plan regulador, basically a
zoning and development plan.
The decrees set out four areas. The first is the public area of
the Zona Marítimo Terrestre, the maritime zone. This is the 50
meters above the high tide line. Except for specialized ocean
related facilities like docks, construction is forbidden here.
The next 150 meters, the restricted zone, is where developers
can obtain concessions or long-term leases from the municipality
and the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo.
The decrees establish two more zones. One has been called the
intermedia, and this includes the next 800 meters after the
restricted zone. The fourth zone is all the land from the limit
of the intermedia to 4 kms. above mean high tide, in other words
a strip 3 kms. wide.
According to the decrees, developments within the restricted
zone can be no taller than 16 meters (52.5 feet). Casa
Presidencial said this was three floors.
Buildings in the intermedia can be 24 meters tall, nearly 79
feet. Casa Presidencial said this was five floors. The final
zone farthest from the beach can have structures 36 meters tall
(118 feet). Casa Presidencial described this as eight floors.
The actual height rather than the number of floors seems to be
the controlling factor in the decrees. The text of the decrees
will be published in the official La Gaceta.
AMCostaRica.com
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Continued:
Marine life
 Even
though Costa Rica has only 0.16 percent of the surface of the
planet’s oceans, it is home to at least 6,778 species of marine
life, or 3.5 percent of all of the species so far known in the
world. The facts are set forth in a book by two University of
Costa Rica scientists, Ingo Wehrtmann and Jorge Cortes. Of the
total, 4,754 species were identified in the Pacific Ocean and
2,321 in the Caribbean. However, only 288 species live in both
Costa Rican maritime areas. Generally speaking, scientists
agree, this confirms this Central American nation as a
biodiversity hotspot.
-La Nacion
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Weak US Dollar makes property in Costa Rica
less expensive for Canadians!
Canadian buyers should consider securing their currency now to
take advantage.
With the strength of the Canadian Dollar vs. the US Dollar over the
last few months, now is a better time than ever to buy property in
Costa Rica.
|
Of
Special Interest
To Canadian Readers
 |
For example, if you had been looking to buy a property in Costa Rica
priced at $500,000 USD at the beginning of January 2007 it would
have cost you $592,000 CAD. However, if you looked at that same
property at the beginning of July 2007, it would have cost you only
$528,000 CAD. In other words, the same property would be $64,000 CAD
cheaper than it was at the beginning of the year! And if five years
ago you had been looking to buy that same $500,000 USD property, it
would have cost you a staggering $809,000 CAD. In other words, the
same property is now $281,000 CAD cheaper than it was five years
ago!
If you are a Canadian looking to buy property in Costa Rica, you
will inevitably need to transfer your currency US Dollars to buy the
property or arrange financing. It is very important to pay attention
to the exchange rate for your payments, or it could end up costing
you a lot of money!
The fact is that many individuals will simply use the exchange rate
offered by their personal bank. The bank's 'retail' rate of exchange
is usually a few percent worse than the market rate. The bank may
also charge wire transfer fees, commissions, and bank receiving
fees. Since the bank takes a large profit that is built into the
exchange rate, many individuals don't realize they are other options
available to them. There is an alternative to using your bank that
could save you significant sums of money.
Working with a "specialist currency broker" like HiFX can not only
save you time and hassle, it can also save you money. Their focus is
to educate clients on the currency market, secure a better exchange
rate than the banks, and transfer funds free of charge. Because the
exchange rate that HiFX can offer is much better than the bank's
rate, you will save substantially (on average 1%-4% of the amount)
which on larger transfers can turn into thousands of dollars.
HiFX can help you take advantage of recent currency movements and
protect against future fluctuations by locking in a rate of
exchange, which can be useful if you have future property payments.
HiFX services are free of any fees and there is no obligation to use
their services, even as a registered client.
For more information and to speak with our dedicated account
representative at HiFX, please contact Bryce Anderson +1 (415)
678-2770 bryce.anderson@hifx.com or visit
www.hifx.com.
Back to top |
after its neighbors were torn down by the municipality.
