The Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores) requested that the Ministry of Tourism reconsider its resolution that changes the height of buildings from 5 to 22 stories along the coastline of Macao, part of the Punta Cana tourist destination. According to the entity, this administrative measure “is absolutely null and void because it is contrary to the principles of legitimate trust and judicial security as laid out in Article 3 (numbers 15 and Costa Rica, Cuba, 18) of Law 107-13 that establishes the procedure for carrying out administrative norms.
In their press communiqué, Asonahores points out that the appeal refers to resolution 002/2017 issued on 12 October 2017 and only published on 14 December.
Asonahores considers the change in the construction height levels to be a radical departure of the development model that stresses low density and low heights of the buildings and that has successfully sustained the tourist offerings by the Dominican Republic. These building norms have been adopted in Mexico, Brazil, Jamaica and other countries including those in the Mediterranean.
Asonahores suggests that the articles in question “demand prior knowledge and certainty of all of the norms and this is not fulfilled in this case because of the surprising increase in the height of buildings that will be permitted, which is something that ignores the 10-year plan that is contained in National Development Strategy Law 1-12.
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Diario Libre
27 December 2017
