Authorities Attempt to Demolish
Manuel Antonio Landmark
By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net

The Central Pacific beach destination of Manuel Antonio this week hosted the latest in a series of beachfront demolition attempts throughout the country when authorities visited the well-known Mar y Sombra restaurant, claiming it violates Costa Rica 's Maritime Zone Law, which makes construction within 50 meters of the high-tide line illegal.

According to Alonso Chávez of Mar y Sombra, police and municipal authorities arrived at the restaurant on Monday with bulldozers and other equipment in tow. They began “pulling away tables” and preparing to tear down the structure, Chávez told The Tico Times yesterday, but residents and tourists stood in front of Mar y Sombra and prevented the demolition from continuing.

He added that while the would-be demolition team left following the standoff, “anything could happen at any time.”

Municipalities across the country have been demolishing, or attempting to demolish, structures in the maritime zone for years, with heightened intensity since 2003, when the Comptroller General's Office ordered municipalities to enforce the 1977 Maritime Zone Law. Under the law, the first 200 meters of land from the high-tide line belongs to the state – no building or development can take place on the first 50 meters, and the remaining 150 meters can be developed privately through concessions granted by municipalities.

Chávez said the restaurant, built well before the law was approved, is exempt.

“They are applying this law to a 40-year-old business,” he said. “No law is retroactive. They allege that this building was built after the law (took effect), which isn't true.”

However, the Comptroller's Office told The Tico Times in an e-mail in September that even buildings constructed before 1977 are subject to the law, with two exceptions: Costa Ricans who are from the area and have lived in the maritime zone for more than 10 years, and non-locals who have lived there since before the law took effect.

Marcela Artavia of the Municipality of Aguirre, which oversees Manuel Antonio, told The Tico Times she would not comment except to say that “there is a judicial resolution from a judge to demolish it.”

Asked about the Maritime Zone Law's provisions for buildings constructed before 1977, Artavia, speaking by phone, said she would not speak further about the law unless interviewed in person.

Demolitions took place last year in various municipalities, including Santa Cruz and Nicoya, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, and Golfito, in the Southern Zone – resulting in waves of appeals by homeowners and others (TT, Sept. 23, 2005).