Worlds Colliding: Land Use and Gentrification in a Developing State The Case of Costa Rica and the C

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Worlds Colliding Land Use and Gentrification in
a Developing State The Case of Costa Rica and
the Canton of Santa Ana
UF /UCR Joint Program in Environmental Law
Conservation Clinic
Gerardo Celis (UF SNRE), Meghan Gabriel (Fordham
Law), Gary Manca (U Wash. Law), and Haydee
Rodriguez (UCR Law) Thomas Ruppert, IFAS/UF Law
Asst in Environmental Law Thomas T. Ankersen,
Legal Skills Professor and Director
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Methodology

• Choosing a municipality
• Receptive, sustainability-oriented goals
• Meeting with the municipal government
• Analyzing the legal framework in Costa Rica
• Matching U.S. urban planning tools to Santa Anas
  needs

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Santa Ana
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FORMAT

• For our final project we have created a document
  including
• Introduction
• Summary about powers and limits of Costa Rican
  municipalities to regulate land use and levy
  taxes
• List of management tools divided into two
  categories - incentives and regulations
• Discussion of how tools can be applied to Santa
  Ana

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List of Land Use Tools

• Incentive-based
• Expedited Permits Fee Reductions
• Tax Incentives (Property Tax Breaks)
• Density Bonuses
• Conservation Easements
• Transferable Development Rights

• Regulatory
• Moratoria
• Comprehensive Planning
• Urban Growth Boundaries
• Concurrency
• Environmental Impact Assessments
• Zoning overlays
• Cluster Zoning
• Buffer Zones
• Storm Water Regulations
• Exactions/Impact Fees

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Challenges

• Santa Ana government didnt know scope of its
  legal powers
• Deciding on a final work product
• Choosing the most appropriate tools
• Determining whether the urban planning tools are
  legal in Costa Rica
• Translating urban planning concepts into Spanish

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1991 Regulatory Plan
2007 Regulatory Plan (proposed)
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Cluster Zoning
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Moratorium
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• CONCURRENCY
• IMPACT FEES

T. Gurucharri T. Ankersen

University of Florida
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Stormwater Management
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SELECT LAND USE AND GENTRIFICATION CASE STUDIES

• WALLS
• The old Costa Rican law governing residential
  development (lotificacion) limited the height of
  fences to 3 feet, allowing some sort of
  view-through fencing (rejas) above that level.
• The new condominium law allows developer to
  completely wall in the condominium development
  with security barriers at elevations of 15 feet.
• For a variety of market reasons developers are
  electing to develop condo projects
• One consequence of this is the creation of condo
  canyons and walled enclaves along street fronts
  and social stratification.

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SELECT LAND USE AND GENTRIFICATION CASE STUDIES

• GATED COMMUNITIES
• The Costa Rican constitutional court has ruled
  that public roads cannot be gated cul de sacs
• The agricultural property law allows agricultural
  properties that are at least 2 manzanas (the 5
  acre lot) create access to the parcel by building
  private roads
• Wealthy Josefinos moving to Santa Ana are using
  this law to create gated compounds for large
  residential McMansions.
• A consequence of this is a community detached
  from Santa Anas shared sense of place and
  further social stratification

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SELECT LAND USE AND GENTRIFICATION CASE STUDIES

• PEDESTRIAN PATHWAYS
• In the urban residential core of Santa Ana the
  residential grid includes narrow colonial width
  alleys where houses are only accessible by foot
  or scooters.
• These have become public spaces where neighbors
  mingle and children play without fear of motor
  vehicle traffic
• Under pressure, the municipality has allowed
  neighbors on the alley to determine by majority
  vote whether to abandon the right of way and
  allow the space to be used for vehicle parking
  (as a means of security).
• A consequence of this decision is the loss of
  neighborhood public space that contributes to
  both the spiritual and physical health and a
  sense of community

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CONSEQUENCES?

• of homes beneath povery line
• 1961 50
• 2001 20
• Costa Rican homes in 2000
• Access to electricity 97
• Color TV refrigerators 85
• Computers 14
• Costa Ricans per vehicle
• 1985 11
• 2001 6

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Consequences?

• Ratio of public to private high schools
• 1975 7 to 1
• 2000 3 1
• Number of advertising agencies
• 1987 37
• 1994 60
• Number of Costa Ricans who visited a mall
• 1982 0
• 1997 1,163,700
• of Costa Ricans with credit card
• 1996 27

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• AFTA CAFTA
• THE LIMITS OF LOCAL LAND USE REGULATION
• 2) GENTRIFICATION ACCELERATION?

T. Gurucharri T. Ankersen

University of Florida
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Other 2007 Costa Rica Clinic Projects

• Audencias Publicas Protocols for Public
  Participation in Environmental Decisions before
  the Secretaria Nacional Tecnica (Natalia Porras,
  UCR Law, Kathleen Tanner, Baylor Law)
• Modelo De Clínica Ambiental Para A Amazôna
  Desenvolvimento, Plano Estratégico, E
  Administração (A Model Environmental Law Clinic
  for the Amazon, Strategic and Administrative
  Plan) (Giselle Ferreira, Gustavo Favo, Federal
  University of Mato Grosso, Brazil, Elizabeth
  Manno (UF Law)
• Legal Opinion on the Public Trust Doctrine in
  Jamaica Protecting Public Access to the Beach
  and Preventing Prospecting in the Cockpit Country
  (Keita-Marie Satherwaite, Courtney Williams,
  Norman Manley Law School, Jamaica, Bradley Ennis,
  Mississippi College Law School, Mariamalia
  Rodriguez, UCR Law School)
• Preserving Community-based Artesanl Fishing
  Grounds in Tarcoles, Costa Rica (Mariamalia
  Rodriguez, UCR Law School)
• Environmental Insecurity Migration, Refugees and
  the Environment A Museum Exhibition Proposal
  (Enrica Vincenzi, Malmo University, Sweden)