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This post is to inform people of the problems that go with unplanned development and how it affects everyone. My home in a totally completed gated community in Play Bejuco was threatened by flood from runoff yesterday. Several houses of the 30 total were flooded to some degree. This in a development fully completed with terrific drainage and excellent perfromance since creation in 2003/4 timeframe.
It seems someone decided to do something upstream in the natural runoff from higher ground to divert the rain water. We don’t know details but now our community will have to invest in protective measures and pay for new work based on others failures.
caveat emptor.Historically, since the reformation period, latin societies do not plan as well as northern societies do and it has something to do with their priorities.
The latin menatlity puts things in the following order: family, god and counry. The anglo mentality puts things in this order: country, god and family. With the exception of the “god” part, obviously the latter is more conducive for a healthy society. I think it is better to seek higher ground when building in Costa Rica.
Rcpoppell. Please discuss your problem with an attorney. CR laws regarding water diversion may be similar to those in the US. In the US, if someone diverts the natural flow of water, they are responsible for any damage done to the property of others by their actions.
Good luck with any legal attemtps to correct that injustice. Coffee growers still dump into the rivers all the time and no legal authority seems to have stemmed that problem.
If somebody buys the land next to yours and decides to start a pig farm, which would cause an extremely bad odor 100% of the time, would you have any legal recourse in CR?
There may be a better official effort when it comes to actually changing the flow of streams since construction within a ceratin distance from streams and rivers is supposed to be forbidden.Hi Sprite. The issue presented here was not river pollution by growers or nasty odors emanating from neighboring pigs (both the beasts and their owner). Lets confine this discussion to the diversion of water resulting in the property damage.
There was a water diversion problem between Coco and Ocotal last year that caused some road washout. The two developers had to fix it and were fined. They had to fix the road too.
I use examples which deal with the principlas involved here. Can you get authorities to deal with water diversion or any other civil infringment such as dumping by rivers or anywhere else? Dumping trash on property also diminishes value.
We are dealing with a radically different mentality and legal system when it comes to the concept of the commons, community and private property. Unfulfilled high expectations can frustrate and going about resolution in the way we, as North Americans, are used to may not be effective in Costa Rica.
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