Santa Ana Seeks Development with Nature
by Peter Freeman
The Journal Correspondent
with permission of The Journal
Santa Ana, an up and coming suburb to the west of San José, is in high demand with local developers. Riding the bus down the town's historic Calle Vieja (Old Road), one is flanked by luxury condominium complexes under construction, large gated homes with views of the Central Valley, hotels, upscale restaurants, and glittering office buildings. Dotted in between the modern landscape are more common, typical Costa Rica homes and nieghborhoods. The main attractions for wealthy residents - especially foreigners - are the wealthy neighbors of Escazú, the proximity of shopping and routes into San José, and the quiet, picturesque mountain setting. Of course, these are also attractions for the Costa Ricans who have lived here all their lives and raised families in the area. All of these elements still manage to fit into an area that has the feel of a small-scale town, however, thanks in part to the desire of all its residents to keep it that way.
Mr. Gerardo Oviedo Espinoza, the mayor of Santa Ana sat down with The Journal to discuss the town's development philosophy and plans to expand.
The residents of Santa Ana are currently modifying their Regulatory Plan that has been in place since 1986. The main aspects of the plan are geared towards ensuring "orderly development in harmony with nature", noted Oviedo. Santa Ana, especially the South sector further up the mountain from the center, has a particularly steep landscape, which, while aesthetically dramatic, is very susceptible to erosion and other environmental complications from development. Residents hold their environment paramount, said Oviedo, and such aspects of the Plan will not change, but rather be strengthened as demand for steep property increases.
What will be added to the Plan are other environmental strategies to protect water basins and flows and the ecosystem in general. Oviedo expects to include a program to manage the quality of the town's water. This naturally includes integration with surrounding communities above Santa Ana, like San Rafael, to keep the water flowing down into the town clean.
Such infrastructure is going to become a larger issue as the construction of the Santa Ana - Caldera - Highway continues. The proposed route will travel west from Santa Ana out towards Ciudad Colón. Along the way, said Oviedo, lies a lot of unoccupied and undeveloped land. Oviedo expects this land to be used for more industrial uses than that found closer to Santa Ana center which has traditionally been condominiums and service sector businesses - a deliberate result of the Regulatory Plan that the residents do not want to change.
What Santa Ana has been lacking, according to Oviedo, is a social development plan that offers recreational areas and public spaces. Such initiatives will be integral to the new Regulatory Plan and will be carried out with the orderly development of the past plan in mind. In addition , the South Sector is planning on opening itself up to recreation in the form of "rural tourism" in its mountain region overlooking the town and the Central Valley. Santa Ana, like the rest of the country, is changing in a way that is attractive to developers and investors. For as many opportunities as the town offers, however, residents have made it clear that they want development to progress so that the environment - social and natural - remains in the ruture as attractive as it was in the past so that Santa Ana's move forward is in the right direction.
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