Merida’s Director of Urban Development, Federico Sauri Molina, reported that as part of the strategies to care for and protect iconic buildings located in the Historic Center of the city, all documentation will be analyzed in greater detail, at the time of issuing land use permits, in order to avoid damages or possible losses.
“It must be remembered that depending on the use of the property, permission is granted by the Urban Development Department. Permits are being requested for public parking by some establishments or realtors, but these permits re only given to the owner or legal representative of the property, ”he explained.
He said that in the particular case of newly created shops that are installed in the Historic Center, parking space is not avaialable, seeking that the historic buildings are not demolished or affected.
Without specifying the exact or approximate number of permits issued so far this year, he stressed that there are enough spaces to meet the demand of visitors to that area.
However, he added, that of the requests received by the municipal agency, at least three were denied because they affected or modified the property in question.
“We are a city that seeks harmony and part of it is that citizens take these public spaces for themselves to use while they travel or visit the streets, shops or cultural spaces of the Historic Center,” he said.
Sauri Molina explained that a certain number of businesses, shops or restaurants in the downtown area don’t necessarily need parking space, while other do, which maintains a certain balance in terms of traffic in the area.
He recalled that the City Council works in coordination with the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) Yucatan, in the strategies to consolidate and preserve the Historic Center, although the buildings are privately owned and as such, they have different legal conditions and it is the owner who decides what to do with the property.
The Yucatan Times Newsroom
