Sustainable planning for Cabarete

[NewsWhore]

Today's Listin Diario comments on how lack of planning is threatening the sustainability of Cabarete, the DR's leading wind and ocean destination. Hector Lopez writes that real estate development in the area has followed the closure of several hotels, resulting in fewer visitors to the area. He comments that from 11 windsurfing and kite surfing schools in the area some eight years ago, today there are only five windsurfing schools left. Zoning legislation establishes a maximum height of 11.5 meters for buildings, or three floors. But he says that builders have violated the zoning and built four and more floors, affecting the wind speeds in the area. "It is recommended that construction of more than three floors on both sides of the highway, from La Rinconada to Playa El Encuentro should not be allowed, to ensure that Cabarete remains one of the leading windsurfing capitals of the world, he writes. "Even though the country needs large investments of hard currency because of the current economic situation, it is not fair that unique places such as Bahia de las Aguilas, National Park of the East and Cabarete should be sold out. That is not going forward, that is going backwards," he warns.
www.listin.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=93376 (http://www.listin.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=93376)

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