NewsWhore
03-25-2009, 06:50 PM
The small town of Cabarete on the north coast of the Dominican Republic has enjoyed sustainable tourism since the early 1980s.
Thousands of tourists who travel the world in search of wind have turned the town into a kiteboarding, windsurfing and sailing Mecca.
Now the beauty of hundreds of sails and kites on the water every afternoon has caught the eye of New York-based developer Sackman Enterprises, that is lobbying to change the height rulings for Cabarete.
The Federation for Sustainable Cabarete (FCS) says that the company plans to build three nine-story towers in Cabarete, but current density law limits buildings to a height of three floors, and this keeps the small-town ambience and ensures constant wind flow over the low-density constructions.
In a press release, the FCS that unites associations that support Cabarete's sustainable growth says: "Like in movies showing how business is done in third world countries, Sackman Enterprises, Inc, has been wining and dining low-ranking government officials with direct contact to the ministers, promising them great incentives if the density laws are changed. Some of these government officials are now threatening the low budget environmental activists as part of their efforts to please Sackman Enterprises."
The Federation for Sustainable Cabarete, the Association for the Development of Cabarete, the windsurfing, kitesurfing and sailing schools in Cabarete, and the Sosua and Cabarete Association for the Protection of Tourism and the Environment have all sent letters to the Minister of Tourism, "in the hope that New York greed will not kill the goose that lays the golden egg", says Ari Barshi, spokesman for the Cabarete windsurfing, kiteboarding and sailing schools.
Barshi says that maybe Sackman Enterprises does not realize that by asking for a permit to build over three floors they are creating a precedent for all other landowners to obtain the same permission.
Sackman vice president Jamie Hefelfinger disputes the towers will affect the wind. A wind study contracted by Sackman Enterprises to Cermak, Peterka, Petersen Wind Engineering & Air Quality Consultants (CPP Inc) says the impact of The Fountains on the offshore conditions "would be negligible". "It is likely that the stepped and staggered massing of the design also assists in the lack of impact on sailing conditions," reads the executive summary.
Barshi, one of the pioneers of windsurfing in Cabarete, says that the wind study done for The Fountains is incomplete. He says that they built a model of Cabarete as it is today and the study does not take into consideration at all the effect of their buildings conserving heat at night and influencing the thermal effect between land and ocean.
"This is a lab study that tries to guess how buildings will affect the wind flow when the wind comes from the ocean," says Barshi. "But over the last week I have been sailing with top sailors including Anna Tunnicliffe, Gold Medal winner in the last Olympic games, and the wind was offshore many of the days. How can they even try to claim that if the wind blows from the land to the ocean, nine-story structures will not have a negative effect?" he asks.
Peter Orr, president of the Association for the Development of Cabarete, says that the existing study does indeed not address the concern of what effect numerous buildings over the height of four floors between the road and lagoon would have on the wind, once developers secure a change in the three-floor law. This needs to be studied prior to changing the height ruling, he says.
In a press release sent to DR1, Hefelfinger says that the development aims to preserve Cabarete's core attraction - wind sports - while expanding its appeal to a larger spectrum of visitors. Hefelfinger says that The Fountains has not yet received approval for the change in height and density and thus could not provide details on the proposed development. Nevertheless, he says that density and height changes are necessary for the south side of the road to be developed.
"The need for additional height is not motivated by greed, but rather, by the need to provide visitors and homeowners with the view and experience befitting a four-star location. The Fountains location has one drawback - it does not feature a beachfront - and under the current law a three-story project would not have a view of the ocean. In fact a three-story building constructed on our site would feature a view of the four-story structures across the street. The resulting views from the proposed height increase will provide The Fountains its greatest asset and usher in the next evolution in Cabarete's growth," he argues.
Omar Bros, president of the Federation for a Sustainable Cabarete has asked people who wish to help keep Cabarete as a world center for outdoor activities and sailing to send their opinions to Deputy Minister of Tourism Radhames Martinez Aponte at r.aponte@sectur.gov.do
For more on the future of Cabarete debate, see:
The Fountains (http://dr1.com/news/2009/032509_the_fountains.shtml)
CPP Wind Study (http://dr1.com/news/2009/032509_windstudy.pdf)
WindSchools (http://dr1.com/news/2009/032509_windschools.shtml)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
Thousands of tourists who travel the world in search of wind have turned the town into a kiteboarding, windsurfing and sailing Mecca.
Now the beauty of hundreds of sails and kites on the water every afternoon has caught the eye of New York-based developer Sackman Enterprises, that is lobbying to change the height rulings for Cabarete.
The Federation for Sustainable Cabarete (FCS) says that the company plans to build three nine-story towers in Cabarete, but current density law limits buildings to a height of three floors, and this keeps the small-town ambience and ensures constant wind flow over the low-density constructions.
In a press release, the FCS that unites associations that support Cabarete's sustainable growth says: "Like in movies showing how business is done in third world countries, Sackman Enterprises, Inc, has been wining and dining low-ranking government officials with direct contact to the ministers, promising them great incentives if the density laws are changed. Some of these government officials are now threatening the low budget environmental activists as part of their efforts to please Sackman Enterprises."
The Federation for Sustainable Cabarete, the Association for the Development of Cabarete, the windsurfing, kitesurfing and sailing schools in Cabarete, and the Sosua and Cabarete Association for the Protection of Tourism and the Environment have all sent letters to the Minister of Tourism, "in the hope that New York greed will not kill the goose that lays the golden egg", says Ari Barshi, spokesman for the Cabarete windsurfing, kiteboarding and sailing schools.
Barshi says that maybe Sackman Enterprises does not realize that by asking for a permit to build over three floors they are creating a precedent for all other landowners to obtain the same permission.
Sackman vice president Jamie Hefelfinger disputes the towers will affect the wind. A wind study contracted by Sackman Enterprises to Cermak, Peterka, Petersen Wind Engineering & Air Quality Consultants (CPP Inc) says the impact of The Fountains on the offshore conditions "would be negligible". "It is likely that the stepped and staggered massing of the design also assists in the lack of impact on sailing conditions," reads the executive summary.
Barshi, one of the pioneers of windsurfing in Cabarete, says that the wind study done for The Fountains is incomplete. He says that they built a model of Cabarete as it is today and the study does not take into consideration at all the effect of their buildings conserving heat at night and influencing the thermal effect between land and ocean.
"This is a lab study that tries to guess how buildings will affect the wind flow when the wind comes from the ocean," says Barshi. "But over the last week I have been sailing with top sailors including Anna Tunnicliffe, Gold Medal winner in the last Olympic games, and the wind was offshore many of the days. How can they even try to claim that if the wind blows from the land to the ocean, nine-story structures will not have a negative effect?" he asks.
Peter Orr, president of the Association for the Development of Cabarete, says that the existing study does indeed not address the concern of what effect numerous buildings over the height of four floors between the road and lagoon would have on the wind, once developers secure a change in the three-floor law. This needs to be studied prior to changing the height ruling, he says.
In a press release sent to DR1, Hefelfinger says that the development aims to preserve Cabarete's core attraction - wind sports - while expanding its appeal to a larger spectrum of visitors. Hefelfinger says that The Fountains has not yet received approval for the change in height and density and thus could not provide details on the proposed development. Nevertheless, he says that density and height changes are necessary for the south side of the road to be developed.
"The need for additional height is not motivated by greed, but rather, by the need to provide visitors and homeowners with the view and experience befitting a four-star location. The Fountains location has one drawback - it does not feature a beachfront - and under the current law a three-story project would not have a view of the ocean. In fact a three-story building constructed on our site would feature a view of the four-story structures across the street. The resulting views from the proposed height increase will provide The Fountains its greatest asset and usher in the next evolution in Cabarete's growth," he argues.
Omar Bros, president of the Federation for a Sustainable Cabarete has asked people who wish to help keep Cabarete as a world center for outdoor activities and sailing to send their opinions to Deputy Minister of Tourism Radhames Martinez Aponte at r.aponte@sectur.gov.do
For more on the future of Cabarete debate, see:
The Fountains (http://dr1.com/news/2009/032509_the_fountains.shtml)
CPP Wind Study (http://dr1.com/news/2009/032509_windstudy.pdf)
WindSchools (http://dr1.com/news/2009/032509_windschools.shtml)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)