Puerto Morelos, Q.R. — A court has revoked the construction license for a real estate development in Puerto Morelos. The ruling recognized the permit for the work was granted without an environmental impact statement.
The ruling announcement was made by the association Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment (DMAS), who says the Eighth District Court issued the ruling, annulling construction permit PM-1566, which had been granted by the Puerto Morelos City Council.
The court determined that the Municipal Secretariat of Urban Development and Territorial Planning acted outside the legal framework by issuing the license without an approved environmental impact statement.
The ruling orders the suspension of any work related to the development and prohibits the granting of new permits until the corresponding Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is submitted and approved. The court found that the failure to do so violates the constitutional right to a healthy environment, established in Article 4 of the Constitution, in addition to the principles of precaution, prevention, sustainability and intergenerational justice.
“This ruling recognizes that the license was granted without an Environmental Impact Statement which violates the constitutional right to a healthy environment.
“Furthermore, it requires local authorities to suspend all activities related to this project and refrain from issuing new authorizations until an environmental study is conducted in accordance with the law,” said Mónica Huerta, a representative of DMAS, at a press conference.
The five-story real estate project is located on Heriberto Frías Street. In June, federal inspectors closed the Puerto Morelos real estate project due to a lack of permits.
It was one of three announced shut down by Profepa (the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection) in response to complaints received regarding the proliferation of real estate developments in coastal ecosystems without environmental impact authorization.
