If you are a resident of West Landivar you will soon be living in a
strictly residential community. That’s right – it was announced
in yesterday’s Cabinet release that cabinet has approved the bylaws for
the zoning of West Landivar as a residential community. That means that after
the bill is tabled and passed in the House, if you are living in the 42 acre
block that covers five streets – there will new rules for what you can
and cannot do in your yard. City Councillor Roger Espejo explains the changes
and why West Landivar required the special designation.
Roger Espejo, City Councillor
“It is a relatively small area. It is the area that starts from University
Drive coming southward to Teacher’s Street, unto Teacher’s Street
back in front of what’s Belize Healthcare Partners, back around onto Graduate
Crescent and right onto the sea. So property that falls in that zone is now
a residential only zone.”
Keith Swift,
“Why is it necessary to zone this part of West Landivar as purely residential?”
Roger Espejo,
“Well to be frank with you zoning in required in the entire city and
this is only a small step towards a greater zoning effort that the Belize City
Council wants to do.
It is something that the residents as a community of the West Landivar
area have been working. It was spurred a couple years when a public marina was
planning to be built in West Landivar and I imagine that is what spurred the
effort. But zoning is not something new. Many places in the world over do it.
It is something necessary to provide property owners with security, with aesthetics
in terms of their area, safety, proper building codes and just generally a better
residential welfare. So the residents are happy I can imagine that these laws
were in the making so long but finally have come to fruition.”
Espejo says that those stores already in the area will be allowed to
remain open but no trade licenses will be granted for the area. The new bylaws
for West Landivar will be tabled at next week’s sitting of the House of
Representatives. Councillor Espejo says zoning bylaws are already being prepared
for King’s Park. He says he worked on the zoning bylaws for West Landivar
with assistance from Area Representative Carlos Perdomo and the councillor in
charge of zoning Dean Samuels.
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