City readies land use plan

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

THE Iloilo City Council’s committee on zoning and land use is finalizing the draft of the city’s comprehensive land use plan (CLUP) this month after all the documents are completed by a joint working group.

City Councilor and committee chairman Edward Yee told members of the Iloilo City Hall Press Corps that they will transmit the final CLUP draft by February 2012 to the Housing Land Use Regulatory Board and the Regional Land Use Commission for their final comment.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

Yee said the 2011 CLUP is a guiding document that will have a corresponding updated Zoning Ordinance to suit to the needs of the city’s rapid urbanization and cover the 2010-2020 Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Yee admitted that after the final public hearing last August 5, 2011 participated by representatives of the different sectors, the CLUP is envisioned to address the present and future challenges of urban development in the next 10 years.

The first Comprehensive Urban Development Plan for Iloilo City was approved in 1977 and adopted by the City Council. The Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance was the implementing tool.

However, the 1977 plan was unable to cope with the demands of rapid urbanization.

By the end of 1993, a multi-sectoral group prepared the 1994-2010 Comprehensive Development Plan of Iloilo City to amend the old plan. The plan, however, was not carried pending the approval of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).

Then again, the working committee worked on the revision of the 1998-2010 CLUP that requires a parallel revision of the zoning ordinance as its implementing tool.

Yee said that after the HLURB comment, the new 2011 CLUP will be referred back to the City Council for adoption through its corresponding zoning ordinance after complying all the requirements.