Saturday, December 23, 2006 City Hall warns owner v. construction on parking lot
THE lot owner of an entertainment strip in Barangay Lahug has been warned to stop construction on the parking lot because it is illegal.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, however, said he will give a certain Dolores Diez enough time to comply with building requirements and to process permits with the Office of the Building Office (OBO) before City Hall takes any action.
The OBO already sent two notices to the lot owner to cease construction of the structure on the parking lot, which is considered illegal under the National Building Code.
But the owner didn’t heed these.
Complaint
Owners of Yo Latino, located across the Asiatown IT Park in Lahug, complained that there is no longer enough parking space in the strip because of the construction.
Yo Latino is one of the tenants of the said lot.
“I’m the complainant here. I’m complaining because they’re building on the existing parking lot... I have given them a little more time because I just discussed it with them two days ago,” Osmeña said yesterday.
When informed that a sister of his political ally, Cebu City Councilor Gabriel Leyson, owns the lot where the bar stands, Osmeña said it doesn’t matter to him.
Ownership
“We can’t just base our decisions on who the owner is,” he added.
Last September, a legal battle ensued between the Mango Square Mall management and its tenants when the City Government threatened to demolish the stalls that were illegally constructed on the parking lot.
Aside from the illegal construction, the management also did not secure a building and a mayor’s permit for the structures.
The Building Code prohibits the construction of any structure in open spaces designated as parking lot or easement in the original construction plan. (LCR)
