Thursday, May 08, 2008 Danny: Amending zoning ordinance will take time
IT WOULD take about nine months to review the existing Zoning Ordinance and amend it to fit the current needs of Davao City.
According to Floor Leader Danilo Dayanghirang, the City Council will meet with the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) and the Housing Land Use and Regulatory Board (HLURB) on May 19 to jumpstart the review. The targeted deadline for the review with its passage in the City Council is February 2009.
"We will be holding public hearings from the districts down to the barangay level in order to have a substantial data of the real status of zoning classifications in the city kaya this will really take time," Dayanghirang said in Tuesday's interview.
Due to spot reclassifications and exemptions approved in the past years, Dayanghirang said they have to study the extent of the changes in relation to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance of 1996 -- a legislation, which should have been reviewed every five years.
"We have to readjust the ordinance based on the prevailing economic trends of the area but also with environmental protection in mind," Dayanghirang said.
Dayanghirang, however, said they are not worried with the expanding urbanization of the city, which includes the reclassification of some agricultural lands for housing.
"We have a vast land area so we are confident of the sustainability of our agriculture production although we still have to regulate the reclassifications to make sure there is balance between urbanization and agriculture," Dayanghirang said.
He added that the City Council would remain firm in terms of "mitigating ordinances" aimed at protecting the city's natural resources including the Marine Protected Areas Code, Fisheries Code, and Watershed Code.
"We will incorporate that as basis for consideration in the amended Zoning Ordinance and we will be strict in implementing those measures," Dayanghirang said.
Dayanhirang also said the body will not stop hearing or approving applications for reclassification or exemption while the review is ongoing.
"It will be like discouraging investments to the city. Tuloy pa rin 'yun providing it is viable and does not violate our environmetal laws," Dayanghirang said. (GLP)
