Il Corso will have to move 8 posts

PILLAR PREDICAMENT. IL Corso, a resort mall development by Filinvest Lifemalls, has columns pitched beside the sidewalk at the South Road Properties (SRP). Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella has ordered the new SRP manager to have Filinvest move its columns from the setback. (SunStar Photo/Amper Campaña)
PILLAR PREDICAMENT. IL Corso, a resort mall development by Filinvest Lifemalls, has columns pitched beside the sidewalk at the South Road Properties (SRP). Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella has ordered the new SRP manager to have Filinvest move its columns from the setback. (SunStar Photo/Amper Campaña)

THE Cebu City Government will ask Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) to move eight posts of its IL Corso development at the South Road Properties (SRP) for failing to comply with the mandatory setback for lands abutting a road right-of-way.

Jose Daluz III, SRP manager, said the directive came from Mayor Edgardo Labella.

“The mayor said I have to ask Filinvest to comply with the setback provided by law because it’s clear that its columns did not follow the setback rule,” Daluz said in Cebuano.

Section 804 of the National Building Code provides that for commercial, industrial, institutional and recreational buildings along newly developed thoroughfares, the required minimum setback for land with widths of 30 meters and above is eight meters.

Open to discussion

However, Daluz said they’re not taking the developer to court. The City wants to settle the matter amicably.

“We have to implement the law equally to everybody. For the locators at the SRP, I just want to talk to them on how they want to go about it without going to court because we also have to protect our locators,” said the former city councilor.

FLI, for its part, said it is willing to sit down with the City Government to discuss the matter.

In a statement sent to SunStar Cebu, the developer said it already informed the City of its stand.

“FLI is open to discuss the alleged encroachment, which has been previously addressed. FLI reiterates that the said structure is in fact part of the foot bridge crossing the SRP highway that FIlinvest will build and maintain for the City Government for the convenience of the public,” the statement read.

Daluz said all locators at SRP will have to abide by the law on setback.

In December 2017, then mayor Tomas Osmeña gave SM Prime Holdings Inc. an ultimatum to remove its cube structure in front of SM Seaside City Cebu because it encroached on Vestil Road.

The mall was able to move the sidewalk but not the cube.

In 2015, the SM-Ayala (Land Inc.) consortium and FLI were declared winning bidders in the 45.2-hectare lot sale in the SRP.

Of the 45.2 hectares, the SM-Ayala consortium bought 26 hectares; FLI bought 19.2 hectares.

The buyers initially paid P8.3 billion to the City out of the P16.76 billion total sale price.

When he assumed office in 2016, Osmeña said he would rescind the contract of sale with the three developers, saying the transaction was illegal.

No to sale

Osmeña said former mayor Michael Rama was not authorized by the City Council to sell the lot as required under City Ordinance 2332.

FLI cooperated and rescinded the sale.

Meanwhile, Daluz announced that the City would not sell any SRP property during Labella’s administration.

However, he said the City would entertain proposals to rent or lease lots in the 300-hectare reclaimed land.

But if the City ends up selling lots, he said these will be the three hectares that are covered by a city ordinance that allowed then mayor Osmeña to sell the land.

The previous administration had been saying since January that there were two interested buyers, but no bidding had been conducted.

Federal Land has offered to buy the 29,881-square-meter lots, labeled as Lots 1-F-8 and 1-H-1, at P115,000 per square meter with a total purchase price of P3.4 billion.

Daluz said the City needs to work on the infrastructure at the SRP, including the construction of another exit point for vehicles. If this is not implemented soon, Daluz foresees traffic at the SRP to worsen.

The SRP also needs a good drainage facility, among others, he said. (from PAC of SuperBalita Cebu/PJB)

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph