Contractor applies clearance for Capitol’s Ciudad project

THE contractor of the province’s P1.2 billion Ciudad development in Cebu City filed their application for a locational clearance in hopes of starting the project within this month.

Fifth Avenue Development Corp. filed their application with the Cebu City Planning and Development Office  (CCPDO) yesterday, said Jonjie Gonzales, the company’s media liaison officer.

This development occurred even as Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district dismissed the traffic study done for the Ciudad project, labeling it as “toilet paper” that will not resolve the traffic problem in the area.

Securing a locational clearance is a pre-requisite for the issuance of a building permit by the Office of the Building Officials.

But CCPDO chief Alipio Bacalso told Cebu Daily News in an interview yesterday that Cuidad’s locational clearance application have yet to reach his table.

Requirements consist of drafts of the project plan, a barangay clearance issued by barangay Apas and a copy of their parking plan among others.

Bacalso said a locational fee is also collected from the applicant.

The 1998 Revised Schedule of Fees provided for by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board stated that a P1,000 clearance fee is collected for projects worth P100,000 and below.

Projects worth more than P100,000 is charged a locational clearance of P1,000 plus 1/10 of one percent of the cost in excess of P100,000.  Bacalso said it would take one to two weeks for his office to act on applications for locational clearance.

Osmeña said he was prepared to file charges for violation of existing laws against its developers. —

He said the Cuidad development would only worsen traffic congestion along Governor Cuenco Avenue also known as the Banilad Talamban road.

Fifth Avenue presented their traffic study conducted by Engr. Pedro Adonis Compendio before reporters last Sunday.    The study mentioned a plan to spent P280 million on the development of nearby access roads.

But Osmeña said Ciudad’s traffic study should give a clearer picture on how their business operations would affect traffic along the city’s northern corridor in the next 30 years. /Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac