Draft Makati land use plan open to scrutiny

NEW SKYLINE. The Makati skyline may be in for new transformations under a draft, 10-year land use plan. The city government is inviting homeowners, businessmen, NGOs and other sectors to examine the plan in a hearing next week. EDWIN BACASMAS

IN THE NEXT 10 years, Makati City, the country’s financial capital, may have its own “mini-LRT” stretching from Ayala to Gil Puyat Avenues, another park on a known earthquake fault zone, and wider, pedestrian lanes along the waterways.

These are just some of the major changes the city government of Makati wants to see from 2013 to 2022 under the proposed Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and zoning ordinance, Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said.

Binay has called on Makati homeowners, barangay officials and members of academe to participate in a public hearing to discuss the two proposed land-use measures to be held at City Hall on Monday next week, starting at 8 a.m.

Another session to accommodate representatives of nongovernment organizations and the private sector will be held the same day at 1 p.m.

“I am glad that Makati’s revised CLUP and zoning ordinance will finally be presented to the public for comment and inputs. I believe all sectors concerned will be well-represented at the hearing, as they are keenly aware of the significance and urgency of having these vital policies in place,” Binay said in a statement on Friday.

Binay said the draft CLUP covers issues such as land use mix, growth management in the city’s central business district, the integration of disaster risk reduction and management in the land use plan, and existing infrastructure and transportation systems.

To address the lack of green open spaces, the city government also plans to construct a green park right at a fault zone area in the city.

In an interview, Joey Salgado, head of the city government’s information and community relations department, said the plan might involve gradually moving houses out of the fault zone, particularly in the second district.

The proposal also calls for reclamation work to form a three-meter easement along the waterways.

The city government is also envisioning a bus rapid system to decongest traffic within the central business district.

Salgado said this train system, which may be compared to the mini-LRT of Kuala Lumpur, will be connected to the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations. The plan also includes the construction of more elevated walkways for pedestrians.

“We want to encourage everyone to participate in the public hearing and finalize the CLUP and the zoning ordinance with their inputs,” Salgado added.

Binay stressed that the revision of the land use plan is vital for a first-class city like Makati as it will address the “changing environmental, social and economic needs of the people, businesses and organizations in the city.”

“Our infrastructure should be disaster-resilient and our policies should be attuned to disaster preparedness and mitigation,” he said.

The city’s CLUP undergoes an automatic review every 10 years. The city government said it had presented the new draft to the Makati Zoning Review Board and had also consulted the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.