High-rise assessment

It’s better late than never for Cebu City officials to conduct a public hearing on the issuance of building permits for 31 high-rise projects since last year.

With each tower that rises for condominiums and shopping emporiums, comes questions about the carrying capacity of a compact city to support this urban frenzy.

More buildings, more cars.

More buildings, more people that require services like drainage, garbage collection and peace and order.

Concerns over traffic congestion were recently underscored by the Horizons 101 project, which aims to build 1,500 condominium units in what will be the two tallest structures in Cebu City.

That would put enormous pressure on General Maxilom Avenue, where the road is alerady choked with traffic on peak hours.

The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) has asked for a traffic plan for its area in densely populated barangay Cogon Ramos.

While the developer Taft Property assured that it already has one and is ready to present it to city officials at the right time, what about the rest of the high-rise projects?

The need for well thought out, long-range urban planning is something Cebu City recognizes, but dilly dallies in getting.

Growth trends outstrip efforts of regulation so quickly, decision making by City Hall is often reduce to ad hoc responses to an emergency.

For example, when the upscale subdivision of Monterazzas in the hillylands of Guadalupe was launched, the hard questions about what happens to flooding and rainwater runoff were raised only after lowland subdivisions were inundated by mud and water.

We hope this isn’t the case for high-rise buildings.

Horizons 101, we are told will have a nine-meter traffic lane or setback to be used by incoming or outgoing vehicles to avoid stopping by congested roads. If other developers are as prepared as that, well and good.

Two departments whose work is deeply focused on urban growth — the Office of the Building Official and Citom — seem to be operating on different planets.

Why did it take the Cebu City Council to bring to the attention of the traffic board a developer’s plans for a high-rise project that would change the landscape of the densest part of the city with a glut of more motor vehicles and inhabitants?

Perhaps the public hearing will start the two departments talking with more coherence together.

We’ll be listening.