By Wendy Anders

Neighbors in downtown San José’s Otoya neighborhood had their effort to halt construction of a condominium upheld yesterday by Costa Rica’s highest court, reported the Costa Rican digital elmundocr.com.

In a unanimous resolution, #2016-009494, the constitutional court found that Condominio City Plaza II does not have certain permits in place and that the building site is located on fragile, landslide-prone land along the Torres River, said elmundocr.com.

The City Plaza II website states that 40 percent of its 50 planned apartments of varying sizes and styles have been sold.

The court found that the environmental viability study that builders Costa Rica Tamarin S. A. originally obtained expired February 22, 2014. And when they applied for a renewal they were informed they needed to initiate a new application process, which they apparently never did.

They also found that water permits were not in place. The Water and Sewerage Institute (AyA) provided the court with a study from 2012 explaining that the area where Condominio City Plaza II was to be built had insufficient water resources for that type of development, and did not grant a water permit for the project. The AyA general manager confirmed in June that the project did not have a water permit and therefore the project’s construction had not been authorized by the entity, reported elmundocr.com.

On the other hand, continued the news source, the court rejected local residents’ arguments that the building project would create traffic problems and interfere with the character of the neighbor, since the future impact could not currently be foreseen nor potential negative impacts proved.

The San José Municipality was ordered to immediately halt the construction or the responsible parties could face up to two years in jail, reported the Costa Rican daily.