The Importance of a Regulatory Plan

AUTHOR: Lic. Michelle Coffey 

The Regulatory Plan is the local planning instrument that defines the development policy and the plans for the distribution of the population, land uses, circulation routes, public services, and community facilities.

Where should commercial or residential buildings be built so that they do not affect the water resource and there is no danger that they are in risk areas? How should the entrances and exits of a community or town be designed so that there is an efficient road network? How is the landscape protected by limiting urban density and building height? And, very importantly, climate change adaptation criteria should be incorporated into all regulatory plans.

Local Governments have the competence and authority to plan and control urban development. Osa is one of the Municipalities that already has a Regulatory Plan prepared with the collaboration of the Research Program in Sustainable Urban Development of the University of Costa Rica (ProDUS UCR), which will be in the review process in 2023.

For more information, you can find the Regulatory Plan and maps here.

A Regulatory Plan must be reviewed periodically. Let's read it, analyze it and get involved!

A regulatory plan is not eternal, it must be constantly updated because conditions change, the population varies, and the public projects that arise can affect the added value of the area, just as real estate projects modify the dynamics of a territory.

It includes Citizens' participation in developing a regulatory plan during the diagnosis and in the proposal phase. In these meetings, they discuss the main problems of the canton and their solutions, for example, the minimum size of a lot, forest or aquifer protection zones, subdivisions, and road issues. It is essential that we all know these plans and that we get involved with the review in 2023.

Let's stay vigilant and involved!