JoeCon: Makati rezoning plan 'senseless, wasteful'

Barangay Forbes Park (BFP) chair Jose Concepcion Jr. described the rezoning proposal of the city council of Makati as "senseless and wasteful".

In a position paper submitted by the BFP yesterday, Concepcion explained that the timing is not right to push through with the proposal as the "real estate bubble has collapsed."

"The raging regional financial turmoil has compelled even giant developers to suspend and put heir projects on hold. So why should the Makati government respond to a rezoning petition that is patently destructive and contrary to the nation's critical economic interests?" Concepcion said.

He also pointed out the overwhelming number of residents of Forbes Park who have expressed their opposition to the proposal.

According to Concepcion, 74 percent of the residents of Forbes Park voted against the commercialization of McKinley Road with only four percent voting for the proposal.

The four percent mentioned by Concepcion refers to the group led by Greggy Araneta and Minerva Genovea.

"The great majority of residents and property owners have unequivocably expressed their will and preference for their community to remain a low-density residential subdivision through the extension of the deed of restrictions," Concepcion said.

Genovea's group in the recently held public hearings noted that the Deed of Restrictions annotated in the Certificate of title of each landowner expired last December 31, 1998.

This Deed of Restrictions mandates that lots inside Forbes Park may only be used for residential purposes.

Concepcion, in his position paper pointed out that the Deed of Restrictions has been extended for another 25 years from January 4 this year by a vote of more than 75 percent of the entire membership of the Forbes Park Association.

"The restrictions were designed primarily to maintain Forbes Park as a tranquil citadel that is purely residential and dissociate it from the highly commercialized atmosphere of other areas in Makati City. "