City may sue to open subdivision roads

City Hall is now planning to take legal action against the officials of El Dorado Subdivision in Banilad to compel them to turn over to the city government the roads in their subdivision so these can be used for public purpose and help solve the heavy traffic problem in the area during rush hour.

The city council, through the recommendation of Councilor Jose Daluz III, requested the city attorney's office to prepare the complaint, petitions and all other legal and judicial actions, to ensure that the road lots inside El Dorado Subdivision would be placed under the possession and control of the city.

Daluz said it was the Board of the City Traffic Operations Management who suggested that the roads of El Dorado Subdivision be made into access roads for the vehicles from Banilad Road to A.S. Fortuna Street.

El Dorado Subdivision is located at the right portion of Banilad Road near the corner of A.S. Fortuna Street. Its entrance is located along Banilad Road, but it has another road that connects to A.S. Fortuna going to Mandaue City.

"Due to public clamor, the city would like to take control and possession over these road lots, which will be used as access roads. Opening of these roads would undoubtedly decongest the monstrous traffic situation in the area," said Daluz.

Traffic officials always encountered problems of manning the flow of traffic in the area, specifically during morning and afternoon until the early evening.

In 1992, Imelda Cancio, the developer of El Dorado Subdivision, donated the road lots to the homeowners' association, instead of donating them to the city government as provided for by Presidential Decree 957, as amended by Presidential Decree 1216.

The law provides that upon the completion of the subdivision projects "the roads, alley, sidewalk and playgrounds shall be donated by the owner or developer to the city or municipality and it shall be mandatory for the local government to accept, provided that the parks and playgrounds may be donated to the homeowners association with the consent of the city or municipality concerned."

Residents of El Dorado are also objecting to the construction of a hotel in their area, saying it violates a city ordinance that classifies the area from commercial invasion.

In a letter to Vice Mayor Michael Rama, the residents are requesting that the barangay certificate and permit issued by the City Planning Office for the construction of the hotel be revoked. They said that a major standoff is highly possible unless they take steps to keep the neighborhood safe.

They also alleged that the permitted uses of areas such as their subdivisions clash with each other, including residential homes, residential condominiums, disco houses, beerhouses, cabarets, sanitariums, general hospital, clinics and diagnostic centers, hotels and motels, restaurants and gasoline service stations.

They said that since these uses are allegedly discordant with each other, then the barangay and the City Planning Office should determine the "most harmonious planning" of these permitted uses.

"The resulting chaos of mismatched uses would not only be an eyesore, but it would also weaken the city government's program to make Cebu the Most Livable City by 2015. How can this program be achieved when peaceful residential neighborhoods -including a most livable place like El Dorado- can be taken over by commercial establishments? If we allow this hotel, what will stop other commercial establishments from coming in?" the letter read.

On November 24, 1999, the city council issued City Ordinance 1789 and designated El Dorado, Green Plains, and Banilad Greens subdivisions under a C-2 classification. To protect El Dorado from being taken over by mortuaries, hospitals, karaoke bars, nightclubs, and warehouses -all of which are permitted under a C-2 classification- the city council inserted an important clause that the welfare of the residents should be a primordial consideration in approving a locational clearance.

Because of this clause in the ordinance, the residents believe that they are protected from commercial establishments and are free to maintain its residential nature that began in the 1960s. - Rene U. Borromeo and Joeberth M. Ocao