The Agency for the Protection of the Urban and Natural Environment, as stated in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC), has ordered the demolition of a house of 234.26 square meters, located in the capital city of Argana Alta.
Also, the owner must pay 30,000 euros as a fine, an amount that will be reduced by 75 percent if the affected party chooses to voluntarily restore the altered physical reality in the protected space.
The Protection Agency makes it known through the BOC, as it has not been possible to notify the interested party of the resolutions issued in the respective files processed for the environmental infraction. The opening of the file is recorded in the Arrecife City Council, but it appears "in process", according to a source from the Council speaking to La VOZ. The house is located at Calle Campoamor number 134.
Infraction classified as serious
The Agency's announcement orders the offender to restore the legal order disturbed by the execution of the works on protected land. The infraction is classified as serious, since the owner does not have the necessary mandatory titles for its construction, such as the territorial qualification and the urban planning license, required by the laws of Territorial Planning and Natural Spaces of the Canary Islands.
The aforementioned laws, the Agency adds, establish that carrying out infractions such as the one committed in Argana Alta will always lead to the initiation, instruction, and resolution of the corresponding sanctioning procedure, whether or not the works, acts, activities, or uses that have motivated the infraction are legalizable.
Interest in legalizing it
The Agency's resolution records, in the background section, that the owner of the house has always wanted to have the works of his house legalized, therefore, it says verbatim: "from the first communication, he contacted the Arrecife City Council to proceed with its legalization.
In the aforementioned City Council, he was told that he should present a series of documents, including a certificate of antiquity of more than four years, so he requested it from the City Council, also a certificate of safety and solidity drafted by a competent technician and endorsed by the corresponding college, in addition to a sketch of the house, and the cadastral registration, which is in the process of being obtained".
It was sealed in February 2003
The works were sealed on February 19, 2003, but a technician from the Agency verified that, in April 2004, the works were still ongoing. The Department of Territorial Policy and Environment of the Cabildo of Lanzarote resolved a month later to deny the territorial qualification for the legalization of the house.
The owner presented allegations and has tried until the last moment to save it. However, the Agency considered that the accusation made, nor the basis of imputation, is not distorted.
Against the act of the Protection Agency, the owner may file an appeal with the Minister of Environment and Territorial Planning of the regional Executive, within a period of one month, from the day following its notification. The BOC published the announcement last Tuesday.
