Uruguay
National Party municipalities question an Orsi decree on land recategorization
Rocha filed a petition to have the June regulation set aside, and other white party department heads raised concerns over its impact on autonomy and urban development projects.
The Rocha Municipality filed a revocation petition against the regulatory decree signed on June 4 by President Yamandú Orsi together with ministers Edgardo Ortuño and Tamara Paseyro, which set new conditions for changing the category of certain lands. According to Búsqueda, the municipality believes the rule adds requirements not provided for by law, affects departmental autonomy and makes developments more expensive.
The proposal was brought by Mayor Alejo Umpiérrez to the president at a meeting of mayors held on July 10 in Anchorena. According to Umpiérrez, Orsi said he was aware of the petition and committed to studying the issue, Búsqueda reported.
At that meeting, several National Party mayors expressed concern about the scope of the regulation. The mayor of Durazno, Felipe Algorta, told Búsqueda that he commissioned an analysis to determine whether his municipality will join the petition. Carlos Enciso, mayor of Florida and president of the Congress of Mayors, told that outlet that the decree limits the actions of departmental governments and adds bureaucracy even to small urban investments. According to his account, he warned Orsi that the executive branch could open a conflict with the municipalities if it does not repeal the rule.
Still according to Búsqueda, the debate intensified after the National Directorate of Territorial Planning of the Ministry of Housing added requirements for the land category change where the Rocha airport is planned. The decree was also mentioned by the mayor of Montevideo, Mario Bergara, when he withdrew from the Departmental Board the request for recategorization for a real estate development next to the Carrasco wetlands. In a statement, the Montevideo Departmental Committee of the Broad Front pointed to the regulation of the Integrated Action Programs and the inclusion of the Carrasco wetlands on the list of protected wetlands among the reasons.
Rocha argues that Law 18,308 provides for abbreviated and complementary mechanisms for recategorization, but that the new decree expands the cases in which the more complex procedure is required. In its petition, which Búsqueda accessed, it argues that the regulation goes beyond its authority by imposing burdens and restrictions that do not arise from the legal rule.
The municipality also says the impact is especially sensitive in a department with a large area under protected areas or coastal strip. It notes that its territorial plans for different stretches of the coast have already gone through environmental stages and questions that a tool that, in its view, was intended to streamline management is now becoming slower and more costly.
Among its objections, Rocha also argues that the rule contradicts the criterion of flexible and adaptive territorial planning, makes it harder to apply departmental instruments that have already been approved, and may have negative effects in areas with a shortage of urban land. As an example, it warns about the situation in Chuy and surrounding areas, where, according to the municipality, higher costs and requirements could end up encouraging the formation of settlements. The petition will be sent to other municipalities so they can assess whether they will support the claim, Búsqueda reported.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
