Jacó To Get $3 Million Beach Boardwalk

By Leland Baxter-Neal



A group of developers has announced plans to build a $3 million boardwalk and promenade along the length of Jacó’s beach.

Pat Hundley, founder of the Central Pacific Chamber of Commerce and owner of Daystar Properties, Jacó’s most prolific condominium developer, made the announcement Tuesday at the chamber’s semi-monthly, town hall-style community meeting.

Speaking to about 40 people, including Garabito Mayor Marvin Elizondo and other members of the municipality, Mr Hundley went line-by-line through the chamber’s 2008 budget, which totals $277,860 in spending.

Of that, $100,000 is earmarked for “safety and security,” and another $50,000 is to be spent on public sewer and water projects and regional marketing.

The promenade and boardwalk will be funded privately, apart from the Chamber of Commerce’s works.

“The promenade will be a private gift to the city from Daystar and a couple investors from the area,” Mr Hundley later told The Beach Times.

A $25,000 topographical study of the beach was expected to be finished late this week, the first step toward getting the project built.

According to Mr Hundley, beachfront streets that already exist would be improved and widened to make a boulevard, and then connected to a pedestrian promenade that would follow along the beach where there are no roads.

Mr Hundley estimated the promenade could be anywhere from eight to 14 feet wide, built with brick pavers or other decorative materials, and would be on the beach side of the palm trees currently lining Jacó’s beach.

“We want it to be well lit and very well landscaped,” he said, adding that he envisions the project increasing public access to the length of the beach. “I think this project will change the face of Jacó.”

The walkway would include four public bathrooms, with their own wastewater treatment plants.

The points where beach entry roads meet the beach would also be cleaned up and included in the boulevard-promenade walkway.
© Leland Baxter-Neal
[[+] Zoom]
PLAN OF ACTION: Local leaders were cautiously optimistic this week about plans for a sewer system and wastewater treatment plant for Jaco. AyA says it will fund the $4 million project with a loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration.


Preliminary designs are already in the mayor’s office, and Mr Elizondo called the project “excellent.”
“I would say that it would be unique in Latin America,” Mr Elizondo said.

The municipal council has seen the plans and also supports the idea, Mr Elizondo said, but acknowledged the project would need permits from both the Environment Ministry and the Port Authority because it enters the 50-meter zone inland from the ocean’s mid-tide line called the zona pública.

The Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, looks to invest the bulk of its money this year in improving security, now that the municipality has paved nearly every road in Jacó, with some funding and assistance from the chamber.

During this week’s meeting, the skeleton crew of the new Municipal Police force was introduced to a round of applause from the attendees. The new force will have police functions, as well as enforce municipal regulations, and answer directly to the municipality.

Currently working from a few desks placed outdoors on the municipality’s third-floor balcony, the force is in the process of purchasing vehicles, weapons and other essential equipment while looking for a place to set up amore permanent, indoor office. Prior to the Chamber meeting, Juan Gabriel Hidalgo, interim commissioner for the force, gave Mr Hundley a list of equipment the police need.

It is understood that much of the $100,000 set aside in the chamber budget for security is to be used to help the municipal police.

“Right now, this chamber is trying to be all things to all people and that’s very demanding on its resource,” Mr Hundley told the meeting. “The couple of hundred thousand dollars we need to raise would be reduced to $30,000 if we were not dealing with issues your government usually deals with for you.”

Mr Hundley went on, however, to praise the mayor and the municipality.

“The township of Jacó has been very fortunate to have the benefit of direct access to one of the most effective local governments in Costa Rica,” Mr Hundley said, adding that the municipality has “set an unprecedented example for how local government and the private sector can work together to ensure a better future.

“I have seen more done in last six months than since the fall of 2002,” he continued. “And when I say things done I mean positive things done for the town.”

Last year, the Chamber of Commerce and the municipality collaborated on importing and operating two beach cleaning machines purchased by Daystar; repairing and paving local streets; and various cultural events. They also brought both President Oscar Arias and Tourism Minister Ricardo Benavides to town, among other top government officials.