Homeowners in the lakeside subdivision of Chula Vista declared a minor victory this week after gaining concessions from municipal authorities to provide tactical support in an ongoing battle to keep businesses out of their single-family residential zone.
A delegation of Mexican and foreign residents led by Sandra Carman, president of the Colonos homeowners association, marched into Chapala City Hall Tuesday, July 12 to stage a demonstration demanding the immediate shut down of the Gaman Comunidad rehabilitation clinic located in the heart of Lower Chula Vista.
For more than a year, Colonos de Chula Vista officers have hounded the local government to order the clinic’s closure or relocation through the enforcement of municipal zoning codes and backing of the fraccionamiento’s rules and regulations prohibiting commercial operations on residential streets.
Gaman Comunidad, which reportedly houses around 40 patients under treatment for addictions, has prompted constant neighbor complaints about noise, traffic and security issues, Carman said.
In addition, she said the facility has significantly increased demands on Chula Vista’s water system and the Colonos’ contracted trash collectors who have become concerned by the dangerous mixing of medical wastes with normal garbage.
The facility has apparently operated with impunity since last year, lacking both a municipal license and authorization by Jalisco health authorities.
After enduring months of foot dragging by the previous and current municipal administrations, frustrated Colonos board members accompanied by homeowners and legal counsel, descended on City Hall bearing bright yellow placards and a petition addressed to Mayor Javier Degollado. The mayor was not available, having departed on an official trip to Mexico City several hours earlier.
Senior officials dithered about for 45 minutes before the protestors began chanting “Chula Vista! Chula Vista! Chula Vista!” at full volume. Minutes later they were escorted into the mayor’s chambers to meet with Secretary General Miguel Mendoza and Regulations Director Hugo Herrera.
Initially, Mendoza argued that the city government’s hands were tied by an amparo (court injunction) petitioned by the Gaman clinic that is currently under judicial review. Colonos attorney John Brennan countered, pointing out that the amparo request was overridden by the court last year, leaving it without legal effect.
Mendoza also stated that local authorities have been unable to carry out an inspection to verify that the rehab clinic is in business because its doors are closed and no one appears to answer knocks at the door. However, at the conclusion of the audience, he promised the city would execute a closure order by the end of this week. No such action had been taken by the time this newspaper went to press.
Although the Chula Vista protestors departed with the satisfaction that their pleas were finally being taken into account, they made it clear that their next step to expel the clinic from the neighborhood will be to take their appeal directly to the state governor’s office.
In recent weeks Jalisco’s Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks (Coprijal) shut down 40 rehab centers in the Guadalajara metro area for various types of irregularities in the treatment and care of drug and alcohol abusers.