WILLEMSTAD – The Court of First Instance has corrected an error in its recent ruling involving The View Resort & Marina development in Zakitó, confirming that the appeal filed by nearby residents against the government's refusal to enforce building regulations for five apartment buildings is, in fact, well-founded.
The correction follows a mistake in the formal operative section of the court's July 17 judgment. While the court's reasoning clearly concluded that the appeal should be upheld, the final binding section of the ruling incorrectly stated that the appeal was unfounded.
According to a statement issued by the court, the discrepancy was the result of an obvious clerical error that could be corrected through a separate ruling.
The court noted that its legal reasoning had already explained that five apartment buildings were constructed in ways that deviated from the approved building plans attached to the permits. At the time of the minister's decision on June 19, there was no concrete prospect that those deviations would be legalized.
As a result, the court ruled that the Minister of Traffic, Transport and Urban Planning (VVRP) should not have rejected the residents' request for enforcement regarding those buildings. The minister must now reconsider that decision.
The error was also highlighted in a request for rectification submitted by the residents after the inconsistency was brought to their attention.
Despite the correction, the ruling does not automatically halt construction of the project or require the demolition of any buildings.
Instead, the minister must reassess whether enforcement action should be taken against deviations involving Buildings 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The developer remains free to submit applications seeking to legalize the modifications. If there is a concrete prospect of legalization when the minister conducts the new review, that could again justify postponing enforcement measures.
The court's previous decision regarding Building 2 remains unchanged. That building exceeds its approved height by 4.22 meters, measuring 25 meters instead of the permitted 20.78 meters. However, because an application to legalize that deviation had already been submitted and government authorities concluded there were no urban planning objections, the minister was permitted to refrain from enforcement for that building.
The court also left intact its earlier decision rejecting the residents' request for a preliminary injunction. Consequently, no immediate construction stop has been ordered.
While the correction resolves the contradiction in the judgment, the legal dispute over the unauthorized deviations in the remaining five buildings remains ongoing as the minister prepares a new decision on the enforcement request.