About two weeks ago, residents on Pescador Drive and Angel Coral Street in San Pedro made a formally complained to the Chairman of the Ambergris Caye Local Building Authority, Councilor Joseph Elijio. The complains originated from a construction that is in progress. The business is under the name Paz Sister Company Limited; a business owned by four sisters, the Mayor of San Pedro, Her Worship Elsa Paz, being one. Neighbors claimed that the construction falls within their properties and that the balconies constructed on the second floor of the building invaded the upper space of their properties. They also informed the Local Building Authority that the construction itself had deviated from the originally approved planned.

It took over two weeks before the Ambergris Caye Local Building Authority met, and the news is that a stop order was prepared by the board. The meeting took place on Monday night and according to Councilor Elijio, it was found out that the contractors had indeed deviated from the approved plan. Councilor Elijio said "the mayor was not complying with the plans approved by the Local Building Authority," and as such "a stop order was prepared during the meeting." Elijio said that he was waiting for two weeks for a surveyor's report from the Mayor's family owned construction, but it was never handed to the Local Building Authority on the given date.

The Sun contacted Deputy Mayor Pablo Ico who would only say that the meeting ended in "ruckus" and he would not comment on the record since the matter is "delicate." The Sun also spoke to the Vice Chairman of the Local Building Authority Frank Panton who refused to comment stating the issue is also delicate.

Councilor Elijio would not confirm if the stop order was executed since he was out of office for the day. Operation on the building has stop and as such, it is left to see the next course of action that the Local Building Authority will take to remedy the situation.

The San Pedro Sun tried contacting Mayor Paz for comments but the secretary at the San Pedro Town Council told us that she was out of the country.

San Pedro Sun

Neighbors upset with SP Mayor over her family construction
The Mayor of San Pedro is in the spotlight after neighbors have been complaining that a new family owned building has diverted from the original plan and has also been constructed on a part of their properties. Our island correspondent, Jorge Aldana has been following the story and filed the following report.

Jorge Aldana – Reporter
The three terms Mayor of San Pedro Town, Her worship Elsa Paz finds herself at odds with her neighbors following the construction of a family owned multimillion dollars three story building. Neighbors on both Pescador Drive and Angel Coral Street in San Pedro complained to Love News that part of the construction falls within their properties. Neighbors also claimed that the balconies constructed on the second floor of the building invaded the upper space of their properties.
One of the neighbors affected by the construction of the mega building and the demarcation of his property is Francisco Gutierrez. Gutierrez, who property is located from Angel Coral Street to the back part of the Mayor’s family owned property, said he has been living on his property for over 35 years without having a problem until the recently when the construction started going up and the markings of his property where changed by a surveyor contracted by the Mayor.
When Love News visited the area, a private surveyor namely John Hertular hired by the Mayor, was demarcating the properties. Hertular told Love News that there was a discrepancy of about 1 foot between the different prosperities. The property markers were drifted more towards the property of Gutierrez. When asked how comes a discrepancy was just found out after so many years, Hertular said that the electronic equipments used now are more modern and gives precise readings than the manual equipments used to measure the same property over 30 years ago.
Love News also found out during the visit to the construction site that the actual construction of the building was diverted and that the balconies constructed on the upper flat of the building was not according to the original approved construction plan. According to the neighbors the diversion of the building plan was also reported to the Chairman of the Local Building Authority Councilor Joseph Elijio. Councilor Elijio confirm to Love News that he was approached by the neighbors and he will be addressing the issues.
While the Mayor refused an audio interview she stated that the building, which is under a business, namely Paz Sister Company Limited, it is actually owned by four sisters, the Mayor being one. She did admit that the balconies of the building were not according to the approved planed. The unapologetic Mayor said however, that because the plan has been approved and the construction is already in progress, she will have no other options but to adhere to the approved plan and as such readjust the balconies to fit the approved plan. The Mayor denied allegation that part of the building overlap into other properties next to that of her family and said that the physical structure is within the setbacks indicated by the Local Building Authority.
Once a contractor does not abide by the approved construction plan signed the Chairman of the Local Building Authority, a stop order can be given. No stop order has been given in this case up to news time.

This news report is sponsored by Grand Belizeans Estate Limited.
Reporting for Love News from San Pedro Town, I am Jorge Aldana.
Aired 25 November 2010

[i]San Pedro Local Building Authority issue stop order for building partly owned by the Mayor[/i]
A project partly owned by the Mayor of San Pedro Town Elsa Paz was issued with a stop order. Our San Pedro correspondent Jorge Aldana has the details.

Jorge Aldana – Reporter
Two weeks ago, several residents on Pescador Drive and Angel Coral Street in San Pedro made a formal complained to the Chairman of the Ambergris Caye Local Building Authority, Councilor Joseph Elijio. The contention originated from a construction that is in progress under a business, namely Paz Sister Company Limited. The business is actually owned by four sisters, the Mayor of San Pedro Her Worship Elsa Paz being one. Neighbors claimed that the construction falls within their properties. They also complained that the balconies constructed on the second floor of the building invaded the upper space of their properties and the construction itself had deviated from the originally approved planned.
It took over two weeks before the members of the Ambergris Caye Local Building Authority could meet and the news is that a stop order was issued for the building. The meeting took place on Monday night and according to Councilor Elijio, it was found out that the contractors had indeed deviated from the approved plan. Councilor Elijio said “the mayor was not complying with the plans approved by the Local Building Authority,” and as such “a stop order was prepared during the meeting.” Eljio said that he was waiting for two weeks for a surveyor’s report from the Mayor’s family owned construction, but was never handed to the Local Building Authority on the given date.
Several sources within the Local Building Authority told Love News that the meeting ended in “ruckus” since the Mayor was not happy with the decision taken by the members. Love News understands that the Mayor called an informal meeting of the Local Building Authority on Tuesday night to revoke the stop order. We understand the Mayor was told that she does not have the authority to call such meeting of the given board and the meeting was not considered valid. Deputy Mayor Pablo Ico would only say that the meeting ended in “chaos” and would not comment on the record since the matter is “delicate.” Love News also spoke to the Vice Chairman of the Local Building Authority Frank Panton who refused to comment stating the issue is also delicate.
While Councilor Elijio would not confirm if the stop order was executed, Love News understands that both the Police and the inspector of the Local Building Authority in San Pedro executed the stop order on Tuesday December 7th. Operation on the building has stop and as such, it is left to see the next course of action that the Local Building Authority will take to remedy the situation.
Love News try to contact Mayor Paz for comments but the secretary at the San Pedro Town Council told us that Mayor Paz was out of the country.

This News report is sponsored by Gran Belizeans Estate Limited
Reporting for Love News from San Pedro Town, I am Jorge Aldana
Aired on December 8th, 2010

Work was going on this morning (Friday, Dec. 10)

She must know someone on the board.

I guess we can now assume properties surveyed years ago are all off a foot or more, or is it only on that one property?

Depends on the equipment - if you have been resurveyed for the compulsory registration recently you can probably assume the latest GPS equipment was used and that your survey is ok.

Years ago here in the city a lawyers contractor built her house (unbeknownst to her! yeah right) in the middle of her property and the one next to her that she didn't own and the american in the US who owned it could do nothing but sell to her and he was given another piece in same subdivision. Go friggin figure...

As they say in carpenter land - "measure twice, cut once."

Mayor Elsa Paz clarifies controversy with Property owned by the Paz Sisters

In Vol. 20, Issue #47 The San Pedro Sun reported on a construction in progress, located on Pescador Drive. The building is owned by a company under the name Paz Sister Company Limited, a business which is jointly owned by four sisters, Mayor Elsa Paz being one of them. This building was the subject of many complaints, and scrutinized in the SPSun story. In the article we further stated that the Chairman of the Ambergris Caye Local Building Authority (ACLBA), Counselor Joseph Elijio received complaints from neighbors pertaining to the structure encroaching on properties belonging to the surrounding neighbors, on ground level as well as on the second floor levels.

We went on to report that as the result of the complaints, a stop order was prepared by the board after a meeting was held, and it was discovered that that the contractors had deviated from the approved plan. In our report, we mentioned that Mr. Elijio further stated that the stop order was issued after an ordered survey was never presented to the ACLBA. The said survey would have clarified the various boundaries of the property in question as well as the surrounding properties.

As construction on the building in question continues, The San Pedro Sun has been in search of some clarification, this time managing to get the Mayor's side of the story (at the time the first story ran, she was unavailable). Mayor Elsa Paz has provided The San Pedro Sun with a report (dated December 16th 2010) furnished to her by engineer John H. Hertular, who holds a diploma as a Community Planning Licensed Land Surveyor.

The document stated that a re-survey of Parcel 1002, Block 7, that parcel of land belonging to the Paz Sisters, of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye was carried out. (Note that the parcels of land that surrounded parcel 1002 are parcels 999, 1001 and 1011.) The independent report stated that "it was found that the fencing of parcels 999, 1001 and a portion of 1011 fencing were encroaching on parcel 1002. These parcels are located to the right of P-1002. The parcel 1010 fencing was also found to be encroaching P-1002".

As per whether a stop order was issued, the Mayor stated, "Yes, there was a stop order drafted by Councilor Joseph Elijio, however the order was illegal. The due process is that a meeting be held where the issues are discussed and the decision would be made by the board. Also the stop order must be signed by the Mayor. This never happened and Councilor Elijio went ahead and did this on his own, because of a personal issue he had with the Mayor, so it was not legal". Due to this fact, the Mayor stated that she was advised by her lawyers not to cease construction on the building. Mayor Paz also stated that as for the residents who may feel that the report provided by the Surveyor is not accurate, they are welcome to contract an independent surveyor to get a second opinion, in light of fairness.

San Pedro Sun