Reformed Marina Law Passed

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A bill to reform a 1998 law regulating the establishment of marinas was recently passed by lawmakers after having spent three years winding through the legislature and suffering four consultations in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) to get the wording legally correct.

Among a number of changes, it extends the concession of marina operators from 20 years to 35 and emphasizes the need for a detailed environmental impact study.

Environmentally, construction of a marina can be a chancy thing. Experience in countries around the world has proven that changing currents with improperly considered installations can disturb marine breeding and procreation areas as well even sweeping millennia-old accumulations of sand off nearby beaches.

According to the business publication El Financiero, only three marinas are in operation in this country: Los Suenos in Herradura Beach de Garabito, the new Pez Vela Marina at Quepos and at Payagayo in Guanacaste province.

The oldest--and most controversial--Flamingo Marina was closed by environmental authorities and Santa Cruz municipal officials because of alleged fuel contamination. The result was a number of accusations of official manipulations by both agencies.

The concession was annulled and the marina has since been in limbo. This move resulted in the virtual destruction of sportfishing in the area, once considered by deep-sea fishing fans as one of the world's greatest areas and holder of numerous fishing world records.

One proposal has been the establishment of a Costa Rican Coast Guard station there. The closest station is the main Pacific base at Puntarenas, but it is unclear if the Coast Guard needs or even wants a station there. Meanwhile, sportfishing boats have nowhere to easily refuel and maintain their vessels.

After having summarily shut down Flamingo Marina, instead of giving the North American concessionaire a chance to rectify problems -- to the detriment of tourism in the area -- the Santa Cruz municipality seems in no hurry to reactivate the tourist attraction.

Meanwhile nine prospective marina concessionaires are going through the laborious paperwork necessary to begin construction--which, despite the new law simplifying matters, still may take two years. Another, Marina El Coco, has its paperwork complete but has not begun construction.

The new legislation also: allows marinas to be built adjacent to coastal towns, allows tourism docks on lakes and riverbanks, prohibits construction of marinas in environmentally protected area and requires a public hearing of nearby residents before the concession is granted.