In the final stretch of the 2021-2024 term, the Mérida City Council donated land to private individuals that is not municipal property, thereby engaging in illegal acts that can be reversed judicially, reports architect Fernando Alcocer Ávila, Urban Development Councilman of this municipality.
According to the GeoPortal of the Mérida City Council, the donated lots have a cadastral value of $9,325,934.38.
In an interview with Diario de Yucatán, Councilman Fernando Alcocer states that he was the only one who voted against the lot donations approved by the City Council from June to August, led by interim mayor Alejandro Iván Ruz Castro.
For example, he points out, the City Council donated land to an association, a church, and a professional college, i.e., private entities, which the City Council received as donations from housing developers or the Yucatán State Housing Institute (IVEY) for a specific purpose.
These donations are illegal because the donated land is not municipal property and can be reversed judicially by the two affected parties, he reports.
First, the one who donated the lot to the City Council, such as the developer who gave it to get approval for their subdivision, can file an indirect amparo lawsuit to recover it because the donation agreement clause stating the land is for green space was violated, he details.
The same developer can also file a civil action “because I donated it to you for this purpose, and you violated the conditions of this donation,” he emphasizes.
Second, if these lots were donated to the City Council to provide services to a subdivision, the residents can file an indirect amparo because they are being deprived of that service, such as a park or other facility, he explains.
In the first case, the developer recovers their lot to use as they wish, and in the second, the residents would have their park, expands Councilman Fernando Alcocer, who resigned from the Morena party in January 2024 during the candidate selection process.
Although Councilman Fernando Alcocer does not mention it, something similar happens in the Francisco de Montejo subdivision: residents complain that the lot where “the City Council built a street only for a private entity (a company),” near the El Charquito reserve, was donated by IVEY to be the current Linear Park, and the City Council can “secure federal funds” for this green space project.
Million-Pesos Lot Donated to Medical Association
The Mérida Municipal Gazette states that on June 20, 2024, the City Council donated for free the property 1050 (with 2,198.91 square meters) on 57th Street in the Las Américas subdivision to the civil association Colegio de Médicos Generales de Yucatán, for the construction of their premises.
According to the same Gazette, the companies Promotores y Desarrolladores de Vivienda and Inmobiliaria Jardines de la Veleta, co-owners of the property, donated it to the City Council in 2007.
Dr. María Paula Borges Vargas, president of the Colegio de Médicos, requested in 2017 the donation of a municipal property for the construction of the association’s premises.
On its Facebook page, this Colegio de Médicos presents itself as a “medical company.”
In turn, the GeoPortal of the Mérida City Council reports that property 1050 on 57th Street between 130 and 132 in Las Américas has a cadastral value of $2,385,817.35 and “green area use.”
Million-Pesos Lot Donated to Addiction Rehabilitation Clinic
On its Facebook page, Arca de Noé says: “We are a mixed residential clinic specialized in addiction treatment and rehabilitation.”
The City Council acquired this property through an exchange with IVEY on July 16, 2012, according to the recent donation agreement.
In this case, according to the GeoPortal, it is a 3,061.62 m² plot with a 1,633.50 m² building, a cadastral value of $8,679,650.21, and designated for “Community Center” use.
Million-Pesos Lots Donated to a Church
Then, on Friday, August 2, the City Council donated two lots free of charge to the Iglesia Bautista El Mesías de Mérida, Yucatán, a civil association, for the construction of two temples.
Together, these properties have a cadastral value of $5,217,579.39.
The City Council donated property 504 on 79th Street in the Ampliación Tixcacal Opichén subdivision, which the company Construcasa (Constructora COM) had donated to the City Council in 2005.
According to the GeoPortal, it is a 1,555.82 m² plot with a 138.31 m² building, a cadastral value of $1,722,546.64, and designated for “church” use.
Additionally, the City Council donated property 675 on 11-C Street in the Gran Santa Fe Norte subdivision in Caucel to this church.
According to the Gazette, the company Casas, Desarrollo y Promoción en Cancún donated this lot to the City Council in 2016.
In turn, the GeoPortal reports that property 675 has 1,904.65 m², no construction, a cadastral value of $3,495,032.75, and designated for “lot” use.
