The City Council indicated it will be investigate a mall in Tugbok District that went up in smokes last week to determine if it passed all the necessary documents before it was put up.
The fire, of undetermined origin, razed to the ground the warehouse of the Gaisano Capital Mall with destroyed appliances, clothing and groceries. Total damage was placed at P3 million.
Councilor Jesus Melchor Quitain Jr Tuesday said the councilors must look into whether the allegations are true even as they are poised to ask concerned local government agencies to check if the mall was issued a permit before construction.
“The way I see it, all permits must pass through the committee hearing; we will see whether the owner of the establishment have complied all the necessary requirements,” Quitain said.
Assistant City Planning and Development coordinator Roy Ryan Rigor said the mall committed several zoning violations, adding that the building was constructed in “total violation of the law” since it did not pass through their office and did not comply with the requirements of the City Engineer’s Office.
“The construction was illegal in the first place since they did not have any permit. When we found out about it, we imposed an administrative fine since it is stated in the ordinance of the city that we will impose fine if the building does not have a locational clearance,” he said.
In applying a building permit in the city, the management must go to the City Planning first for locational clearance then proceed to the CEO for the building permit.
Rigor said that they cannot issue a locational clearance to the management of the said mall since the location is a residential zone.
“In the first place the location of the establishment is in a residential zone, malls should be in the commercial zone so we really cannot issue a locational clearance,” he said.
He said that the management has a pending application for allowable use in the city planning’s office after they have found out that they cannot operate due to the lack of permits.
Rigor said that he still do not have any idea if the management will be granted with their application for allowable use since it will undergo several procedure.
It was also found out that the management did not go to the City Council to apply for reclassification since the area is allocated for residential.
For his part, CEO Officer in Charge Engr. Joseph Dominic Felizarta said that as early as June, they already issued a stoppage order to the management of the mall since they found out that it does not have any building permit.
“In June, we issued a stoppage order already however, they showed interest to comply with the requirements of the locational clearance that is why we gave them time to comply,” he said.
On August 2016, the CEO issued again a stoppage order to the management since they did not comply with the requirements.
The mall was scheduled to open on December 9, 2016 however; they did not get a business permit since the construction of the building is already a violation of the law.
Under the Article Xi Section 1 of the Zoning ordinance of the city, projects such as malls, commercial centers and shopping centers among others are required to secure a Preliminary Approval and Location Clearance and Development Permit from the City Council.
Last week, the warehouse of the mall was hit by a fire that has an estimated damaged of P3 million.
Quitain added that the council would be investigating the barangay and called on the government offices concerned to check the matter with them.
Quitain will also refer the report to other committees for investigations before it would proceed to the ethics committee.
“If the report holds true – if it is not grave – the liabilities could lead to dismissal of any employee liable for what happened,” Quitain said, adding that all the agencies concerned will be called soon for the committee hearing.
The councilor added that the only way to find out if the mall is compliant is for City Engineer’s Office and City Planning and Development Office to double check how it happened.
Meanwhile, Atty. Joseph Dominic Felizarta of the City Engineer’s Office on Thursday revealed that they had issued violations for not complying the building code.
“Gitukod ang gambalay nga walay permit, then naa sad sila sa residential area,” he said, adding that they haven’t complied the zoning ordinance. (Tiziana Celine S. Piatos and Funny Pearl A. Gajunera)
