Court orders demolition of 9-floor building in upscale neighborhood

Santo Domingo.- A National District appellate court on Monday ruled for the Neighborhood Board of the upscale sector Los Cacicazgos, which sought the demolition of the building Torre de Plata, on grounds of zoning violation.

The neighborhood’s residents had appealed a November 2011 ruling by Manganagua Municipal Court judge Evelyn Torres, for the company Adecus Business, in the case of construction of the Torre de Plata, adjacent to the Dominican Fiesta Hotel.

But despite Torres’ acknowledgment that the construction was illegal, she neither ruled on the neighbors’ request for demolition, nor convicted the project’s owners, which the Court of Appeals called "contrary to the law."

The ruling on the appeal, the second court win for the residents in as many months, paves the way to demolish Torre de Plata, now a rusty 9-floor hulk, after the San Carlos Municipal Court ordered the same measure in December, as well one year in prison against the project’s promoter, the Spaniard José Francisco Bonet Gambis.