By Rico

Costa Rica President Rodrigo Chaves Robles signed this Wednesday the reform to the Regulation of Law 7744 of Ley de Concesión y Operación de marinas y atracaderos (Concession and Operation of Marinas and Berths).

“We are eliminating bottlenecks to develop marinas and tourist berths more quickly, because the generation of employment on the coasts of Costa Rica cannot wait any longer,” said Chaves.

From now on, the requirements are clarified and deadlines are established in all the procedures carried out by investors and developers before the Comisión Interinstitucional de Marinas y Atracaderos Turísticos (CIMAT) – Inter-institutional Commission of Marinas and Tourist Docks, attached to the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) – Costa Rican tourism board.

Thus, for example, when marina or berth projects are located in adjoining areas of private properties registered to individuals, the planning instrument will be the preliminary project of the marina or berth. Prior to the reform, valuable projects for the country were frustrated because the planning instrument that was required was a coastal regulatory plan, although that did not apply in these specific cases.

From now on, CIMAT will be able to resolve the technical feasibility for marinas and berths without the Secretaría Técnica Nacional Ambiental (SETENA) – National Environmental Technical Secretariat, having resolved the environmental feasibility, clarifying that the interested party cannot request the concession without SETENA having granted the license.

This speeds up the procedures in CIMAT, which incurred in non-compliance with response deadlines while waiting for the resolution of the SETENA.

Also, article 54 of the Regulations incorporate the process of plans in the APC platform of the Federated College of Engineers and Architects, which digitizes this process and saves costs.

The reform also regulates a simplified process so that the berths built before 2006 -and which do not have the permits of Law 7744, are brought into order, thus favoring various communities that need these facilities for their connectivity and for a better quality of life.

Additionally, the reform clarifies the conditions under which a foreign vessel – that uses the services of a marina or tourist berth in Costa Rica – can remain in the country for two years, extendable, in which it can also apply for a temporary customs import.

This makes Costa Rica a very attractive place for boats to visit and to take advantage of work and arrival opportunities of tourists from nautical tourism, according to the ICT.