Creating designated areas for residences and businesses, guaranteeing access to water and dust control throughout the year, creating local micro businesses and social assistance centers are all part of Nosara Model, a plan to turn Nosara into a model community, prepared by the Nosara Civic Association.
Nosara Model is a detailed action plan in a 73-page document with the objective of promoting sustainable development in the district. It describes the purpose and structure of the plan, involving different community leaders like the development associations, rural water boards (ASADAs), community groups and local businesses.
The presentation of the plan took place on Thursday, November 13, at the Kitson Library and it was attended by members of the NCA board of directors and community residents.
Alvin Rosenbaum, president of the NCA, described Nosara Model as a concept of sustainability that integrates three fundamental pillars: environment, economy, and social structure.
“[Nosara Model] has three components of sustainability: economic development, environmental protection and a social component that people in fact are living good, healthy lives,” said Rosenbaum.
But to get to know the Nosara Model and see if there really are possibilities to apply it, they’ll have to wait at least another year since the NCA must first resolve their legal battles. These include the order of the closure of the dump by the Ministry of Health in August, to which the organization responded with two lawsuits, as well as the constitutional appeal filed against CONAVI for health problems related to dust, and settling the claim from the Municipality of Nicoya about 80 hectares (about 200 acres) of the American Project that are registered to the NCA but that should be public, according to the law of urban development.
Nice Alterman, vice president of the association, said,
“We have to deal with all these claims against us first and then we can move on to start dealing with the other issues… and that’s happening before the end of this year,” adding, “Environmental stewardship is our really primary goal here and our mission is to have a sustainable community that respects all living things.”
Another concern of the NCA is the uncontrolled real estate development that Nosara could undergo in the coming years and therefore regulations are needed to prevent it.
“When you look at Tamarindo and the problems they have with overdevelopment without controls, they have pollution, crime, they don´t have water in the dry months, so we are trying to avoid this. We need regulations but not too many, and they need to be enforced, so it’s a balance,” Rosenbaum commented.
For now, Rosenbaum indicated that they are in the dissemination stage of the project and that they have the necessary funds to put the plan into action, which will be implemented over the next five years, but first they should have the approval of the majority of members at the annual meeting that the association will have next year on January 27.
Currently, NCA has more than 300 active members who are mostly North Americans that live in Nosara.
“We have a plan that deals with the press, digital media, and public officials and so on, and we are going to move on that plan as best we can,” explained Rosenbaum.
In conclusion, Rosenbaum explained why the NCA is promoting this plan and why they feel that they are going to succeed in implementing it. “We believe that NCA is the only organization with the capacity to do this.”
See Model Nosara here
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