Almost four years after the enactment of Law 368-22, the tourist municipality of Puerto Plata still does not have a Municipal Land Use Plan, and complaints about construction, coastal occupations, and controversies over urban planning permits illustrate the challenges it faces
SANTO DOMINGO.- The tourist and real estate expansion of Sosúa has been accompanied by controversies over construction, occupation of coastal spaces, environmental interventions and questions about compliance with urban planning regulations.
It was in this context that national and municipal authorities and business representatives sat down yesterday, Thursday, November 5, to discuss the importance of territorial planning for the municipality.
The meeting, held in the Guarionex Gell session hall of the Municipal Council, brought together Domingo Matías, Vice Minister of Territorial Planning, and architect Nolberto Mota, Director of Urban Planning, along with representatives of the hotel and gastronomic sector, municipal officials and councilors, convened by the Citizen Dialogues initiative to discuss the “Importance of territorial planning in Sosúa, Puerto Plata”.
The discussion is set against the backdrop of a reality that has become visible in different episodes recorded during the last few years: the tensions between the development of real estate and tourism projects, the regulation of construction, the protection of natural resources and the use of public spaces.
Conflicts and planning
The background information published by the press shows that the controversies are not new.
On May 11, 2020, the newspaper El Caribe reported that the Environmental Prosecutor's Office in Puerto Plata had ordered the work of a hotel project at the mouth of the Yásica River, in Cabarete, a municipal district belonging to Sosúa, to be stopped.
The measure came after complaints from community members who opposed the construction on the beach and near the river mouth.
A year later, on April 16, 2021, RNN published information about the suspension of work related to the Ritz-Carlton Reserve project, following complaints of damage to wetlands and mangroves. The publication also reported that the City Council's Urban Planning Department had ordered a halt to construction that included the closure of a street.
On November 20, 2024, Diario Libre reported on the demolition of dozens of commercial booths erected within 60 meters of the coastal strip of Playa Sosúa, in a recovery process that had begun in 2021 with the removal of 208 establishments.
The intervention is part of the government's project to recover and reorganize Sosúa Beach, which includes the release of occupied spaces, the relocation of merchants, and the construction of two open commercial plazas.
On September 19, 2025, the same newspaper reported another operation in which seven public institutions dismantled four irregular structures, including booths, private bathrooms and storage facilities, located on the coastal strip.
Most recently, on January 13, 2026, CDN published complaints from residents of Sosúa and Cabarete regarding the construction of an approximately seven-story building in the Vista Mar Residential project in Playa Laguna. Community members questioned compliance with regulations concerning building height, land use, urban planning requirements, and aviation safety.
These episodes show different expressions of the territorial conflicts that the municipality faces: from the occupation of protected spaces to controversies over the characteristics and conditions of the buildings.
The pending planning
Since December 2022, the Dominican Republic has had Law 368-22 on Territorial Planning, Land Use and Human Settlements, which establishes the regulatory framework to organize the territory and defines municipal plans as fundamental instruments to regulate land use and occupation.
Almost four years after its enactment, Sosúa still does not have a Municipal Territorial Planning Plan that establishes a comprehensive vision on its urban growth, the areas designated for different activities and the conditions for the development of new investments.
The implementing regulations for the legislation were approved by Decree 486-25 in August 2025. Their entry into force activated the period of up to 24 months established in article 114 for the preparation of the plans.
The discussion also has an institutional dimension. A territorial development assessment, prepared with support from Japanese cooperation and available in the FEDOMU library, identifies coordination difficulties between city councils and municipal districts regarding land use permits.
The document expressly mentions Sosúa among the areas where these differences are especially important due to the tourist and industrial activity of its municipal districts.
Territorial planning, therefore, involves more than just establishing where construction is permitted; it entails defining institutional responsibilities, occupancy densities, environmental protection areas, necessary infrastructure, and conditions to ensure that economic growth does not compromise natural resources or the quality of life of communities.
In addition to Matías and Mota, those participating in the meeting included Michelle Brukier, honorary tourism advisor to the City Council, and Johanna Ramos, legal advisor to the council. Representing the City Council were Wellington Padilla, Fausto Santos, Francisco Martínez, Chiselle Hernández, Oscar Luis Gómez, and Rafael Almonte Cuchilla.
The meeting brings back to the table a discussion that transcends municipal authorities and involves the economic sectors that participate in the transformation of the territory: how to order the growth of one of the tourist destinations of Puerto Plata and under what rules its next investments will be developed.
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