### Pushing for an Urban Prosecutor’s Office in Ensenada
After fifteen years without an update, the Urban Development Program for the Population Center (PDUCP) of Ensenada is in dire need of revision. The private sector is pushing for urban core consolidation to combat social delays.
Marco Estudillo Bernal, the president of Ensenada’s Business Coordinating Council (CCEE), has requested the city’s new mayor, Claudia Agatón Muñiz, to consider the business community’s feedback after analyzing the PDUCP.
Among the proposals from the Ensenada Economic Advisory Council (CONSULTEN), led by architect Julio Salinas López, is to halt urban expansion into areas lacking essential services such as water, electricity, public transportation, and sewer systems. Additionally, it is crucial to strengthen guidelines for core infrastructure projects, such as water, green infrastructure, and mobility, and to update the list of strategic projects to reflect current economic development needs.
Another significant suggestion is the establishment of an Urban Prosecutor’s Office, consisting of a collegiate body making decisions about the city’s development.
“The urban sprawl in Ensenada has grown significantly, but there are still urban voids like vacant lots,” remarked architect Salinas. He advocates for focusing development on various city sectors, like Maneadero, where there is a need to develop a mixed-use urban industrial corridor.
For the Northeastern area, near Ojos Negros, controlling irregular human settlements can promote industrial development. Similarly, the northern entrance to El Sauzal may benefit from mixed-use projects encompassing tourism, industry, and residential spaces.
The business community emphasizes that the PDUCP should be updated at least triennially, a practice that has not been followed.
Mayor Armando Ayala Robles acknowledged the efforts of the Metropolitan Institute for Research and Planning of Ensenada and city councilors in laying the foundation for a updated PDUCPE: “It was meticulous work that considered input from various sectors and citizens. This document prioritizes collective interests, ensuring orderly growth and development.”
### Environmental and Urban Challenges in Ensenada
The official documents reveal significant urban environmental issues, including illegal dumping of trash and sewage in the city’s creeks. The scenario is dire at the Emilio López Zamora Dam, facing low water levels due to scarce rainfall, exacerbating contamination from illegal dumps and sewage.
The Doña Petra Canyon, El Naranjo Lagoon, and Punta Banda Estuary are under threat from illegal waste dumps and opportunistic settlers lacking access to formal land, resulting in irregular settlements, mainly on creek beds and gullies. This unplanned growth creates flood and landslide risks, as reported by nearby community residents, who cite health concerns due to the lack of basic services.
Uncontrolled urban growth has fragmented natural landscapes, especially in ecologically important zones like Doña Petra Canyon, Arroyo Ensenada and Aguajito, Cañada de Cota, and Arroyo El Choyal. This has also impacted other creeks like El Sauzal, Arroyo Cuatro Milpas, and Campillo. The growing water flow and speed in these creeks have destroyed streets and overwhelmed drainage systems, generating dust from vehicle traffic on unpaved roads.
Contamination of wells in Maneadero Valley by wastewater, linked to septic tanks and effluent discharge into Arroyo Las Ánimas, has prompted farmers and ejidatarios to shift land use from agriculture to industrial or residential. This has fueled the rise of irregular subdivisions and additional septic tanks for new settlements.
The city’s neglect of the environment has led to disaster risks, evidenced by the vulnerability to floods from obstructed or diverted creeks.
An analysis of 3,433 soil use feasibility requests from 2017 to 2021 by the Urban Administration Department reveals a sharp rise in requests since 2021, with the Centro and Chapultepec sectors submitting the highest numbers. By category, commerce and services accounted for 60.2% of requests, 16.6% were residential, and 13% industrial.
Primary roads are mainly located in the Centro sector, linking the broader urban spread and creating a dependency on Avenida Reforma. Secondary roads are spread across the city, connecting to major routes. Avenida Reforma faces issues like deteriorating conditions, traffic hub conflicts, lane variations, discontinuities, and poor signage and lighting.
According to the Ensenada Urbanization Council (CUME), the total area of well-maintained roads is 6,123 square meters, while 3,185 square meters need maintenance, repair, or reconstruction. The city grows by about 180,000 square meters of roads annually, but CUME only paves 50,000 square meters per year. To address growth demand and current backlog, over 200,000 square meters of paving is required annually.
### Court Orders Halt to Damage on Abelardo L. Rodríguez Heritage Site
Urban and industrial growth is evident from the northern entry to Ensenada, with heavy truck container towers dominating the area. This sprawl has impacted sectors like tourism, with the recent declaration of the Abelardo L. Rodríguez Hacienda as a Cultural Heritage site protecting the property from structural damage by nearby businesses.
The property, located in El Sauzal de Rodríguez, has faced unrestrained expansion of container storage areas since the COVID-19 pandemic, enclosing the hacienda. Lawyer Alejandro Casillas, defending the hacienda, obtained a court injunction requiring a trucking company to avoid modifying or altering the protected area and maintain it in optimum conditions.
The injunction mandates cultural rights protection, even for private property, and urges authorities to declare necessary protection measures. Actions have also been initiated against seafood processing companies emitting foul odors at Ensenada’s Tijuana and Tecate entries.
A Federal Collegiate Court resolved the case after a District Court declined to study it. The provisional suspension protects the site from activities causing commercial storage and rental damage, ensuring cultural heritage transmission to future generations.
This legal action benefits the community and compels authorities to implement measures for preservation, safeguarding the site from deterioration or material and immaterial loss.