PROCESO: RECURSO DE AMPARO RESOLUCIÓN Nº 2025041558 CONSTITUTIONAL CHAMBER OF THE SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE. San José, at nine hours twenty-five minutes on the sixteenth of December of two thousand twenty-five.
Recurso de amparo filed by Nombre33836, identity card CED48315, on behalf of ASOCIACIÓN VECINAL VISTA VERDE, legal ID CED48316, against MUNICIPALIDAD DE SANTA BÁRBARA.
RESULTANDO:
- 1By document added to the Judicial Office Management System of this Chamber at 12:39 hours on November 20, 2025, the petitioner files a recurso de amparo against MUNICIPALIDAD DE SANTA BÁRBARA, on behalf of ASOCIACIÓN VECINAL VISTA VERDE. They state that: "(…) FIRST: the neighborhood council of Residencial Vista Verde, duly registered before the national registry under the corporate name ASOCIACION VECINAL VISTA VERDE, with legal ID number CED48316 created for the purpose of representing a community belonging to the district of San Pedro, canton Santa Barbara, province of Heredia, said residential complex is also known as Dirección5562 and Dirección3242 for municipal purposes, a community with more than 80 buildings where minors and older adults coexist. SECOND: due to pressing needs existing in the community, the residents of the area represented by the neighborhood council have knocked on the doors of the municipality so that concrete answers and solutions are provided from the local government; however, due to a political conflict prevailing between the mayor and 2 of the members of the developer that built the urbanization, they have been negligent in addressing the requests and needs of the community, the latter being the ones harmed despite being citizens responsible with the payment of municipal taxes and for the simple fact of being citizens possessing rights which are being curtailed by the authorities whose duty it is to guarantee them.As of the filing date of this document, they have not obtained any solution to the problem, ignoring their efforts dating back to the year 2020, thereby violating the rights contained in articles 21, 22, 23, 45, 50, and 27 of the Political Constitution. THIRD: The affected parties have on innumerable occasions approached the respondent municipality, with the purpose of having it solve a problem in the storm sewer system, because poor planning in the approval of permits without a true stormwater drainage plan has caused water overflow, since the sewer system and drainage created exclusively for the residents of the residential complex is insufficient to channel all the water that now flows from nearby areas that do not belong to the urbanization, causing constant flooding during the rainy season. They indicate that the problem was aggravated by the fact that there are new buildings in nearby lots for which construction permits were granted without having a water management plan, where connections of black water have been made to the sewer system and the public road, which flow down the slope and fall into the urbanization's drainage, streets, homes, and surrounding and own lands, and cause serious threats to the health of the area's residents, passersby, and people in general, not to mention the nuisances they cause.The problem was aggravated when the owner of an adjoining property carried out earthworks (movimientos de tierra) that included the closure of a stream (quebrada), a situation that was reported to the Municipality without any actions being taken to suspend said works. As indicated, these floods not only occur on the streets, but they also enter the homes, causing damage to the real estate and belongings of the residents, their homes being affected by contaminated water, water that carries mud, stones, animal excrement from neighboring lots that have livestock, which constitutes patrimonial damage, moral damage, and even worse, to the health of the residents. Due to soil saturation, the drains of some 3 homes have collapsed, and these residents discharge their water into the gutters that should be used only for stormwater, which generates a bad odor throughout the entire place. There is a proliferation of flies, houses with mold and humidity, and people with health issues, having asthma and allergy conditions which are aggravated by the situation.FOURTH: as a second request, a petition was made to the municipality regarding the opening of a second access to the community, which already exist but are not passable, given that currently there is only one single-lane access along approximately 300 meters with a sharp 180-degree curve that does not allow visibility, putting the lives of passersby at risk, nor are there sidewalks and this is the place where minors who attend the nearby school, which is 500 meters away, walk; on said access, approximately a year ago due to a fire, entry to the community was collapsed and the residents could not access their homes, the firefighters themselves had serious complications as they had no way to turn around and had to exit in reverse for almost 200 meters, delaying rescue efforts; along with this issue, the need for a fire hydrant was established, given that the canton does not have a fire station and the nearest hydrant is more than 1 kilometer from the community.There are also no recreational areas for minors and pets despite the fact that there are people in the community who have offered to donate land for this purpose; the municipality refuses to receive them. FIFTH: The existence of lands without water cuts where a dry gully (sequía) previously existed, earthworks (movimientos de tierra) without permits was also reported: previously a large property that exists in the area had a dry gully which the owner closed, and without permits made earthworks, creating a kind of water slide, which causes it to capture a lot of water and channel it directly to the residents' properties, generating flooding inside the properties and very large economic losses. This situation has already been addressed on multiple occasions with the municipality, and the solution remains undefined. See folios 27-28 of the evidence annex SIXTH: The situation of the water drainage problems is not new for the Municipalidad de Santa Barbara, given that when the construction of the homes was being processed, it was managed among other things that a stormwater drainage plan had to be made, which 4 was approved through the opinion of the Public Works Commission No. 018-COPJ MSB-2022, which states: Subject: Various Matters Calle Loría and Letter of Intent with site design for the \"Vista Verde\" project.That in ordinary session 11-2018, June 18, 2018, through agreement No. 2147-2018, the Councilors Ronald Fco. Salas Campos; Luis Alb. Carvajal Rojas; Patricia Monge Núñez, Johnny Ramírez Sánchez; Luis Edo. Sánchez Solórzano, agreed unanimously and definitively: To approve the motion presented by Mr. Ronald Fco. Salas Campos, namely: 1.- Dispense from Commission 2.- That this Municipal Council declare as a Public Road the entirety of the so-called Dirección3242 or Dirección5562 as some residents know it, as a tertiary road, with a width of 8.5 meters, as described in Considerando CUARTO, provided it does not contravene the law and the regulations applicable for these purposes. 3.- Instruct the Administration to incorporate said road into the cantonal road map and the cadastral map of the Canton of Santa Bárbara\". b) That in ordinary session 188-2019, held on December 9, 2019, Reading of Correspondence item H, the note signed by the individuals María Fernanda Loría Murillo, Legal Representative of CMFFSA SA, Nombre87697 and Hilda María Sánchez Fonseca was read, in the relevant part \"CUARTO: That in order to maintain the tranquility that has prevailed in the area; and for prevention, the undersigned make the proposal to the Municipality to: a) Carry out the water drainage from our properties and the area, which would be built on the public road and within private property, starting at the property of the company CMFFSA SA, up to the property of the individuals Nombre87697 AND SANCHEZ FONSECA, until reaching the irrigation ditch (acequia) which would also be intervened.B) That for these purposes, the undersigned would donate to the municipality the total infrastructure of the work and the strip of land between the properties of the individuals Nombre87697 and SANCHEZ FONSECA, which will serve as an easement (servidumbre) or public road for the drainage. Attached are a cadastral map, a project master plan, and a drainage proposal. From the foregoing, the following is required from the Municipality: a) Permit for storm drainage b) Permit for road cutting and c) Declaration of continuity of public road\". (bold is ours) Thus, the council through agreement No. 3805-2019, the Councilors Ronald Salas Campos, Virginia Hidalgo Avendaño, Luis Alb. Carvajal Rojas and Luis Edo. Sánchez Solorzano agreed by majority \"To forward to the 5 Legal Affairs Commission for its corresponding analysis\". Additionally, according to the case file, a technical and legal opinion on the proposal was requested based on the plan of the work presented. c) That the Permanent Public Works Commission became aware of official letters MSBI-021-2020 and MSBI-030-2020, signed by Eng.Jorge Trejos Molina, External Consultant, who based his findings on the plans presented for the construction of the complete drainage system on public roads and another part on private property, draining all stormwater into the nearest stream (quebrada) located east of the project. Furthermore, the opinion of the Legal Advisory office of the Mayor's Office dated March 25, 2020, was analyzed, which made reference to socioeconomic opinion OSFMSB-046-2020. Finally, the commission, based on the technical opinions of the aforementioned professionals, concluded that the proposed drainage would potentially solve a flooding problem and that due to the public interest of the drainage, continuity should be given to Dirección3242, as a spur of the same, with a hierarchy of \"Tertiary\" with a right-of-way of 8.5m. The private developer parties completed the construction of said drainage; however, as indicated, for the new buildings developed individually in nearby areas, the municipality has not requested a water drainage plan from them, and these flow onto the public road until reaching our sewer system, which cannot cope because it was not created to receive water from areas surrounding the residential complex, in addition to the changes that have been made on adjoining lands altering the topography of the place.SEVENTH: Through agreement No. 1971-2022, the municipal council approved, among other things, the formal acceptance of the storm drainage located on Dirección5562, surroundings of Dirección3242. To declare as a public road the spur of the public road inventoried as Dirección5562 as an extension thereof, with a tertiary road hierarchy. By document dated December 19, 2023, the secretary of the Municipal Council \"forwards official letter SCMSB-0497-2023 where Mayor Eng. Víctor Hidalgo Solís is requested, within a period of 10 business days, to provide a response regarding the execution of Agreement No. 1971-2022 adopted in extraordinary session No. 42-2022 of May 5, 2022. (a copy of the agreement is attached), and the reasons why it has not been complied with to date. \" 6 As of the date of this filing, the Municipalidad de Santa Barbara has not carried out the inclusion of Dirección5562 in the road inventory, despite its publication in the official gazette being on record; the non-inclusion of said road in the road inventory affects the residents, given that the municipality, by reason of it not being included, does not allocate a budget for the paving of said road, even though it would be beneficial for the community as it would enable a second access to the community.This same absence of budget is used by the Municipalidad de Santa Barbara as an excuse for not maintaining the streets, sidewalks, sewers, grates, clearing of public areas, among others, this being a community forgotten by the administration. See folios 31-32 of the evidence annex EIGHTH: that this is the second occasion on which this group of residents has had to appear before this honorable Chamber in order for the Municipalidad de Santa Barbara to address the needs of this sector, given that through case file 19-013475-0007-CO, resolution No. 17433-2019, the residents had already established that the new buildings would generate an impact on the water issue; although it is true that at that time this honorable Chamber determined as unproven facts \"that the new constructions to be developed on the farms, registry numbers 26612 and 77730 of San Pedro de Santa Bárbara, would cause flooding.And that the subdivision (fraccionamiento) of the farms, registry numbers 26612 and 77730 of San Pedro de Santa Bárbara, requires an environmental impact assessment (estudio de impacto ambiental)\", as of the current date it is proven that said buildings have indeed generated an environmental impact, given that only the Vista Verde urbanization was asked for a water drainage plan, and the simple subdivisions (fraccionamientos) fronting on a public road for which the municipality approves permits have not had such a request made, which has resulted in the absence of a municipal water management plan in the area leaving this issue uncontrolled, which has generated the current impact suffered by the residents of this community. 7 NINTH: ACCOUNT OF ACTIONS CARRIED OUT BY THE ASSOCIATION WITHOUT RESPONSE FROM THE AUTHORITIES: On Jun 11, 2020, an email was sent to the Vice Mayor of the municipality requesting intervention \"Given that last Sunday, June 7 in the afternoon hours, there were floods with the heavy rains of that day, we have been affected by them in our homes, where there were losses of personal objects and some property damage.We have inquired that the neighbor Mr. Hugo Jiménez, where his property (plaza type) is located, is doing some earthworks (movimientos de tierra) which caused the waters to cause more damage, we filed complaint #2186.\" NO RESPONSE FROM THE AUTHORITY, violating the RIGHT OF PETITION AND TIMELY RESPONSE. See folio 26 of the evidence annex On Jun 11, 2020, a police report collecting the impact on properties due to floods is attached along with the request to the vice mayor. See folio 12 of the evidence annex On Jun 23, 2020, an email is sent to municipal authorities regarding new flood events, NO RESPONSE FROM THE AUTHORITY, violating the RIGHT OF PETITION AND TIMELY RESPONSE. See folios 1 to 4, 13-16-17 of the evidence annex On March 24, 2021, a residents' request to cover manholes was sent; no response was obtained from the administrative authorities; currently there are several manholes without covers, which exposes a passerby to suffer an accident or, during the rainy season, an adult or child to fall and lose their life by being swept away by the current.See folios 5-6-7-8 of the evidence annex On July 14, 2021, a request for intervention and meeting to address the community's needs is sent via email to the mayor. Subsequently, a petition requesting a response is sent on Jul. 21, 2021. As of the date of this filing, still no response from the authorities two years later, violating the RIGHT OF PETITION AND TIMELY RESPONSE. 8 On Aug. 6, 2021, a response is received from the municipality's comptroller of services stating that \"said situation has already been elevated to the Municipal Council for its analysis and from our part we continue to prepare the corresponding technical reports.\" However, as of the date of this recurso, a formal response has not been provided, much less a solution to the needs., violating the RIGHT OF PETITION AND TIMELY RESPONSE see folio 18 of the evidence annex On Jun. 14, 2022, an email is sent to municipal authorities as urgent due to drainage closure, Stormwater problems, and inaction of the municipality, still without response from the authorities two years later, violating the RIGHT OF PETITION AND TIMELY RESPONSE.See folios 14-15 of the evidence annex On September 9, 2022, an email is sent to municipal authorities regarding the reported facts; through the same email, the council secretary forwards Agreement No. 2291-2022, approved in ordinary session No. 124-2022 to the mayor for attention to the request made. Subsequently, a petition requesting a response is sent on Sept 30, 2022, Mon, Feb 6, 2023, Oct 5, 2023, still without response from the authorities two years later, violating the RIGHT OF PETITION AND TIMELY RESPONSE. On Feb 8, 2023, an inspection request is sent to the Inspection Supervisor regarding the access to the community: \"The following email is to request the help of the municipality of Santa Barbara de Heredia for the community of Dirección3242 or Dirección5563 in San Pedro de Santa Barbara; in our community there is a tomato plantation that is invading the main road; in the photos I attach you can see that there is a blockage that does not allow the development of the sidewalk so that pedestrians can transit safely; this is extremely dangerous since it is on a very tight curve where either pedestrians or cars fit; the danger increases considerably when we refer to the children who walk to the school that is barely 200 meters from this road.I request an inspection and collaboration from the 9 municipality which has already repeatedly come to evaluate the road. Any other audiovisual material or procedure needed, I am at your disposal. \" No response, see folios 28 to 30 On April 13, 2023, a meeting was held with the municipal council where the neighborhood's problems were again presented. On Jul 17, 2023, a complaint is sent to the Services Comptroller of the Municipalidad de Santa Bárbara given that a public document was requested from the cadastre and despite a month having passed, there has been no response. No response to the user, violating the RIGHT OF PETITION AND TIMELY RESPONSE. See folio 19 of the evidence annex On Sept 5, 2023, a request is sent to the Services Comptroller of the municipality of Santa Barbara in order to provide the job manual, internal regulations, or official document from the Municipality indicating to the user the response times for each department.No response to the user, violating the RIGHT OF PETITION AND TIMELY RESPONSE. See folio 20 of the evidence annex TENTH: As can be observed, despite multiple efforts made by the residents, the Municipalidad de Santa Barbara shows an attitude of disrespect for the RIGHT TO PETITION AND TIMELY RESPONSE to the needs of the residents of said community, where to date, especially since winter has again arrived with heavy rains, they are once again affected due to the floods that affect their homes, belongings, and health; there are bad odors, proliferation of flies that put the health of the inhabitants of said place at risk, all of this before the inaction of the authorities that over the years have not had the will to address the situation and execute the necessary actions, violating the right to a healthy and balanced environment. (sic) (...)".
- 2By resolution issued at 20:26 hours on November 28, 2025, the petitioner was warned that within three days counted from the notification of that order and under warning of dismissing the recurso outright if they failed to do so, they must provide: “(…) Let the petitioner indicate, within the period of THREE DAYS, counted from the notification of this pronouncement the following: • If the corresponding request has been formally and in writing filed in order to report to the respondent authority the situation described in the filing brief of this recurso; • If their answer is affirmative, they must provide a complete, legible copy with the corresponding proof of receipt or email transmission of the complaint they formulated; • If any resolution has been received, they must clearly indicate what the result obtained was and provide the documentation generated on the occasion of such procedures; • If said complaint is pending resolution as of the filing date of this recurso, they must also expressly indicate this to this Chamber; • Likewise, if they have not formally filed their complaint in writing, they must clarify this. In the same way, they must provide any additional evidence on which they base their statement. (…)”.
- 3In accordance with the notification certificate contained in the electronic case file, the petitioner was notified via email, at 10:01 hours on December 2, 2025.
- 4By certification dated December 9, 2025, signed by ARTURO DURÁN BARQUERO and MARIANE CASTRO VILLALOBOS, in their respective roles as Chamber technical officer and acting secretary, both of the Constitutional Chamber, they indicated that: \"(…) having reviewed, in the COSTA RICAN JUDICIAL OFFICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, the CONTROL OF DOCUMENTS RECEIVED AND THIS CASE FILE, it does not appear that from November twenty-eighth, two thousand twenty-five, to December eighth, two thousand twenty-five, the petitioner has filed any document or brief to comply with what was ordered in the resolution of twenty hours twenty-six minutes of November twenty-eighth, two thousand twenty-five, issued in RECURSO DE AMPARO being processed in case file number 25-036311-0007-CO filed by Nombre33836. Only the filing of the brief and documentation through which they filed the RECURSO DE AMPARO appears. (…)\".
- 5The Ley de la Jurisdicción Constitucional, in Article 42, empowers the Chamber to dismiss outright any amparo in which the defects incurred at the time of filing it are not corrected.
Drafted by Magistrate Castillo Víquez; and,
CONSIDERANDO:
I.Prior to the resolution of this recurso, the petitioner had to comply with the prevention order made by this Tribunal through the resolution of 20:26 hours on November 28, 2025, which was notified in accordance with the Ley de Notificaciones Judiciales. However, according to the certification contained in the electronic case file, the prevention order was not complied with within the indicated period. By virtue of the foregoing and based on Article 42 of the Ley de la Jurisdicción Constitucional, the appropriate action is to reject this recurso. II.- DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED TO THE FILE. The parties are warned that, if they have provided any paper document, as well as objects or evidence contained in any additional electronic, computer, magnetic, optical, telematic device or one produced by new technologies, these must be removed from the office within a maximum period of 30 business days counted from the notification of this judgment.
Otherwise, any material not removed within this period will be destroyed, pursuant to the provisions of the \"Reglamento sobre Expediente Electrónico ante el Poder Judicial\", approved by the Corte Plena in session No. 27-11 of August 22, 2011, Article XXVI and published in the Boletín Judicial No. 19 of January 26, 2012, as well as in the agreement approved by the Consejo Superior del Poder Judicial, in session No. 43-12 held on May 3, 2012, Article LXXXI
POR TANTO:
The recurso is dismissed outright.
Fernando Castillo V.
Fernando Cruz C.
Luis Fdo. Salazar A.
Jorge Araya G.
Anamari Garro V.
Ingrid Hess H.
Jose Roberto Garita N.
*Y3RJIV4YZ2U61*