The entrance to the District 13A police station, at the intersection of Juramento and Artilleros Streets, was closed. This Thursday was occupied by a line of neighbors who held hands to symbolically hug the block The national state will auction it and it must be auctioned in the coming days. On the sidewalk, where police cars are usually parked, there were handwritten posters, stretched fabrics and printed flyers demanding the same thing: The size of Bajo Belgrano has not changed. From there you can see, beyond the fence, the large exposed beach that for many years served as a police parking lot, and beyond, the shell of the sheet metal and building factory that housed the Federal Police workshops.
Official documents accessed Nation They detail that the property, identified by Artilleros, Echeverría, Cazadores and Juramento, has an area of 9,986.79 square meters – 4,322.46 square meters covered, 201.11 square meters semi-covered and 5,565.27 square meters – and that The sale will be done by public auction 392-0102-SPU25 with Base price of $21,369,863. It was stated in the Official Gazette that the property He has no stock valueThis allows it to be modified or demolished, and for communications antennas to be installed on the property They must be transferred within a maximum period of ten months. The document also specifies the height authorized under the Urban Planning Law for the building: ground floor and five floors (17.40 metres) and an estimated building capacity of 29,960.37 square metres. The clarifying circular left another sore point in writing: No offices are allowed, and only residential uses are allowed in the area.
In the midst of the turmoil in the neighborhood, a confirmed tip from the State Property Management Agency (AABE) gave this outlet some comfort: The police station is not part of the auction and will continue to operate in its current location. From the agency they explained to Nation Who knew about the mobilization from the publications that were circulated in the region and who They were grateful for the support they receivedAlthough they avoided commenting on the future of the neighboring property, due to their lack of involvement in its management.
Neighbors’ reaction was motivated not only by the potential sale of the state; The experience accumulated in recent years. Pablo, who has lived in the area for a decade, described it as he pointed to the posters leaning against the wall of the police station. He said there was no resistance in the neighborhood to building within what was permitted, but there was resistance to the way some projects ended up violating regulations. He explained naturally to this medium: “We don’t want the neighborhood to lose quality of life. What happens is that projects They present themselves as one thing, and by making exceptions, they end up becoming something else.. It has already happened to us. Urban planning agreements are enabled that allow the code to be overridden and Then we pay the damage:More shade, more crowding, less water. At night we have no water. If you don’t have a pump, you will be left without service“.
The debate about water was repeated in several hadiths. So are concerns about services, parking and more vehicles entering already saturated streets today. In the corner, a neighbor stated that urban planning agreements “Not only did they multiply, but they became a tool that eventually obliterated the code.“.
A few meters away, Orlando, also a resident of the neighbourhood, said the discussion should be understood in legal terms: “It doesn’t mean we are against development. What we stand for are rules. The only thing that matters here is whether the laws are adhered to or not. This property is very valuable and any exception is worth a lot of money. There is no need to say more: one reads what is happening in the city and understands how the interests work. What we ask is simple: What is done here falls within the law“Nothing else.”
The Bajo Belgrano Neighborhood Association has been working on submitting proposals and requests for information for some time. Anna, a member of the organization, remembers that area had already been affected by regulatory changes that the neighborhood had resisted. When they learned of the auction, they began requesting information from the city. The official response was that there was no project proposed for that plot. “Our task now is to control what happens after the auction,” he said. “What we ask for is adherence to current regulations. Nothing more, nothing less.”
The Assembly even introduced a bill to confiscate the block and Converting the land into a public green space, incorporating the police station into the design and ensuring absorbent surfaces. The argument was also based on the debt held by the nation to the city: the proposal sought the possibility of using this property as part of compensation. The initiative did not advance in the Legislative Council, but the neighbors confirmed that they would insist on it.
Among those who approached for a hug was writer Luisa Valenzuela, a historic resident of the area. She and another resident of this facility pointed out nearby examples that had modern buildings “I stepped on an apple lung”This caused structural damage and cracks in neighboring homes. They commented that what we are experiencing today is a continuation of previous situations in which the residential appearance changed due to developments that did not respect the original boundaries.. “He is A threat to us -They said-. We have already seen how projects are progressing that change everything. “They do it between the nation, the city, and the neighborhood in between.”
At the entrance to the police station, the atmosphere was a mixture of anxiety and determination. Some neighbors showed on their phones maps on which urban planning agreements that had been approved in the city in recent years were recorded. Others They counted specific cases of projects whose heights were modified after subsequent agreements. The conversation flowed intermittently, accompanied by the noise of cars driving through the streets of Juramento, and passersby stopping to ask what was happening. The neighbors answered in a few words: “The apple is sold at public auction.” “We want to respect the law”
At night, the line slowly cut off. The signs were left leaning against the wall of the police station. In the back, the property maintained its usual appearance: the wide beach, the stationary cars, the metal warehouse in the background, and the suspended silence. It seems that nothing has changed, but for the neighborhood the turning point has already occurred.