As you may already know, Loreto Bay is a Condominium
Community and Homeowners manage the Development through a structure of 12 Sub
Regimes within a Master Regime to establish policy and make planning and budget
decisions that shapes our community now and into the future. We employ a Condominium Management company to
handle the day to day administration and supervise the staff and contractors we
employ to provide the services and maintenance that are required to operate our
community of over 600 homes.
While this is a simplification of a fairly complicated
management structure that we inherited in part from the way the original
Developer set up the Condominium in the first place, and in part as is required
by Mexican law, it should be understood that, between the volunteers involved
in the neighborhood Sub Regimes and the community wide Master Regime, there are
close to 100 Homeowners contributing time and effort in helping to make Loreto
Bay the beautiful and well run Community it has become.
While much of this considerable time and effort by these
Homeowners goes largely unnoticed by the majority of Residents here, this past
week there was a very public example of the sort of work that goes on behind
the scenes to manage and plan for a Community this size, when the Master Regime
Planning Committee held its first Town Hall Meeting this week in the Community
Center here in Loreto Bay. Although it
was going to require my closing the Real Estate Office for a couple of hours, I
was looking forward to attending the meeting as an opportunity to understand
what was being considered for the future of Loreto Bay.
Not knowing what to expect in the way of turnout, by the
time that I arrived at the Community Center about 15 minutes before the
scheduled start time, I found that most of the available seats were already
taken and by the time the Meeting began the number of Homeowners in attendance
had more than doubled to over 120. While
this was an impressive turnout it probably was no more than half the current
number of Owners that are here, as many couples were represented by only one
person. But it still surprises me how
many people are living here at any given time during the Season, when there are
usually only a small percentage of them evident coming and going on the
sidewalks and pathways on a day to day basis!
This 9 member Committee was just formed in January this year
to review our facilities and issues and make recommendations for how the
Community will continue to evolve and develop.
To prepare for this task, earlier in the year a survey was sent out to
all of the Homeowners asking for feedback and to establish what they thought
the priorities were for the future of Loreto Bay. So to begin with, the Committee reported that
there had been an over 50% response to this survey – high by standards for this
sort of research.
It came as no surprise to me that the number one priority,
according to these results, was the issue of vehicle parking within Loreto
Bay. One of the characteristics of this
Development that appealed to many of the original Buyers was the
“sustainability” of the project. This
was an important part of the “vision” the Developers had at the outset, and it
became one of the selling points that appealed to the future Owners of Loreto
Bay. One consequence of this was
designing Loreto Bay as a “walking community” where all gas engine vehicles are
restricted to parking on the divided main road, or “Paseo Mision de Loreto” (we
call it the Paseo for short) that runs mainly north/south through the Community. Then you walk to your home on the network of
many landscaped pathways that feed off the Paseo and connect the many Community
Courtyards that the Homes are clustered around.
As the occupancy levels have risen over the years, and the
numbers of Homeowners with cars has increased the parking density has continued
to grow, particularly in the central part of the larger Founders Neighborhood
where over 2/3 of the 600+ homes are located.
While there is always somewhere to park, this congestion can sometimes
result in people having to park further from their homes than they would like,
causing some inconvenience when you are carrying luggage or a week’s worth of
groceries.
The Planning Committee reported that last month in February,
with a community occupancy level of about 43% (which will probably be close to
our highest level this Season), there were in fact a small surplus of parking
spaces at the peak daytime traffic levels.
However, there were also some recommendations for short term ways to increase
the available spaces, including allowing parking on both sides of the south
entrance road and permitting parking on left side of the Paseo, where it is
wide enough that two vehicles can park without obstructing the road, along with
other longer term options.
The second priority from those who had responded to the
survey had to do with the Beach that is on the east side of Loreto Bay, where
it meets the Sea of Cortez. To begin
with it should be understood that all Beaches in Mexico are public and so we do
not “own” the Beach. However, our
proximity to the Beach and the Ocean remains one of the most important features
of Loreto Bay and the Planning Committee had established some priorities to
improve the access and appearance.
At the south end of the Development, just north of where the
INN is located, there is a 275 foot stretch of Beach that had been cleared
prior to Loreto Bay being developed and originally it had about 8 shade palapas
(umbrella shaped, thatched roofed structures) that have deteriorated over the
years and the several tropical storms we have weathered. Rebuilding these palapas and re-anchoring
them into the Beach was seen as the first priority in improving the appearance
and utility of the Beach. 
Secondly, increasing the amount of Kayak and various “Board”
storage near the Beach was considered to be the next most important facility,
as the numbers of Homeowners wanting to enjoy these watersports grows. It was also recommended that more “wash
stations” be added so that saltwater and sand can be hosed off people, pets,
and things, as they leave the Beach and move onto the pathways into the
Community. It was also identified that
expanding our already extensive landscape maintenance within the Development to
include “grooming” the sand and collecting any trash that is left on the Beach
by the tide is also going to be recommended going forward.
The third area of interest according to the Survey response
was Community Facilities including options for expanding the current Community
Center where the meeting was being held.
This is an approximately 1,500 sq. ft. space which we rent from the
Investment Group that manages the commercial property within Loreto Bay. In addition to a significant lending library
of books and DVDs donated by Homeowners, and some comfortable seating and wi-fi
access, this space is regularly used by a variety of interest groups including Bridge
and Mah Jong players as well as Yoga and other fitness activities. Several interesting options were discussed,
starting with some renovations that would improve the existing facilities and
make it possible for more than one activity to be underway at a time, to
possibly acquiring more rental space and even consideration of earmarking funds
for purchasing land and developing a multi-use facility in the future.
Further down the list of priorities were a Fitness Center –
there is one small “for profit” gym I described in a recent posting http://livingloreto.blogspot.mx/2015/01/new-businesses-in-agua-viva-enhance.html and a
similar fitness room in the Hotel that we may have improved access to in the
future, but the consensus was against expanding these facilities as part of our
Condominium amenities, leaving it to the marketplace to decide what they want
to support. Likewise, it was decided
that there was not sufficient interest in adding more Community swimming pools
to the three we currently operate, nor did the idea of developing a Children’s
Playground within Loreto Bay receive much support – the feedback being that
there were lots of other unique activities for the relatively small (but
growing) number of young Visitors that are coming to Loreto Bay.
When the meeting concluded, after a lively Q & A period,
I headed back to my Office for the rest of the afternoon and considered the
many ideas and suggestions that had been discussed, arising out of the
Homeowners Survey. While I was pleased
with most of the information I had gathered at the meeting, what struck me as
most important was this planning process that had begun a few short months ago,
and how it would begin to shape how the future of how Loreto Bay would look,
starting in the near future - and extending well beyond. And I realized how, from these modest
beginnings, our Community would continue to mature and progress into an even
more responsive and beautiful place for those of us who are lucky enough to be
“Living Loreto”!
