A formal legal challenge has been filed against the environmental permit granted to Cosmopolitan by the Sea, a proposed luxury high-rise in El Sauzal de Rodríguez, Ensenada. Oceanologist Gabriel Camacho Jiménez alleges that SEMARNAT, Mexico’s federal environment ministry, signed the project’s approval in January 2026, weeks before the required technical environmental assessment took place on February 25. The sequence, he argues, violates federal environmental law and strips the Ensenada coastal development permit of legal validity.
The project consists of two 26-story towers with 184 apartments and four penthouses on a 46,194-square-meter oceanfront site. Grupo Cosmopolitan, led by Tijuana businessman David Saúl Guakil, is the developer. If built, the towers would rank among the tallest residential structures on Ensenada’s coastline.
Two Profepa Shutdowns in 2025 Before SEMARNAT Approved the Project
The Cosmopolitan project has a troubled regulatory history. PROFEPA, Mexico’s federal environmental enforcement agency, shut down construction at the site twice in 2025. The first closure came on March 18, 2025, after inspectors found the developer had broken ground without a valid environmental impact authorization (known by its Spanish acronym, MIA). A second closure followed on September 23, 2025, during a verification visit.
Grupo Cosmopolitan first applied to SEMARNAT for the MIA in September 2025. That application was rejected because construction had already begun without permission. The developer submitted a second application on November 4, 2025, this time framed as a “regularization” of the existing work. SEMARNAT’s Baja California office, headed by Ricardo Javier Cárdenas Gutiérrez, approved the project in January 2026.
Camacho Jiménez’s challenge centers on timing. The approval document, filed under reference number ORBC/SGPA/UGA/DIRA/193/2026, was signed, issued, and dispatched before the technical environmental evaluation was completed on February 25. That evaluation is supposed to inform the approval decision, not follow it. Camacho Jiménez argues this “breaks the logical sequence of the administrative procedure” and violates Mexico’s General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection.
He also contends that SEMARNAT cannot legally approve a project that was already under enforcement action. “SEMARNAT cannot validly authorize a project with prior illegal acts in defiance of safety measures,” Camacho Jiménez stated, “because doing so would validate consummated illegal acts.”
Site Zoned for Conservation, Not High-Density Construction
Beyond the procedural questions, the challenge raises a land-use conflict. The project site sits in an area classified under Ensenada’s urban development plan (the Carta Urbana) as a conservation zone for drainage channels and canyons (conservación-cauces y cañadas). This zoning designation exists to protect fragile ecosystems, safeguard natural drainage, support aquifer recharge, and prevent flood and landslide risks.
Under Ensenada’s current zoning rules, this classification makes the land non-buildable for high-density residential projects. Camacho Jiménez argues that building two 26-story towers on a site with this designation “compromises the ecological balance and environmental safety” of the surrounding area. He notes that Ensenada’s urban development plan is a binding public-order instrument, meaning all government agencies, including SEMARNAT, must respect its land-use designations when issuing permits.
This type of conflict between federal environmental permits and municipal zoning is not unique to Ensenada. Coastal Baja California has seen similar disputes in Rosarito and the Tijuana coastline, where developers have obtained federal-level approvals that appear to conflict with local land-use plans. The pattern puts buyers in a difficult position: a project may hold a federal environmental permit while still violating municipal zoning, creating legal uncertainty that can delay or halt construction after units have been sold.
Flood and Landslide Risk on the El Sauzal Site
The conservation zoning exists for practical safety reasons. El Sauzal de Rodríguez sits on Ensenada’s northern coast, where seasonal rains channel through natural canyons and drainage paths toward the ocean. Building on these channels can redirect water flow, increasing flood risk for neighboring properties and roads. Landslide risk is also elevated in canyon areas where vegetation and soil structure are disturbed by construction.
For anyone considering purchasing a unit in the Cosmopolitan project or similar coastal developments in Ensenada, the legal challenge raises concrete concerns. If the permit is revoked, construction could be halted a third time. Buyers who put deposits on pre-sale units in projects without fully resolved permits face the risk of lengthy delays or legal disputes to recover funds. Checking both federal environmental authorization and municipal zoning compatibility before signing a purchase agreement is essential for any coastal property in Baja California.
Camacho Jiménez’s formal challenge demands full revocation of the January 2026 approval. SEMARNAT has not publicly responded to the filing. The next step will be the federal agency’s decision on whether to review or defend the permit. This story was first reported by La Jornada Baja California on April 15.