Court halts Taco Bell construction over serious permit flaws

ORANJESTAD — Construction of a new Taco Bell restaurant with a drive-thru in Aruba has been temporarily halted after the Court of First Instance suspended two building permits because of serious flaws in the approval process.

Seven nearby residents had objected to the project.

According to the court, the planned building exceeds the maximum permitted height of 4.5 meters under Aruba’s spatial planning rules. The government also failed to properly assess whether a drive-thru restaurant at the site could cause nuisance to nearby homes through noise, odors, lighting and additional traffic.

The court also ruled that new advice is required from both the police and the architectural review committee. Police had assessed an earlier version of the plan before the entrance and exit were relocated, while the committee’s positive opinion was insufficiently explained.

A further problem concerns the amended building permit. Under the new Building and Demolition Ordinance, the director of the Department of Public Works should decide on building permits, but the amended permit was issued by the minister. The court found that the minister was not authorized to do so.

MIKA N.V. argued that the restaurant was scheduled to open on December 15 and that delays could jeopardize its Taco Bell franchise. The judge rejected that argument, noting that the company started construction knowing that objections had been filed.

Both permits remain suspended while the government reconsiders the case. The minister has six weeks to issue a new decision on the objection to the original permit.