Several judicial files investigate urban planning decisions of the management of the former mayor of La Plata. Rezonings in the northern corridor, overpricing in public works and an alleged business operator who would have charged million-dollar sums to unblock permits. The cases are still far from being closed, but the judicial progress is already beginning to have a political impact.
Can a roundabout become the thread that unravels an entire municipal administration? In La Plata, the road work on 467th Street is not just another judicial file: it is, according to sources linked to the investigation, the entry point to a broader plot that calls into question how certain urban planning decisions were made during the years of Julio Garro as head of the municipality. And Justice, although with the times typical of provincial jurisdictions, seems to follow that thread.
What has emerged so far indicates that different judicial proceedings are studying whether there were differences between the budgeted amounts and the actual costs of executing that work. The investigations seek to determine if there was an overpricing and if certain signatures of officials present documentary inconsistencies. But the roundabout file is not an isolated event: researchers use the hypothesis that public infrastructure generated appreciation for private real estate developments, which opens an uncomfortable question about how the capital gains system worked in the previous administration.
The name that appears
In this context, the name of Luis Barbier begins to circulate strongly, noted in different areas as one of the most influential men within the scheme of authorizations and approval of projects during the Garro administration. The accusations, which must be proven judicially, indicate that Barbier would have operated as an intermediary between private developers and the municipal structure, charging to unblock files or make projects viable that were outside the parameters of the Urban Growth Code. Testimonies and documentation would begin to be analyzed by investigators.
The other line of investigation has to do with rezonings. According to what was revealed, entrepreneurs in the real estate sector and urban developers would have obtained exceptions to the Urban Planning Code, special authorizations and changes in indicators that allowed them to build beyond what the regulations of each area established. The hypothesis is not new in La Plata: the northern corridor and other areas of strong real estate appreciation appear in different files as areas where municipal decisions would have favored private businesses.
The status of the cases
How advanced are these investigations? That is the question that for now does not have a clear answer. A good part of the actions continue in the stage of collecting evidence, expertise and documentary analysis. There were raids and requests for documentation linked to urban planning files and agreements. Justice is trying to establish whether there were associations between officials, construction companies and private developers to promote real estate businesses through regulatory modifications promoted by the local State. But an ongoing investigation is not a conviction, and Garro’s entourage has already rejected the accusations and pointed out that it would be a political use of the complaints.
This resistance has some logic in the current context: La Plata is experiencing a political transition with Julio Alak in the municipality and Garro outside the institutional scene but with the capacity to cause political damage to the new government if the opposition manages to establish the debate. That the causes are advancing is undeniable. That they are going to translate into firm convictions is a story that still has no written end. Meanwhile, the political impact has already arrived: opposition sectors raised the issue to question the urban development model of the previous administration, and the files are now an unavoidable reference every time how La Plata grew in recent years is discussed.
Is this enough to expel Garro from the political discussion? Or is the judicial volume still not enough to define something? The answer, for now, lies with Justice. And judicial times rarely synchronize with political times
