“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”
— George Orwell.
Or, as a long-time dear friend of mine once told me, “He who controls the minutes controls that narrative.”
I will return to this point shortly.
On August 2, 2022, my husband sent a very respectful letter by email to the board of directors and management regarding the red lines that marked vibrational damage to our home. The letter explained that the red lines marked vibrational damage that was under active criminal investigation (CSL/2436/2020/NUC). He stated that he was legally constrained from altering the walls until the Public Prosecutor authorized it, and he provided his attorneys’ contact information. He asked that their threats be suspended while that process continued, as he risked being held criminally and administratively responsible for interfering with or destroying evidence in an active case.
At the General Assembly meeting in November 2022, Pedregal Board of Directors member Perry Woodward said he was tempted to applaud a homeowner for raising the issue of our home. He made this comment with no acknowledgment of what he already knew, even though he had been a board member since at least 2019.
On September 25, 2023, I went to the Obras Públicas to file a complaint that Pedregal had begun building a permanent wall around my home. I was told they could do nothing about the wood-plank wall but would stop Pedregal from continuing with the brick wall. They also gave me phone numbers to call, including Protección Civil and Ecología, if Pedregal continued.
On October 19, 2023, while everyone was watching to see what Category 3 Hurricane Norma would do, as Los Cabos was “in the cone of concern” and under a hurricane warning, Pedregal installed a surveillance camera pointed directly at my home; in fact, it was pointed toward my bathroom shower.
On October 23, 2023, after Hurricane Norma made landfall north of us, Pedregal began removing the wooden stakes from the ground. When my husband went out to discuss painting the wall, we discovered they had already begun building the brick wall again. I filed another formal complaint that morning, and by that afternoon, the city had shut down the construction once more.
“Public Works and Human Settlements
H. XIV Ayuntamiento Los Cabos, B.C.S.
[Official seals/logos]San José del Cabo, B.C.S., October 17, 2023
Official Document No: DGOPYAH/922/2023
Subject: Conditional Approval (“Visto Bueno” Condicionado)
C. José Ignacio Labandeira Villanueva
Legal Representative of the Residents of Pedregal de Cabo San Lucas
PRESENT.–
By means of this letter and in a courteous manner, I hereby respond to your request for authorization for the CONSTRUCTION OF AN AESTHETIC ELEMENT (WALL) OF WELCOME TO THE PEDREGAL DE CABO SAN LUCAS SUBDIVISION, LOCATED ON CAMINO DEL MAR STREET ALMOST AT THE CORNER WITH CALLEJÓN DEL PUEBLO, COLONIA EL PEDREGAL, CABO SAN LUCAS, MUNICIPALITY OF LOS CABOS, B.C.S.
Regarding the above and in accordance with the powers conferred upon the General Directorate of Public Works and Human Settlements under the Regulations of the Municipal Public Administration of Los Cabos, B.C.S., I inform you that, once the information submitted has been analyzed, you are granted the CONDITIONAL APPROVAL (only for the municipal area) to carry out the works mentioned above, subject to the following:
Taking into account that the approval by common agreement of all the residents of the “Pedregal de Cabo San Lucas” subdivision must be obtained, and that all corresponding permits and licenses from all the agencies that must intervene must be in place, the construction process is described below in order to carry it out correctly and to guarantee the quality and durability of the works to be executed within the public right-of-way:
Proper and sufficient signaling of the work zone based on current plans and standards (NOM-034-SCT2-2011 Horizontal and Vertical Signage for Highways and Urban Roadways, NOM-086-SCT2-2015 Signage and Devices for Protection in Roadwork Zones, and the Manual of Road Signage and Safety Devices).
Manual probing to locate underground installations (OOMSAPAS, TELMEX, CFE, MEGACABLE and/or different companies or agencies that operate service installations). If any installation is found, the corresponding company or agency must be notified, as the case may be, so that they may carry out the review and supervision of the works and these may be executed correctly to avoid damage to their infrastructure.
ROADWAY AREA (PAVED):
The demolition and removal of the paving will be carried out in such a way as to recover the material intact with the intention of reusing it; once the excavation for the continuous footing foundation has been completed, compaction of the bottom will be carried out prior to the placement …
… of the footing in order to achieve a degree of compaction of 95% with respect to the standard Proctor test. Subsequently, and once the continuous footing has been built together with its base slab and once the wall construction has begun, compacted fills will be placed with hydraulic base material from a quarry and compacted in 20 cm layers until a degree of compaction of 98% with respect to the standard Proctor test is achieved, up to the level of the paving, which will be carried out using a Class One mortar with a minimum cement-sand ratio of 1:3 without leaving voids in the seat and joint of the stone.
WALL CONSTRUCTION.
The specifications presented in the plan will be respected, modifying the distance between columns so that, where the distance indicated in the plan exceeds 3.00 m, it will be adjusted to a maximum of 3.00 m center-to-center, and where the distance indicated in the plan is less than 3.00 m, the plan will be respected.
CURBS.
If applicable, in order to carry out the reconstruction of the existing curbs, first the entire curb (in its full section) must be cut, demolished, and removed. Subsequently, the construction of the new curb will be carried out, respecting the materials, finishes, and section of the existing curb in order to maintain the homogeneity of the finishes on the roadway. The concrete to be used must have a minimum strength of f’c = 200 kg/cm² at 14 days, with application of curing membrane (curacreto) and paint (once the sidewalk has been poured and the area is clean) of the required color if applicable.
SIDEWALKS.
To carry out the reconstruction of sidewalks, it is necessary, prior to their demolition, to make straight cuts forming a rectangle, delimiting the total area to be demolished. Subsequently, construct a sidewalk with a thickness of 10 cm and leaving a slope toward the roadway equal to the existing one (taking as a reference point the level of the curb) in order to drain rainwater correctly. In this case, the existing finish as originally found must also be respected in order to maintain the homogeneity of the finishes on the roadway. The concrete to be used for the construction of sidewalks must have a minimum strength of f’c = 200 kg/cm² at 14 days, with the correct application of the curing membrane (curacreto), and its edge based on the cuts of the curb or by means of the use of a form during its finishing. The finish must be the same as the existing one.
DRAINAGE OR POTABLE WATER MANHOLES.
In the case of the protection registers for housing a potable water valve, it will be placed identical to the existing ones at the discretion of OOMSAPAS.
In the case of a new drainage manhole, it must have a steel frame and cover frame with a reinforced concrete lid, and plastered on its interior; based on the …
… dimensions of the existing manhole (if it is a new manhole, follow the indications of OOMSAPAS for sizing it) and it must follow the same slopes and levels as the mentioned sidewalk, avoiding level differences between them. Likewise, the existing finishes on the cover must be respected.
It is very important to respect and match the existing finishes in all the works that are carried out, thus respecting the existing architectural harmony.
Likewise, I inform you that any damage, harm to third parties, or affectations to Municipal, State, and/or Federal Infrastructure will be the sole responsibility of the applicant, and the applicant undertakes to remedy at the earliest opportunity all damages that may be caused.
For the purposes of carrying out technical supervision during the development of the works, the necessary facilities must be provided to the personnel designated for that purpose by the Municipal Directorate of Public Works.
Upon completion of the works, a photographic record (printed and digital) of the construction process of the works executed must be delivered to this Directorate, which must be in accordance with the recommendations previously described.
The observations issued by this Directorate do not exempt you from carrying out the procedures to obtain the corresponding permits and licenses before the General Directorate of Urban Planning and Development and other applicable agencies.
The H. XIV Ayuntamiento of Los Cabos, B.C.S., reserves the right to modify the terms of this CONDITIONAL APPROVAL at the moment it considers that the conditions that gave rise to it have changed, under the responsibility of the applicant.
Without further particulars, I take this opportunity to reiterate to you my most attentive and distinguished consideration.
Public Works and Human Settlements
H. XIV Ayuntamiento Los Cabos, B.C.S.”
August 30th, 2024: they began building the wall. The wall they constructed was not a distant community entrance feature. It was built in a location that directly affected our home:
- It blocked the primary entrance gate to our home from view.
- The next available access point required entering our covered carport area — which, unless you were invited to our home, constitutes trespassing on private property.
That changes the practical impact significantly. It is no longer just a debate about aesthetics, permits, or “hiding red stripes.” It is a physical barrier that altered the visibility and legitimate access route to a private residence.
In March 2025, Pedregal built a second wall. The jackhammer and excavator working on the stone-paved road surface show exactly why the name “Pedregal” matters. The ground is solid rock. Any significant work, such as road repairs, utility trenches, or the foundations for that wall, requires heavy percussion equipment that transmits vibration straight into adjacent structures.
This is a concrete visual of the safety issue I raised in the last update: pressurized propane tanks resting on a vibration-damaged support structure while heavy equipment continued to work nearby on solid rock. That combination is not a minor code violation. It is a real, ongoing safety hazard to anyone inside or near the house. We truly thought they were trying to kill us!
“He who controls the minutes controls that narrative.”
If you are a homeowner, I invite you to review the minutes of the meetings for May 2022, November 2023, and May 2024. Of course, if you are missing the minutes in your personal files, you can access them on the HOA’s member portal under Documents. An HOA the size of Colonos del Pedregal is expected to maintain accurate, properly labeled, and consistently accessible records for its members. That being said, there have been many instances of errors in the documents. For example, the file labeled May 2023 is actually the Call to Assembly, the file labeled May 2024 is November 2022, and so on.
Many of the same Board members who received the 2022 letter and who authorized or supervised the wall remain on the Board today. The documentary record — the 2022 letter, the two 2023 citizen complaints with official receipt stamps, the provisional approval letter, the suspension notices, and the three sets of General Assembly minutes — is available. The facts do not require embellishment.
As Louis Brandeis observed, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”
The Pedregal HOA is a disease. In the next update, you will learn just how utterly sick this development is, from top to bottom… and the developer is on a whole other level of sickness.
It was more than fearing for our safety in our home and Pedregal. I was genuinely afraid. The level of organized criminal activity in our neighborhood had become impossible to ignore, and it left me feeling vulnerable in my own home. We had been living out of suitcases for six years.
To be continued …
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