Las Huacas neighborhood was initially built as part of the original American Project by developer, Alan Hutchinson. A carefully designed single-lane road was laid out including concrete drainages and concrete drain boxes. 

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After the bankruptcy of the original development, the road was not maintained for many years, and there were fewer than 15 houses on the hill until the early 2000's. When the Nosara Civic Association took over the management of the American Project, the road was regraded once a year. But because no new surface materials were added, over time the grading lowered the road surface so much that it was below the original drainage system. 

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Neighborhood-organized Road Maintenance Begins 

When construction began to pick up on Las Huacas around 2003, Las Huacas homeowner Peter Burke took over road maintenance. He collected voluntary donations and continued to have the road graded and the ditches cleaned once a year. 

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In 2009, Las Huacas homeowner Bruce Bornstein took over road maintenance and an annual road donation began raising enough money to reconstruct the road by building it up and crowning it so it would drain into the ditches. Over the next 12 years, over 100 loads of lastre were added to the road annually. At the same time, construction picked up considerably on Las Huacas bringing increased traffic and heavy trucks hauling building materials. It was decided that it was necessary for those construction projects to pay an Impact Fee to cover the costs of the additional wear and tear to the road. That system worked well for years with 100% participation.

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First Time Paving Our Road 

Around 2007, the houses directly above the main road were being inundated with dust and it was decided to voluntarily put an oil and stone dust emulsion to reduce the dust. Those houses continued to support that voluntary system on a yearly basis. In about 2018, Las Huacas homeowner Michael Wolfe collected funds to apply this system from the guard shack to the cell phone tower tee. The road was in its best shape ever for about 2 years. Then the “pavement” began to break down and many potholes appeared. 

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In 2015, the owners above the cell phone tower T collected the money to completely rebuild the single lane road from the tee to Tierra Magnifica. That section was built to a high standard and was accepted into Las Huacas road system. In 2017, the owners on the F Road also collected the money to rebuild their road to community standards and had their road accepted into the community system.

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Dangerous Mudslides Develop 

In 2019, Denise Lashley took over as road commissioner. She immediately faced numerous problems with landslides, both manmade and natural. She helped by commissioning a contractor to build a gabion wall below the blue wall, which stabilized that section, but at a cost of over $70,000. These funds were raised totally from donations from the community. This collapse was caused by a ditch being dug below the road to reroute electrical and other cables. The homeowner which caused the collapse refused to pay anything toward its repair, thus saddling the community with a large fundraising effort. 

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In 2021 after serious early rainy season downpours, the road below the monkey refuge was in danger of sliding down the mountain. That required relocating the road and building a temporary wall to contain the collapse. That temporary wall still exists, as does the threat of a continuing collapse which could take the road with it. The funds necessary to stabilize that area drained all road funds, leaving a budget deficit. 

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The Start of Las Huacas Security 

From its earliest days through about 2010, security on Las Huacas was fairly loose. There were security issues, but residents and guests mainly just lived with them.

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Unfortunately, hill break-ins exploded around 2010, with 24 incidents in 8 months plus a violent attack. Homeowners Michael and Susan Wolfe agreed to take a lead role on security and recruited additional contributors. Landowner and developer Richmond Phipps volunteered use of her land for a guard caseta. Luis Hernandez of LHC Construction agreed to build the caseta at cost, and a small group of homeowners began interviewing security contractors.

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This new group called themselves Las Huacas Security. They asked for $650 from each household and fewer than half responded. Las Huacas Security used available funds to put a dusk-to-dawn guard at the bottom of hill to track arrivals and departures. A heavy chain was initially used to control entry and exit to the neighborhood from 11:00pm to 5:00am, but it was short-lived as it is a public road. 

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Road Maintenance and Security Combines to Form the Association 

In its second year, Las Huacas Security took over road maintenance funding and morphed into Las Huacas Community Association (LHCA). 

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LHCA security transformed over the next five years. Good results led to more participation and more revenue. They experimented with a second night guard, roving on a moto during the holiday season. They raised security fees and gradually increased to 24/7/365 roving guards. The impact of a daytime rover was surprising. There had never been many daytime incidents, but as visitors, employees and contractors saw the daytime roving guard, the word seemed to spread about Las Huacas security, and it had a huge deterrent effect around the clock. 

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Highway-Grade Asphalt Applied in 2023 

Las Huacas has a new road surface, completed in August 2023, thanks to the generous contributions by owners on the hill to the Save The Road fund.  We were able to collect in excess of $255,000 to cover the cost of putting down a good subsurface and covering that with a thick layer of asphalt.  

 

Ongoing, we still have a few short sections of lastre (gravel) to maintain, as we do every year, as well as continue to install new gutters and culverts or maintain the existing ones. The road work is constant but with the new surface our future annual costs will hopefully decrease. Congratulations, Las Huacas community!