A public notice sign, found adjacent to a Dededo property owned by Core Tech International on Feb. 12, 2026, indicates an application having been filed with the Guam Land Use Commission to rezone the entire parcel to a light-industrial zone.
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A public notice sign, found adjacent to a Dededo property owned by Core Tech International on Feb. 12, 2026, indicates an application having been filed with the Guam Land Use Commission to rezone the entire parcel to a light-industrial zone.
Core Tech International has clinched a zone change needed to build a 60-megawatt solar farm for the Guam Power Authority, even as the property in question is the subject of its land dispute with the Guam Waterworks Authority.
Members of the Guam Land Use Commission approved the zone change Thursday for Core Tech’s 58.7-acre property in the Ukudu area of Dededo.
Land is near the entrance to Tanguisson Beach, and sits next to GWA’s Northern District Wastewater Treatment plant, at the center of a $220 million property dispute between the waterworks authority and Core Tech.
Lot 10184-6 itself, approved for a zone change, is part of that active lawsuit now on appeal to the Supreme Court of Guam.
GWA last October sent the Dededo Municipal Planning council testimony opposing Core Tech’s zone change.
But commissioners approved the change in an unopposed vote this past Thursday.
Commissioners Leilani Flores, Joe Rios, and Vice Chairman Ron Pangelinan voted in favor of the solar farm rezone, from mixed “R2” and “M1” zoning, for multi-family residential and light industrial use, to a full light industrial “M1” zone.
Commissioner Gerry Yingling was absent and excused, while GLUC Chairwoman Anita Borja Enriquez recused herself from the matter.
Enriquez’s daughter, Vanessa Williams Cruz, is the attorney representing Core Tech in its land dispute with GWA.
GWA’s opposition was noted in a staff report from the Department of Land Management, read by DLM chief planner Celine Cruz.
Staff noted that any action before the Land Use Commission was limited to zoning, and “the decision to change the zoning designation does not affect prejudice or interfere with any pending litigation involving the property.”
A zone change would not “confer advantage” to any party in the lawsuit, according to the report read by Cruz.
“GWA concerns include disputed property ownership affecting portions of the subject, lot discrepancies and survey maps and boundary delineations requiring resolution,” Cruz stated, “and the need to protect existing GWA infrastructure and easements, including ensuring continued access and maintenance.”
But she said the issues fell within GWA’s responsibilities, and would have to be addressed by waterworks before Core Tech could begin any “land-disturbing” activity at the site.
DLM staff did recommend that commissioners incorporate conditions into the zone change, requiring verification of ownership, updated land survey documentation, and protection of all existing utility easements at the site.
Commissioners adopted the recommendations.
GWA testimony indicated it has disputed maps provided by Core Tech for the zone change application, the Pacific Daily News reported.
Waterworks has asserted that Lot 10184-6 contained active sewer and water infrastructure, including a 42-inch water main.
Core Tech project representative Marvin Aguilar on Thursday said the rezone will allow the planned solar farm and battery storage facility to move forward.
Aguilar said the latest rezoning will bring the total space for the solar facility up to 113 acres, “give or take.”
He told commissioners that the solar facility matched nearby industrial use, which included the wastewater treatment plant, a worker barracks, equipment laying yard, and “super warehouse.”
Land use commissioners last year approved two other solar farm-related rezoning for Core Tech, for a pair of properties totaling 36.6 acres along the Tanguisson cliff line.
Those properties are next door to the parcel rezoned this past week.
The Public Utilities Commission in November approved Core Tech’s deal with GPA for the facility.
Core Tech will generate power, and GPA will buy it at an estimated average cost of $21.9 million per year. The electricity will then be sold to GPA customers.
The Supreme Court of Guam in January 2025 agreed to hear an appeal from GWA on several key issues in the Core Tech land dispute.
As of Friday, no opinion has been issued.
GovGuam and now GWA have sued to revoke certificates of title owned by Core Tech, arguing property title was wrongfully transferred by Ancestral Lands back in 2006.
Core Tech has countersued, seeking $220 million in damages and rent from GWA, and argued the government is trying to take the land without paying.
GWA has indicated that water bills for residential customers could more than double if a judge rules they must pay that sum.
When the Core Tech solar deal was being considered by the Consolidated Commission on Utilities back in August of 2024, GPA General Manager Benavente told the Pacific Daily News that the solar farm would be built on a separate parcel of land than the one now subject of litigation by GWA.
At the time, GPA legal counsel Marianne Woloschuk told CCU commissioners that the solar project award and the GWA lawsuit were handled separately.
Reach reporter Joe Taitano II at JTaitano@guampdn.com.
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