When we were last there we rode through an american style subdivision, Consejo Shores, and spoke to someone there. He said they did most of their shopping at Chetumal. We'd be able to do that every now and then. We saw a few lone houses near Consejo Shores that were fenced off pretty well and seemed to be a small fortress, which concerned us about security. How difficult is it to get building permits? I'll want to clear out about an acre for our home and farming area.