8. 11. 2008
The Supreme Administrative Court verdict that cancels changes to the zoning plan approved by Prague representatives in June will have an impact on a number of planned construction projects. But nobody, maybe except Prague City Hall, knows exactly at the moment how much of an impact the court decision could have.
According to E15 information, the verdict may block the planned construction on Rohanský island, among other things. For the time being, only the extension of the Prague Airport and the completion of the northern part of the Prague ring road have been mentioned. „The court cancelled the entire change to the zoning plan known as Z 1000/00,“ court spokesman Michal Lovritš said.
„Right on Thursday, I called on the councillor for city development, Langmajer, asking him to explain what the cancellation of the changes mean. He said he himself did not know at that moment and that he would have to have an analysis made,“ said Zuzana Drhová, a member of the city development committee.
However, it is virtually impossible to find out what projects would be affected. Councillor Langmajer told E15 that the city would not comment on the issue until lawyers have provided it with a legal analysis.
Developers have rather taken a wait-and-see approach. „At the moment, we are convinced that the decision does not concern the changes regarding the development of localities where we operate,“ said Radek Polák, spokesman for Sekyra Group. In a tender earlier this year, the company bought plots of land on Rohanský island from the city for nearly CZK 1.7 billion. In June, it presented a CZK 15 billion residential and commercial project for the location. The discrepancies surrounding the zoning plan changes may block the construction on green areas of the island for a long time.
The changes to the zoning plan, approved by Prague deputies on June 19, were brought to court to Prague’s district of Suchdol and by three land owners how would be hit by the ring-road construction.
In its explanation of the verdict, the court said that the city hall defined the changes in a wrong way, so the description did not correspond to the actual meaning. „Neither citizens nor the authorities involved knew exactly what the proposed changes meant,“ judge Daniela Zemanová said. Prague representatives say the same.
The initial idea was not to change the use of land at all, but only to simplify the system of colour symbols and explanatory notes in the zoning plan. In June, the city hall only said that city representative had approved a regulation that simplified Prague’s zoning plan. „Even the representatives themselves do not know exactly what are all the things that have been added to it,“ said Petra Kolínská, chairwoman of the Green Party representatives club.
Autor: Denisa Novotná, E15, 6.11.2008
Zdroj: Prague Daily Monitor