The submission of the Metropolitan Plan will be postponed, the mayor disagrees

source: iprpraha.cz

Prague - The deadline for submitting the new urban plan for Prague, the so-called Metropolitan Plan, will be postponed from February to the end of July. The incomplete council of the capital city made this decision on Tuesday at the suggestion of the Institute of Planning and Development (IPR), which is preparing the plan. However, Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) said today in response to a ČTK inquiry that she disagrees with the resolution and intends to revert to the original submission deadline. She criticized the IPR for inaction, accusing unnamed employees of the city-run institute of "politicking."
The new urban plan, which addresses among other things the construction and functional arrangement of the city, began to be developed by the metropolis about three years ago. It must be completed by 2020 when the validity of the existing urban plan ends.
In connection with the postponement of the deadline, doubts have once again arisen about whether the city will be able to meet the deadline. "The statutory approval deadline by the end of 2020 has quietly via facti fallen definitively," stated former Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning and coalition representative Matěj Stropnický (Trojkoalice/SZ) in response to the council's resolution. Both the Mayor and the IPR deny this.
"I still believe it is within our power to accomplish everything by 2020, but no one should hide behind anything, and primarily the IPR must do what it is primarily here for," the Mayor responded. "We have identified significant shortcomings caused by the IPR's inaction; they had enough time to address them. However, we want to revoke the council's resolution and return to the original deadline by which the urban plan will be approved," she added. She reminded that the company’s finances are being audited.
The IPR claims that the deadline for issuing the Metropolitan Plan is not at risk. "We are doing everything to ensure that the resulting Metropolitan Plan is a consensual document, a social agreement on land use," said spokesperson Adam Švejda. According to him, the institute is organizing the fourth round of consultations with city districts to find common ground and minimize the number of comments.
According to the authors, the Metropolitan Plan should, among other things, introduce height regulations for buildings. Tall buildings will no longer be able to arise as random solitaires. The construction of high-rise buildings will only be possible in predetermined areas. The plan will also divide the metropolis into nearly 800 locations. Each location will carry rules for subsequent construction or green space protection. According to the IPR, this should prevent situations where a multi-story apartment building is constructed in a villa neighborhood.