Pardubice did not support the construction ban in Židov, the developer wants to build apartments

Pardubice – The city of Pardubice did not support the possibility of a construction ban on Židov based on expert opinions. The matter is being returned to the local district. Mayor Martin Charvát told ČTK that residents in the area do not want further residential construction. The developer plans to build approximately 50 apartments there. The district wanted to assist them and proposed a construction ban.

"Lawyers, the building authority, and the municipal architect's office assessed the urban plan and mainly the prepared urban plan and did not recommend addressing the case with a construction ban. We concluded it based on these opinions," Charvát said.

The current urban plan and the one being prepared allow for residential construction in the area. The city council took note of the expert opinions. "I was tasked with discussing it with the local district," Charvát added.

The local district I will continue to consider the possibility of preventing construction. Mayor Alena Stehnová (ANO) stated that neither she nor her colleagues have legal education, so they are collaborating with a building law expert. "It continues," Stehnová added.

The area on Židov is bordered by the main Sakařova street, where the developer intends to build about fifty apartments in a four-story building with a flat roof. The inner block consists of ten apartment buildings and two duplexes. The Green for Sakařka association is trying to prevent the construction. They have the option to participate in the construction process, and the chairman of the association, Miloslav Chaloupka, is concerned that it may be too late.

"We will fight on. I'm sorry that this is dragging on from the small town hall to the big one. Each side has different arguments. I feel a bit of political unwillingness from the large town hall to address this," Chaloupka told ČTK.

The district is collaborating with Josef Filipi, who works at the municipal office in Litomyšl and deals with building law. According to him, a construction ban may be possible under certain conditions.

"The initiation of a change to the urban plan and a construction ban is a matter for self-government, thus a political matter. The city council of Pardubice, if it wants, is entitled to approve changes to the urban plan," Filipi said.

If the councilors do not permit construction parcels in the area during the changes to the urban plan, they can then resort to a construction ban. However, there is a risk that the landowners may sue the city, Filipi said. "Self-government needs to evaluate what public interest it is willing to protect and what risk it is willing to accept," Filipi said.

Residents of Varšavská street in Polabiny are also against the construction of an apartment building. In the area where there used to be a facility for preschool children, there is now a building converted into an eight-story apartment house for several years. The owner wants to build a six-story building with twenty apartments on the remaining land, where there used to be a garden. The land allows for the construction and does not contradict the urban plan.

"I understand that people do not like it, the corner distance should be about seven meters, which is quite tight. They are also concerned that parking conditions will worsen. Our council's opinion is that we don't like it either. The investor requested it from us. This is before the initiation of the urban process," said Radek Hejný (ANO), the mayor of local district II.