Plzeň mayor did not push through his own proposal for holding a referendum

Plzeň - Plzeň's mayor Martin Baxa (ODS) was unable to push through his proposal for a referendum on the construction of a giant multifunctional building on Americká Avenue during several hours of discussions today. Activists are advocating for the referendum, who have already submitted a proposal with signatures from thousands of Plzeň residents to the city hall. They are striving for the voting to take place simultaneously with the regional elections. According to Baxa, there is too little time for that, so he submitted the proposal himself, hoping the city council would adopt it. This way, the date for the joint elections could be met, he said. However, his proposal did not receive support during the voting even from the coalition ČSSD. Therefore, it will most likely be an extraordinary city council that will decide on the referendum.
   Activists propose a referendum with two questions. One asks whether the city should take all necessary steps to prevent a commercial facility from being built at the site of the former cultural house. The second pertains to the demand for a change in the zoning plan for a larger area to become municipal green space. However, according to the mayor, the second question is not votable in the referendum. Baxa relies on the opinion of the Ministry of the Interior. According to it, a change in the zoning plan is executed at the level of self-government and also the delegated powers of state administration. A referendum can only bind the local government, not, for example, the building authority. Therefore, Baxa proposed a question identical to the first question of the petition committee's proposal.
     The activists objected to this. They would welcome the mayor's initiative only if he fully adopted their proposals. The city hall previously returned the proposal to the activists. The petition committee collected additional signatures and revised the proposal. However, city officials said today that even the revised proposal from the activists is flawed. In such a case, a referendum cannot be announced. According to the law, the petition committee no longer has a chance to make corrections. The head of the administrative activity department, Roman Matoušek, did not specify the exact error.
     Opposition councilors from TOP 09 and other parties had previously asked the mayor to convene an extraordinary city council regarding the referendum. Tomáš Jílek from TOP 09 said today that he expects the discussion to focus mainly on the second question proposed in the referendum. The date for the extraordinary city council is not yet known. Baxa pointed out that a potential change in the zoning plan to municipal greenery would represent a very massive intervention into the property of multiple owners. The mayor's deputy Martin Zrzavecký (ČSSD) promised that the city hall would attempt to estimate the costs in such a case.
     Other councilors also warned of the consequences that the outcome of the referendum and subsequent actions could have on Plzeň. According to Marcel Hájek (Občané.cz), the investor could claim up to a billion crowns for expenses and for thwarted business plans. Baxa indicated possible solutions that the city could undertake in the event of a positive result in the plebiscite. One of the options was the purchase of the land from the private investor, with the land's price estimated at around 263 million crowns. The representative of the investor, Jan Petřík, told the councilors that the company does not intend to sell the land. It will adjust the project until it meets the regulatory conditions set by the city. The investor will submit such a project by September. "We perceive the referendum as a political struggle. Citizens should not decide without a comprehensive view of the matter," he told the councilors. On Wednesday, he stated that if the city changed the zoning plan in the center, it would have to pay over a billion crowns in compensation for the devaluation of the land.