Prague councilors discussed Prague building regulations

Source
Aleš Berný

Publisher
ČTK
18.12.2014 21:15

Prague - Prague city councilors today rejected the proposal by former mayor Tomáš Hudeček to legally challenge the anticipated abolition of Prague's building regulations (PSP) by the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR). About one-third of the 65 councilors voted for the proposal, but 33 votes were needed for approval. Deputy Mayor Matěj Stropnický (SZ) stated that the issue of building regulations would be discussed by the council on Friday.
    Hudeček's proposal called for councilors to instruct the city council to legally oppose the cancellation of the regulations, including through court action. According to Hudeček, if the regulations are rejected, Prague will not be able to consider a new zoning plan, among other things. Jakub Michálek from the Czech Pirate Party joined Hudeček in supporting his proposal.
    On the other hand, Deputy Mayor Stropnický abstained from voting as he is responsible for the issue. "I will present a document with practically the same wording tomorrow (on Friday) at the council. Therefore, I will abstain from voting, although I fundamentally agree with the proposal," he said. A large part of the ANO movement and the CSSD left the hall before the vote.
    The ministry stated on Wednesday that it would suspend the effectiveness of Prague's building regulations next week until new ones are in place. Instead of them, general decrees applicable elsewhere in the Czech Republic will apply. "Prague did not adopt such a remedy within 60 days, which MMR guarantees will properly rectify the Prague building regulations, and therefore the ministry decided to suspend the Prague building regulations," said Minister Karla Šlechtová (ANO).
    If the regulations cease to be in effect, Hudeček warned that, for example, billboards could be allowed in the center or green areas in housing estates could be built over. The ministry will likely give the capital a six-month deadline to develop new regulations. However, according to Hudeček, this is not feasible; the current regulations took two and a half years to create. "You won't manage to do anything," he said earlier in the morning. "It's better to keep the current ones and amend them," he added.
    Due to the inclusion of this item in the agenda, representatives of the ANO coalition, CSSD, and the Troika met earlier in the morning. However, no one wanted to disclose the conclusion they reached. The inclusion of the press, besides the TOP 09 and independent council clubs, the ODS, and the Czech Pirate Party, was also supported by all members of the Troika except for the head of the Prague Green Party and mayor of Prague 4, Petr Štěpánek, and Prague councilor Jana Plamínková (STAN).
    The building regulations, which are an implementing regulation of the building law, were approved by the previous city council under Mayor Hudeček. Even before they came into effect in October, they sparked heated debate. The billboard lobby launched a strong media campaign against them as they opposed the advertising regulations that the regulations brought. Subsequently, the ministry provided feedback and requested amendments to the regulations from Prague.
    The deadline for addressing the comments expired on Monday. After the regulations are suspended, the general building law and the law on the capital city of Prague apply to construction in Prague.

Prague councilors discussed Prague building regulations

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