The proceedings regarding the giant house in Plzeň, rejected by referendum, are suspended

Plzeň - The zoning approval process for the construction of a giant department store in the center of Plzeň, which was rejected by a referendum in January, is suspended. For it to continue, the question must be resolved as to whether the city is biased in its decision-making regarding the construction, as claimed by the referendum organizers. At the beginning of March, they filed an objection regarding the bias of the city secretary and the Plzeň building authority. The zoning process for the controversial construction project costing 2.5 billion crowns will not continue for at least another two to three weeks. Tomáš Benda from the Plzeň building authority, construction administration department, said this to ČTK.
If it is acknowledged that the whole city was biased, the zoning process would have to be addressed by the Plzeň Region, which would appoint another building authority within 60 days that could potentially issue a zoning decision. The public hearing for the zoning process, held on March 7, would then have to be repeated.
"The objection is submitted to the mayor, who now has to decide on the bias of the secretary, and then the secretary will decide about our head, and he will decide about us whether we are biased," Benda stated. If they decided that they are not biased, the building authority could then continue with the zoning process. The decision should be made within two to three weeks.
"Only if it is decided that neither the secretary nor the authority was biased, would we discuss all objections to the zoning process and evaluate whether to issue a decision, suspend the zoning process, or terminate it," Benda added. The authority would have to express its opinion within 30 days.
"Another building authority should decide on the zoning process because the mayor is, by law on municipalities, superior to all officials of the city hall, appoints and dismisses the secretary, who appoints and dismisses the heads of administrative departments," stated Martin Marek, a representative of the referendum organizers. According to him, the same officials perform tasks for the city in independent responsibilities and simultaneously fulfill delegated tasks of state administration, which is the case for the giant Corso Americká building.
On March 7, Plzeň rejected the public hearing on the zoning process for the construction, which, according to the referendum results, the citizens do not want. The investor, Amádeus Plzeň, did not meet the regulatory conditions nor prove ownership rights to the affected plots, according to the city hall. The municipality will respect the results of the referendum, which committed its authorities to prevent the construction through legal means. However, the building authority is not obligated to accept the city's stance.
According to the representative of the investor, Jan Petřík, it is evident from the objections that targeted harassment against the project has "already begun" from all parties involved, including the city. According to him, the objections aim to complicate or suspend the process or delay the decision indefinitely.