Councilors did not stop the preparation of the land use plan even the second time

Prague - Prague councilors today did not stop the preparation of the new zoning plan for the second time nor did they initiate the preparation of the so-called metropolitan plan. The proposal presented by Deputy Mayor Tomáš Hudeček (TOP 09) was withdrawn from the council's agenda after nearly two hours of coalition club discussions. The councilors were supposed to decide on this a month ago, but they only approved the intention to end the preparation of the new zoning plan and prepare another one.
Hudeček himself requested the withdrawal today. "Based on doubts about the legality of ending the preparation of the zoning plan despite our two legal opinions, a final discussion with the Ministry of Regional Development will still be held," Hudeček told ČTK.
Meanwhile, all 11 members of the capital city's council agreed to the material on Tuesday. However, a letter from Deputy Minister of Regional Development Miroslav Kalous arrived at the city hall, stating that the city's intention is problematic. According to ministry spokesman Marek Ženkl, the ministry "expressed substantive and legal doubts" concerning some of the municipality's actions and "requested a statement from the office regarding these actions". He did not comment further on the letter, stating that it is an internal communication.
"The letter raises certain questions that I consider necessary to have answered so that we are not in a legal conflict," said Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS) to reporters.
Therefore, the city will send a letter to the Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) and will request a response to the question of whether Prague's actions are in violation of the law or not. "I have been consulting this matter long-term with the ministry. I have opinions from several experts on this," Hudeček told ČTK. "We have a legal analysis that states we are proceeding correctly, yet I deemed it necessary for us to have a fundamental opinion from the ministry," the mayor stated.
In two weeks, a special council meeting will be convened regarding the zoning plan. If the city does not receive a response from the MMR within 14 days, it will assume that the city's actions are in order.
According to unofficial information, the approval of the material is primarily being blocked by some councilors from ODS. The discussion of the proposal had already been complicated a month ago due to disputes within the ODS. This appears to be the first major conflict since the beginning of the ODS and TOP 09 coalition.
According to Hudeček, the metropolitan zoning plan should be simpler, only establishing the maximum load of the area. He stated that this will limit the space for corruption.