the entry into force of the amendment to the Spatial Planning and Development Act (the " Act ") draws near, we continue our analysis of further issues related to the Act of 26 May 2023 amending the Spatial Planning and Development Act and certain other acts (the " Draft "), adopted by the Sejm (lower house of Parliament). As we indicated, the Draft has now been submitted to the Senate, where it is scheduled to be discussed at its next session on June 21-22, 2023. Today's article focuses on the " new planning tool ": the integrated investment plan (" IIP "). The IIP is intended to supplement, and from 2026 replace, resolutions adopted under the so-called lex developer procedure. It will be regulated by the provisions of Articles 37ea-37eg of the Act.
Importantly, Plan (IIP) is intended to be a specific form of local development plan , meaning it will be a generally applicable act of law. Consequently, the entry into force of the Integrated Investment Plan will result in the loss of binding force of local development plans or their parts relating to the area covered by such IIP. The fundamental condition for the adoption of an IIP will be compliance with the applicable general plan.
We welcome the fact that , not just residential ones, will be able to be implemented under the Integrated Development Plan (ZPI) the main investment and the complementary investment . The latter will undoubtedly pose the greatest challenges, as, judging by its definition, "as serving the main investment," its understanding by the investor and the municipality may differ significantly. However, we hope that municipalities will be able to develop clear rules in this regard.
The ZPI will be adopted at the investor's request by the municipal council, following negotiations and the conclusion of an urban planning agreement (which we will discuss in more detail next week). The application will be submitted through the mayor, mayor, or city president and will include a draft ZPI. The ZPI, in turn, will have to meet a number of requirements for a draft local plan , both in terms of content and form, including text and graphics, along with a justification, and include mandatory and additional plan elements specified in Article 15, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Act. If the requirements are not met, the investor will have only 14 days to complete them, or the application will be disregarded. In practice, this means that applications will have to be prepared very carefully, as this deadline is very short. However, if the mayor's decision to disregard the application is unfounded, the investor will have the right to file a complaint with the voivode.
The mayor will have only three days to publish the data in the Urban Registry and submit the application to the municipal council. One of the objectives of the ZPI adoption procedure is to increase opportunities for public participation in their adoption. Therefore, within the same period, the mayor is obligated to announce information on the methods, locations, and dates of public consultations . This short deadline for the mayor is intended to allow for the efficient processing of the investor's application.
Once the application has been submitted to the municipal council, it may consent to the preparation of the ZPI, and a positive resolution will result in the application being returned to the mayor. In such a case, the mayor will:
- will conduct negotiations with the investor regarding the content of the draft urban planning agreement and the draft integrated investment plan;
- will introduce changes to the draft ZPI, along with justification, prepare an environmental impact forecast (if required) and a draft urban planning agreement, taking into account the outcome of the negotiations referred to in point 1;
- will make the draft ZPI available in the Register along with the justification, the draft urban planning agreement and the environmental impact forecast (if required);
- at the same time it will be:
- requested the opinions referred to in Article 17, point 6, letter a of the Act,
- applied for the arrangements referred to in Article 17, point 6, letter b of the Act,
- applied for consent to change the intended use of agricultural and forest land to non-agricultural and non-forest purposes, if required by separate regulations – opinions and agreements should be submitted within 14 days,
- will announce, in the manner specified in Article 8h paragraph 1 of the Act, the commencement of public consultations and conduct public consultations – in this respect, public consultations may be limited to collecting comments and conducting public consultations for a period of at least 21 days;
- within 14 days from the date of completion of the assessment, consultation and public consultation referred to in point 4 letters a, b and d, it will introduce changes to the draft integrated investment plan resulting from:
- opinions obtained,
- arrangements made,
- conducted public consultations;
- to the extent necessary, he will repeat the activities referred to above if the changes are significant in this respect;
- will conclude an urban planning agreement on behalf of the commune;
- will make the draft ZPI available in the Register together with the justification, the urban planning agreement, the environmental impact forecast (if required) and the report referred to in Article 8k, paragraph 2;
- will present to the municipal council the draft ZPI constituting an annex to the agreement referred to in point 7, together with the report referred to in Article 8k, paragraph 2.
As indicated above, the mayor is obligated to practically conduct the same procedure as for adopting a local plan. However, until an urban planning agreement is concluded, the mayor may withdraw from negotiations, informing the municipal council.
This is where we will end today's article, so that next Tuesday we can analyze further elements of the ZPI adoption procedure, focusing primarily on the urban planning agreement that will be concluded between the investor and the municipality in order to carry out the supplementary investment.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of June 19, 2023
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