In today's article from the series "Tuesday Mornings for the Construction Industry," we return to the topic of the pending draft bill amending the Spatial Planning and Development Act and certain other acts (the " Draft "). Another change planned by the Legislature that we would like to introduce to you is the municipal urban planning standards , which the general plan adopted by the municipality and intended to constitute an act of local law .
Pursuant to Article 13a, Section 4 of the Draft, one of the normative parts of the general plan will be municipal urban planning standards, establishing the strict urban planning parameters and indicators for investments planned within a given municipality . At the same time, the conditions specified in municipal urban planning standards are to be taken into account when preparing the local spatial development plan and constitute the legal basis for decisions on the conditions of development and land use (Article 13a, Section 5).
According to the justification for the Bill, the current planning instruments available to municipalities are unable to meet the demands and needs of residents of the numerous housing developments under construction. Consequently, it is necessary to introduce instruments that will adapt the availability of social infrastructure to the needs and local conditions within a given municipality. In the opinion of the project's authors, the proposed change is intended to be a natural continuation of the changes introduced under the so-called "lex developer" (developer's lex) regarding the rules for siting residential buildings, as the aforementioned act makes the siting of new residential buildings dependent on the availability and proximity of infrastructure for future residents of the existing developments.
Pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 13e of the Draft, the municipal urban planning standard will be divided into:
a) mandatory municipal catalogue of planning zones and
b) optional standard of accessibility of social infrastructure
The municipal catalogue of planning zones will specify for the zones explicitly mentioned in the Act (including, among others, the multifunctional zone with multi-family and single-family housing, or the service zone): (1) maximum above-ground development intensity, (2) maximum building height and maximum share of development area, as well as for some zones the minimum share of biologically active area, but not less than it will result from the provisions of the regulation of the minister responsible for construction, spatial planning and development and housing.
As stated in the justification, municipalities will not be limited in designating more than one zone with the same name and functional profile , but with different urban planning indicators and parameters. This is intended to provide municipalities with a tool that will allow them to guarantee, but more importantly, influence and control the standards of implemented mixed-use investments in terms of residents' access to public services.
The optional part of the municipal urban planning standard – the standards for accessibility of social infrastructure – is to include the principles of ensuring access to such social infrastructure facilities as primary schools and public green areas .
At the same time, the Project specifies the situations in which the condition of accessibility of the real estate on which the housing investment will be carried out to educational facilities (primary schools) and recreational facilities (public green areas) is met by specifying the maximum distance of the cadastral plot location, calculated as the access route along a publicly accessible pedestrian route from the border of this plot to, respectively, a) the primary school building and b) the public green area.
The distance of a cadastral plot from a primary school is also defined differently for areas within city limits (distance no greater than 1,500 m) and outside the city (distance no greater than 3,000 m). However, with respect to public green areas, the Project provides two distance standards. According to the justification for the Project, the requirement to provide access to green areas is met only when both of the aforementioned distance standards are met, i.e., the distance from the green area is no greater than: (i) 1,500 m from public green areas with a total area of no less than 3.0 ha, and (ii) 3,000 m from public green areas with a total area of no less than 20 ha.
In the justification, it was assumed that this condition is met when a plot with residential buildings is located at a distance of 1,500 m from greenery serving as daily recreation, both creating one area of 3 ha and several such areas whose total area is equal to or exceeds 3 ha.
This means that the distance between a residential plot and a public green area has not been further differentiated, differently for plots located in cities and rural areas.
As it follows from the Draft, if a commune establishes municipal standards for the accessibility of social infrastructure, the commune will be entitled to designate an area for residential purposes in the local development plan only if each cadastral plot in that area meets the municipal standards for the accessibility of social infrastructure through access to social infrastructure facilities and access routes existing on the date of adoption of the local development plan or possible to implement on the basis of this or another local development plan (Article 13f, paragraph 4 of the Draft).
The same restrictions are provided for when an investor applies for a planning permission for a residential building. Consequently, the issuance of such a decision will depend on whether each cadastral plot within the investment site meets municipal standards for access to social infrastructure facilities and access routes existing on the date of issuance of the decision. The provisions of the Draft indicate that the municipality will have the option to specify different standards in municipal standards:
a) the distance values of cadastral plots with residential development from social infrastructure facilities, i.e. primary schools and public green areas,
b) the surface area values of public green areas, while the minimum surface area values of public green areas determined on this basis cannot be less than 50% of the surface area values of public green areas specified in the Project,
c) establishing rules for access to public utility facilities such as kindergartens, nurseries, community centers, public transport stops,
d) establishing different regulations for different areas of the commune, including covering part of the commune’s areas with standards, clearly defining the boundaries of these areas;
e) excluding farm development areas from the obligation to provide access to certain social infrastructure facilities.
The above indicates that municipalities will have considerable freedom in defining municipal standards for the accessibility of social infrastructure, which in turn will allow them to adapt the accessibility of individual areas to the needs of the local community . This includes taking into account – as emphasized in the justification for the Project – the specific nature of farm development and specifying for such areas, despite their residential function, that the municipality may waive some of the standards for other types of residential development. However, this may result in the standards for such development being merely illusory.
Despite the communes being granted a certain freedom in establishing communal standards, the current wording of the provisions of the Draft indicates the obligation of communes to prepare in the text part of the justification of the general plan an explanation of the reasons for establishing communal urban standards, within the scope specified in the general plan.
Next week we will present you the basics of introducing planning zones.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of May 15, 2023
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