In today's article from the series "Tuesday Mornings for Construction Workers" we will continue the topic of local development plans, focusing on the situation of the owner/perpetual usufructuary of a property whose part or all of the property has been designated in the local plan for a public road, and in particular we will indicate what claims such owners are entitled to in connection with the above.
First, it should be noted that a public road is a road classified under the Act of 21 March 1985 on Public Roads as one of the road categories (municipal, district, regional, or national road), which may be used by anyone in accordance with its intended purpose. In local development plans, areas designated for public roads are designated with the symbol "KD.".
If your property (or one of which you are the perpetual usufructuary) is located partly under an area designated for the construction of a public road, you have two options, namely:
- Submit an application to the relevant public administration body for the division of real estate in order to separate the part of the real estate intended for a public road as a new cadastral plot
- Do not take any action and wait for the possible initiation of division proceedings ex officio
In connection with the above, in the event of submitting the application referred to in point 1 above, in accordance with Article 98 of the Act of 21 August 1997 on Real Estate Management, plots of land set aside for public roads from the real estate whose division was made at the request of the owner/perpetual user shall, by operation of law, become the property of the relevant local government unit or the State Treasury, as of the date on which the decision approving the division becomes final or the ruling on the division becomes final.
The application for geodetic division must be consistent with the provisions of the local plan, and this compliance concerns both the intended use of the land and the possibilities of developing the separated plots of land.
For land plots that, as described above, become the property of a municipality/county/voivodeship or the State Treasury, compensation is due in an amount agreed upon between the owner or perpetual user and the relevant authority. Compensation may be monetary, i.e., payment of a fixed amount by the authority, or in kind, in the form of transferring ownership of another property to the expropriated person. It's also worth mentioning that compensation can also be mixed (payment of a monetary amount and transfer of ownership of the property). However, what happens if the parties cannot agree on the compensation amount, meaning an amicable settlement is not reached? In such a case, the expropriated person may submit an application to the appropriate district head (starosta) to initiate the administrative procedure for determining compensation.
Failure to submit the application referred to in point 1) will not, however, protect the owners from the division of the real estate, as the division proceedings may be initiated ex officio by the competent public administration body, however, in the above case, i.e. if the owner does not submit the application referred to in point 1) above, Article 98 paragraph 1 of the Land and Mortgage Management Act will not apply, and consequently, even in the event of a geodetic division of the real estate, the newly created plot entirely designated in the local development plan will not be transferred by operation of law to the local government unit or the State Treasury.
Therefore, in order to implement the road investment in accordance with the development plan, expropriation proceedings must be initiated, including proceedings to determine the amount of compensation, which we wrote about above.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of October 28, 2025.
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