The third August article in the series entitled "Tuesday Mornings for the Construction Industry" will analyze the remaining transitional provisions contained in the Act of July 7, 2023, amending the Act on Spatial Planning and Development and certain other acts (the " Amendment "). In addition to the provisions discussed in the last article ( #164 ) amending the Act of March 27, 2003 on Spatial Planning and Development (the " Act "), concerning, among other things, landscape resolutions and local development plans, today we will present regulations concerning, among other things, decisions on the conditions of development and land development ("WZ decisions") and the Urban Planning Register . As of the date of this article, the Amendment has still not been published in the Journal of Laws. Therefore, the deadlines for its entry into force have not yet begun.
With respect to ongoing proceedings concerning the determination of a public purpose investment or the issuance of a development decision, which did not conclude with the issuance of a final decision before the entry into force of the Amendment, the current provisions will apply. The current provisions will also partially apply to proceedings concerning the determination of the location of a public purpose investment or the issuance of a development decision, which were initiated after the entry into force of the Amendment but before the municipalities adopted a general plan in place of a study. Pursuant to Article 59, paragraph 2 of the Amendment, in the above-mentioned situation:
- the provisions of Article 54 and Article 61 paragraph 1 point 1, paragraphs 2, 3 and 5a of the Act shall apply;
- the provisions of Article 61 paragraph 1 point 1a and paragraph 1a of the Act shall not apply – this means that the additional condition for issuing a development permit, i.e. the location of the property in the development supplementation area, shall not apply to proceedings initiated after the entry into force of the Amendment but before the adoption of the general plan.
The above legal status, pursuant to Article 59, Section 3 of the Amendment, will remain in effect until January 1, 2026. After this date, obtaining a decision on the location of a public purpose investment or a development decision will be possible if a general municipal plan has entered into force in the given municipality. Particular attention should be paid to situations where the investment property is located on the border of two municipalities. In such a case, general plans will have to be in effect in both municipalities to obtain the aforementioned decision.
We would also like to remind you that the new Article 64c will apply to development decisions that do not become final before January 1, 2026. According to this provision, a development decision will expire five years after the date it became final. Decisions that became final before the Amendment's entry into force will continue to be valid indefinitely and will not lose their validity.
Moreover, in accordance with Article 61 of the Amendment, the construction of buildings for which a notification was made , i.e. buildings whose construction does not require a building permit, will not require obtaining a decision on development conditions .
The legislator, as part of the transitional provisions, has provided an additional case for WZ decisions. Pursuant to Article 58 of the Amendment, until the expiry date of the study of conditions and directions of spatial development in a given commune, a change in land use for investments involving the location of renewable energy sources may also be made on the basis of a decision on development conditions .
the downtown development area will come into effect significantly faster A new concept of downtown development will be introduced, in its amended wording, understood as: "an area of compact, intensive residential and service development located within a city" (as we wrote about in #146 ). Pursuant to Art. 63 of the Amendment, until the date of entry into force of the general municipal plan in a given municipality, downtown development areas identified in (1) the existing study of conditions and directions of spatial development of municipalities, (2) existing local spatial development plans – should be treated as downtown development areas within the meaning of the Act as amended .
The proposed restrictions on the development of building plots in city center areas, as well as other requirements that investments planned in city centers will have to meet, will come into effect 30 days after the announcement. This will require consideration of new requirements regarding permissible building area and biologically active area.
In turn, changes to the regulations governing the operation of the Urban Planning Register (the " Register ") are to enter into force by December 31, 2025. Information or data relating to the planning procedure contained in the Register are to be included therein by the authorities that generate them. Article 52 of the Amendment specifies that by that date, they are to be published in the Public Information Bulletin, available on the websites of the offices concerned and at their headquarters.
Authorities responsible for drafting spatial planning acts, as referred to in Article 67a of the Act, will be required to create spatial data sets . These directories will contain so-called "landscape" resolutions and landscape audits until March 31, 2026. After that date, the spatial data sets are to be included in the Urban Planning Register.
This means that once the Urban Register is launched, you will be able to find the following documents and data:
- resolutions on commencing the preparation of spatial planning acts and a municipal revitalization program;
- applications for the preparation or amendment of general plans or local plans and applications for the adoption of integrated investment plans;
- diagnoses referred to in Article 4, paragraph 1 of the Revitalization Act;
- resolutions on the detailed procedure and timetable for developing a draft municipal development strategy or supra-local development strategy;
- diagnoses referred to in Article 10a, paragraph 1 of the Act on the principles of development policy, prepared as part of the preparation of a draft municipal development strategy or supra-local development strategy;
- spatial planning acts together with justification, if its preparation is required;
- resolutions on the designation of degraded areas and revitalisation areas, resolutions on the adoption of municipal revitalisation programmes and resolutions on the establishment of Special Revitalisation Zones in the revitalisation area;
- resolutions on the adoption of a municipal development strategy or a supra-local development strategy;
- resolutions on the validity of general plans of municipalities and local spatial development plans and assessments referred to in Article 22 of the Revitalization Act;
- supervisory decisions of voivodes declaring spatial planning acts invalid;
- substitute orders of voivodes regarding the adoption of spatial planning acts.
The changes introduced may significantly facilitate investors and other entities in obtaining information about real estate and its investment potential.
At the same time, we would like to point out that work on the implementation of the Urban Register is still ongoing, and its launch is planned for 2026 .
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of August 21, 2023
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