Activists will file a lawsuit against Plzeň due to the unannounced referendum

Plzeň - The preparatory committee for the referendum on the construction of a gigantic shopping center in the center of Plzeň will file a lawsuit at the regional court next week. They want to initiate a public vote, which the representatives of the regional city rejected on Monday. The court will then decide on the announcement of the referendum and its date within 30 days, said Martin Marek, the representative of civic associations that collected nearly 20,000 signatures for the referendum. The activists originally wanted to file the lawsuit today.
      "We will file it on Monday or Tuesday, because we will engage the law firm Šikola & partners, and they won't be able to review the draft complaint we've already prepared before then. However, we want the law firm that prepared the documents for us to take a look at it," said Marek. According to him, the lawyers will check for possible criminal liability, which is acknowledged by the activists' legal consultants. "Due to the obstruction of the referendum process and preparation," explained Marek. He noted that there are angry reactions from hundreds to thousands of people on Facebook due to the representatives' rejection of the referendum, and some want to call for a demonstration.
        Activists also want to assess the allegedly non-standard procedure of the council, which did not vote on each of the two questions separately. The preparatory committee for the referendum must file an administrative lawsuit against the council's decision within ten days. "No court fees are paid, nor does an oral hearing take place. The court will decide what will be voted on in the referendum," added Marek. The law firm Šikola has already prepared a legal analysis regarding the position of the Ministry of the Interior, which classified the second question of the local referendum in Plzeň as "non-votable," just like the city's lawyers.
        "The court will consider each question separately," stated Marek. According to him, the representatives' action on Monday allowed the investor, the development company Amádeus, to gain additional time to prepare for the construction of Corso Americká for 2.5 billion crowns. Amádeus only submitted the application for the zoning decision in mid-August, with foreign financing backers.
        The court could announce the date of the plebiscite during the presidential elections in January. They will not make the October regional elections, which the activists were aiming for. On Monday, the representatives rejected the referendum mainly because they feared billion-dollar claims from investors and 11 landowners. According to activists and other representatives, it is questionable whether they would be able to enforce them.
        Activists who want to prevent the construction of the shopping center proposed two questions. The first is general - whether the city of Plzeň should promptly take all necessary steps to prevent the construction of a gigantic building on the site of the demolished cultural house. The second concerns the change of zoning of the ten-hectare area between the Radbuzá River, Americká Avenue, and Sirková Street from mixed-use to urban greenery. According to some lawyers, the second question was contentious, but on Monday the representatives rejected the plebiscite on the first question as well.