Investor suspends proceedings on the giant house in Plzeň until the results of the referendum

Plzeň - The developer who wants to build a controversial giant department store in the center of Plzeň will submit a proposal to suspend the recently initiated zoning proceedings. This will support the city, which is awaiting the results of a referendum. The court called the referendum three weeks ago for the presidential elections, on January 11 and 12.
The investor is sensitively aware of the city's position as a participant in the proceedings, which is now legally restricted in its ability to express a substantial opinion on the project until the results of the referendum are announced, said Jan Piskáček, spokesman for the Czech development firm Amádeus with foreign financing, which is preparing the Corso Americká project with shops, offices, apartments, and leisure and sports spaces for about 2.5 billion crowns. The city cannot raise any objections in the zoning proceedings until the referendum.
    "Amádeus responds to the request from the city of Plzeň to suspend the ongoing zoning proceedings until the referendum decision is made," Piskáček stated. He added, however, that the investor considers the referendum to be a "very poorly chosen form of civic resistance attacking private ownership and private property". According to him, the referendum does not only concern Amádeus and its property, but "its outcome could very negatively affect all neighboring properties in the area and the entire wider center of Plzeň".
    Plzeň city councilors instructed Deputy Mayor Petr Runda (ODS) two weeks ago to attempt to suspend the zoning proceedings for the planned construction at the site of the demolished cultural center until the results of the local referendum. "After that, the city will send a statement to the building administration as a participant in the proceedings, taking the results of the referendum into account," said city spokesperson Zdeňka Kubalová. The city’s position will either align with the results or it will insist on the conclusions of the working group regarding the investor's project that was presented in the zoning proceedings. The commission of architects and builders primarily demands that the building is not a giant monolith but should be as fragmented as possible.
    Civic associations trying to prevent the construction for over a year have gathered almost 20,000 signatures for the referendum. According to the court's decision, the referendum will only be about the first of two questions, namely whether Plzeň should immediately take all necessary steps to prevent the building from being constructed.
    "We want to prevent speculation by activists about what possible steps the city can take against the investor within the ongoing proceedings and what damage it might cause," Piskáček stated. Therefore, the investor himself will submit a proposal to the building office to suspend the zoning proceedings at the city's request. He promised that in a few days he would provide the citizens of the city with all relevant information about the project and its benefits for the area. The investor believes that citizens will not vote in the referendum to maintain the current construction site for 15 years, but rather will support the development of the area, the spokesman added.