Liberec received several hundred comments on the draft of the zoning plan

Liberec - Liberec received 712 comments on the updated proposal for the new zoning plan, of which 40 were submitted after the deadline. The majority of comments came from Vratislavice. The spokesperson for the town hall, Jana Kodymová, said this today to ČTK.

"However, no further details can be said about it yet; the materials are being processed," she stated. The spokesperson expects to provide more specific information regarding the comments next week.

In Vratislavice, the planned construction of a factory between Seniorů Street and a four-lane road seems to be the biggest problem, which locals oppose. Protests during the public discussion about the zoning plan were also triggered by the inclusion of a meadow between the cemetery and the swimming pool into buildable areas.

After addressing the comments, the public will have one more opportunity to express their views on the zoning plan that will address the city's development over the next 20 to 30 years. "The revised proposal will likely be publicly discussed in the fourth quarter of this year," Kodymová stated.

The city has been working on the new zoning plan since 2007, and the validity of the current one will expire in 2020. According to the original schedule, the zoning plan should have been approved last year; however, the town hall leadership that emerged from the municipal elections in 2014 decided to revise the previous proposal. The new version includes fewer development areas. More consideration is given to green spaces, with a continuous strip expected to run from one end of the city to the other.

The largest reduction in production areas compared to the original concept is near the airport, which has been reduced by about two-thirds. Nonetheless, this location, specifically between Kovošrot and the foundry, remains the largest new development area for production. Critics, however, argue that there is a shortage of industrial areas. They also dislike that some of these areas are located in places designated for housing, such as in Karlinky or Růžodol. "Any additional expansion of production will then face complex and costly solutions regarding transportation accessibility, not to mention the objections of environmental institutions and local people," recently stated opposition city councilor Jaroslav Zámečník (Mayors for the Liberec Region).

Opponents also disapprove of the reduction of housing areas, especially for the construction of family homes in the outskirts of the city. However, according to economic deputy Jan Korytář (Change for Liberec), the city has not given up on further development. "The newly prepared zoning plan anticipates the construction of approximately 9,000 new housing units, over 3,000 of which will be in single-family homes," he stated.