Opponents of the circuit: The municipality can be sued due to the zoning plan

Situation before yesterday's public discussion of the concept of the zoning plan

Prague - Civic associations and the municipal districts of Suchdol and Dolní Chabry intend to sue the city hall if it does not eliminate the alleged deficiencies from the concept of the zoning plan. It has not been prepared in accordance with the law, said Peter Hejl, the mayor of the municipal district of Prague-Suchdol, to ČTK. According to him, it lacks an assessment of the impact on human health, and it does not define the plots affected by public benefit constructions. If any proposal for the zoning plan were to be approved this way, it could be successfully sued according to Luděk Šikola from the Ecological Legal Service at the Supreme Administrative Court.
    Residents of Suchdol and Dolní Chabry primarily want to debate the zoning plan; a potential lawsuit is merely a last resort. "The fact that the documents currently published do not declare all those interventions means that people cannot respond to it properly. So in this respect, it is faulty and should be corrected. We would envision the discussion to be broader, more open, and more fruitful," Hejl told ČTK.
   "If these defects remain, then the zoning plan is definitely subject to successful litigation," Šikola said. The zoning plan is currently at the conceptual stage, so it is only possible to submit objections and comments to it and wait to see how the city hall will deal with it. The city hall reportedly wants to approve the zoning plan proposal in 2011, making it possible to sue it about this time.
    According to the city, however, people will recognize which plots will be affected by the planned public benefit constructions only from the developed proposal. People will supposedly also be able to express their opinions on the proposal.
    Suchdol and Dolní Chabry have long opposed the construction of the Prague ring road through their territories and the construction of a parallel runway at Václav Havel Airport. At the request of Suchdol, the Supreme Administrative Court canceled a change to the zoning plan last year that was related to both constructions. However, the capital city has already approved the change again. Plots needed for public benefit construction can be expropriated according to existing legislation.
    In early November, Prague made the concept of the new zoning plan available for a month; a public discussion took place on Monday, during which people submitted comments about the plan. The new zoning plan is set to come into effect in 2012 and will be valid for about 15 years. Compared to the current plan, a novelty will be height and spatial regulation, which should ensure that new constructions do not exceed appropriate capacity and height in relation to the surroundings.