The Prague councilors approved the wording of the amendment to the building regulations

Prague - The Prague councilors approved the wording of the new building regulations. The amendment is heading to a comment process, allowing all city parts to express their opinions on it. By the end of July, the city hall will send it for approval, a so-called notification to the European Commission (EC), after which it will go back to the council, according to the discussed resolution. The substantive amendment is expected to come into effect at the beginning of next year. Until then, the metropolis follows general building regulations. Former mayor Tomáš Hudeček criticizes the amendment, while the ODS party welcomes discussions with the city halls.
    Prague's building regulations have sparked a heated debate in Prague for several months. The effectiveness of the original regulations was eventually suspended by the Ministry of Regional Development in January due to objections. This came after a tumultuous media dispute triggered by the billboard lobby regarding the regulation of advertising that the regulations introduced. The ministry justified the cancellation of the regulations by stating that they had formal deficiencies and lacked notification from the European Commission. In contrast, developers and architects welcomed the regulations at that time.
    According to the new wording of the regulations, large billboards will be allowed outside of Prague's heritage reserve and protection zones. However, all advertising spaces larger than four square meters will have to be at least one hundred meters apart. Hudeček claims that this is a pseudoregulation and that no billboards will disappear from the city. Deputy Mayor Matěj Stropnický (Coalition/Greens) argues that Prague complied with the objections from the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) by changing the regulation. "We didn’t want to give the authority an excuse to cancel the proposed amendment or for the Ministry of Regional Development to completely eliminate the metropolis's option to have its own building regulations," he states.
    The original building regulations completely banned advertising above six square meters. However, the regulation only applied to buildable areas and did not cover billboards on the flooded Southern Connector, which lies in the so-called non-buildable area of the city.
    In addition to advertising issues, Deputy Stropnický points out that the amendment emphasizes free passage through the city, especially for pedestrians and cyclists, alternative transportation methods, car sharing, and energy efficiency of buildings. A new requirement is to utilize rainwater and heat from wastewater. Builders will be obligated to install higher door frames, with doors being 210 centimeters high instead of the usual two meters. Sunlight requirements remain, though they are moderated, as well as height regulations for buildings. The plan includes a reduction of parking spaces in public areas.
    The amendment, referred to as substantive, is expected to be valid this fall, with its effectiveness planned from January 1, 2016.