The referendum on the construction of a giant building in the center of Plzeň will be in January 2013

Plzeň - The referendum on the construction of a giant shopping center in downtown Plzeň will take place alongside the presidential elections, on January 11 and 12 of next year. This was decided today by the regional court. The lawsuit was filed by activists who have been trying for over a year to prevent the construction costing 2.5 billion crowns. Plzeň's city council rejected the referendum in mid-September, but according to the court's ruling, the referendum has now been announced. Judge Václav Roučka told ČTK. The court generally set the term "during the two-day presidential elections", but did not specify the date in case it gets postponed.
Civic associations collected nearly 20,000 signatures for the referendum. After the city hall rejected the referendum on September 17, its preparatory committee filed a lawsuit with the regional court on October 8, which was supposed to decide on the date by November 5. Activists proposed holding it for two days simultaneously with the presidential elections, which they believe will ensure higher participation in the referendum, where at least 35 percent of Plzeň voters must vote.
Activists proposed two questions. The first, general question is whether the city of Plzeň should immediately take all steps to prevent the construction of a giant building on the site of the demolished cultural house. The second concerns changing the zoning plan of a ten-hectare area between the Radbuzá River, Americká Street, and Sirkova Street from mixed-use to urban green space and park. The referendum will only be on the first question, Judge Roučka said today.
"We are glad that the referendum will take place and that both questions can be separated, even though the city and the Ministry of the Interior claimed it was not possible," said Martin Marek, the representative of the referendum's preparatory committee. Activists welcome the timing of the presidential elections and call for city councilors to apologize to the citizens of Plzeň for claiming that "it was not possible to announce the referendum". Activists are considering filing a cassation complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court regarding the second question, which they will still try to include in the referendum. The complaint does not have a suspensive effect, so it will not delay the holding of the referendum.
The mayor of the city, Martin Baxa (ODS), who has twice submitted proposals to the councilors for a referendum on the first question, is satisfied with the court's ruling. However, he added that he has not yet received it and is awaiting the written version. "The referendum on question one is in accordance with my position and the legal opinion of the magistrate that the first question is votable," he told ČTK. He did not comment on the apology that the activists want from the councilors.
Initially, activists wanted the referendum to be held in mid-October alongside the regional elections. However, the councilors rejected this, mainly because they were concerned about billion-crown claims from investors and 11 landowners for lost investments and profits. "But they could not argue that, the court did not deal with economic reasons. They can now explain to the citizens and campaign, just as we will invite people to the referendum. The investor could only suffer damages if a contract with the city was violated, but according to the city hall's statement, no such contract exists," said Marek.
The lawsuit, which is the proposal to announce a local referendum, had 17 pages and 40 pages of attachments summarizing its preparation. "The main argument was that the councilors had not decided on our proposal. The law states that they must either decide to announce or not announce it, and they did neither," said Marek. According to some lawyers, this violated the law on local referendums.
The Corso Americká building with shops, offices, apartments, and leisure spaces is to be constructed by the Czech developer Amádeus with a foreign financier. The request for the zoning decision was submitted on August 6. The zoning procedure for similar constructions usually lasts at least six months.