The Ústí nad Labem City Hall agrees with the placement of the Střekov shopping center

Author: Saller Construction

Ústí nad Labem - The Ústí city council has issued a zoning decision permitting the construction of a controversial shopping center right in the center of the Střekov district. All 13 objections raised by opponents of the project were dismissed nine days after they were filed. A group of opponents wants to fight this and will appeal to the regional office, but they don't give it much chance. The project still needs to obtain a building permit.
Three two-story buildings are set to be built between the regional court and Setuza. Including parking, they will occupy the current grassy areas. According to the project, the lower floors will have grocery or electronics stores, while the upper floors will contain offices. The investor is the Chomutov-based company Saller Construction, which wanted to start building as early as November. Three buildings are planned for Střekov, each with a built-up area of about 2,000 square meters.
The project has met with resistance in the 95,000-strong Ústí. It is primarily opposed by the local civic association and several architects. At the beginning of December, opponents raised a total of 13 objections: these mainly concerned non-compliance with the zoning plan, which primarily allows residential and only marginal commercial development for this area, with a ratio of 70:30, as well as increased emissions and traffic load on the area. Additionally, they criticized a number of alleged procedural errors by both the city and regional offices.
"The objection is dismissed," states all 13 responses from the city council. The city council did not comment on the issue; the decision lay with the building department. The justification states that the project's parameters are not in conflict with the zoning plan, and further construction can adjust its parameters to the desired values. The zoning plan, among other things, stipulates that development in this part of the city must provide housing for 200 residents per hectare. The city council's statement is being sought by ČTK.
Opponents consider the decision and its timing to be a provocation. "The officials rushed it; in my opinion, they are being task-oriented by 'Páťa' or someone similar. The timing seemed deliberate to coincide with the holidays for remarks," stated Marian Páleník from the Better Ústí association. "Páťa" is a commonly used nickname behind the scenes for the influential figure of the North Bohemian ODS, Patrik Oulický.
Opponents are preparing an appeal, but they don't have much hope. "The problem is that the appeal is submitted to the leadership of the Ústí Region, where Fišera, Vonka, and other individuals connected to the same structures as in the city sit again," added Páleník.
Representatives of the investor argue that there is no larger shopping center on the right bank of the Ústí nad Labem river. They claim it will not be classic ground-floor department stores or prefabricated structures, but standard brick buildings with plaster that will blend into the surrounding construction. The project's cost is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of crowns. So far, the investor has not offered any concessions to the opponents. Saller Construction states on its website that it has about 255,000 square meters of retail space in the Czech Republic. In Ústí, it already operates a large center in Předlice.