A window of three months to demolish the top two floors and the roof. Hotel Coco-Mat to Macrigianni gave State Council in the municipality of Athens. The Compliance Board of the Supreme Court on Cancellation indicates that the municipality did not comply with the decision of the Plenum for 2.5 years, which annulled the permission to build the building, because it was not approved by the Ministry of Culture. This is a well-known problem that has arisen in recent years due to the maximum height of buildings that use legislation bonuses even in areas with special building conditions.

The decision of the three-member Compliance Board (No. 11/2022) was published yesterday. As recalled in the resolution, the Plenary Meeting of the Council of Ministers in 2019 (No. 2102) declared illegal the 2017 building permit and the 2019 edition, on the basis of which the building was erected with a height of 33 meters (against 24 +3 meters, which is the rule for the district according to the decree 1955). The SC also criticized the state for its long evasion of establishing special conditions for the development of the area around the Acropolis, which “is an active settlement within the archaeological site.” It also ruled that, due to its proximity to the Acropolis, the building permit should have been issued by the Ministry of Culture on the recommendation of the CAS, not the Ephorate of Antiquities.

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The Council of Europe calls on the Municipality of Athens to expedite the procedures concerning the top two floors and the roof of the Coco-Mat Hotel in Makrigianni.

Subsequently, as indicated in the CoE decision, the Ministries of Culture and the Environment complied with it. On the other hand, in July 2020, the Ministry of Culture rejected a hotel study regarding the maximum height (setting it at 24 meters plus 3 meters for the roof). This was followed in March 2022 by a decree of the President of the Ministry of the Environment, which established special construction conditions for the wider area of ​​Makrigianni-Koukakiou (the decree retained the same height limit).

On the contrary, the municipality of Athens did not comply with this decision. In particular, it did not proceed to revoke or change the building permit (which, it should be noted, is functioning normally) to comply with the height limit (24+3), did not declare the last two floors and its roof. arbitrary and tolerable hotel. In addition, the municipality of Athens had to “issue the necessary administrative acts for their demolition and ensure their physical execution. Instead, the municipality has only proceeded to “repeal” the revision act of 24/2019, which, however, is clearly not in compliance and is not unnecessary,” says the Supreme Court of Repeal.

The Council of Europe has given the municipality of Athens three months to start demolishing the additional floors, indicating that it will discuss the matter again on February 14, 2023.