The Urban Planning Code will be discussed on Tuesday in the Committee on Public Administration of the Senate. Several amendments were submitted by parliamentarians, mayors, developers, as well as civil society. The most controversial are those submitted by the PSD group.

In general, if it is approved, construction on private green spaces is allowed, zonal urban plans that approve the largest real estate projects and exemptions from building regulations will also be able to be approved by district town halls, not just the capital city hall, and illegally erected buildings will be able to be built legally. even if they violate urban planning regulations. It remains to be seen whether they will be approved at Tuesday’s meeting.

What was proposed by the Ministry of Development

The form of the Urban Development Code, proposed by the Ministry of Development, practically unifies the provisions of the Law on Construction, the Law on Urban Planning, and the Law on Green Spaces. The document largely preserves and improves the provisions of the three laws, with the exception of a few controversial provisions.

They are aimed at the obligation to create a certain zone of green space when the land passes from the village boundary to the interior of the village or at the reconversion of industrial land, the relaxation of the provisions that prohibit the movement of green space, but also the complexity of the process of canceling a building permit obtained on on the basis of an illegally approved urban planning plan:

• Due to zonal urban planning plans for the development of urban areas or zonal urban planning plans, the transformation of industrial zones into residential zones is mandatory for the arrangement of some surfaces of green spaces for public use.

Explanation: This article replaces Art. 10 para. (3) of Law 24/2007, which stipulates that when a plot of land moves from the border of a village to an inner village or an urban transformation is carried out, a large area of ​​green spaces must be laid out: “Expansion of inner-village settlements, transformation of territories with other functions into residential areas and development of lands with an area of ​​more than 3,000 m², which are owned by the state, administrative-territorial units, central and local authorities, can be carried out exclusively on the basis of urban planning. documents that provide for at least 20 m² of green space per inhabitant and at least 5% of green space for public use.” Now it depends on the initiator and the local authorities how many green areas to arrange, and as we can see in new real estate buildings, in most cases they are absent or an extremely small percentage.

• It is forbidden to change the purpose of green spaces, regardless of the owner of the right to ownership of green spaces, with the exception of public works, provided for by Law 24/2007 on the regulation and management of green spaces in cities, reissued with the following changes and additions to Art. 18 para. (6) and without reducing the total percentage of green spaces at the level of the administrative-territorial unit.

Explanation: Article 71 of GEO 195/2005 is more comprehensive: “Changing the purpose of land designated as green spaces and/or provided for as such in urban planning documentation, reducing their area or moving them is prohibited, regardless of their legal status.” Thus, according to the new provision, it is not clear whether green spaces will also be those that are not specified as such in the urban planning documentation, and the ban on the movement of green spaces is also abolished.

• Revocation of normative administrative acts does not affect the validity of individual administrative acts issued before the adoption of final annulment resolutions, with the exception of individual administrative acts issued on the basis of canceled normative administrative acts, which are contested on the day of publication. court decision on annulment in pending cases.

Clarification: if the court revoked the illegally approved PUZ, the permit issued for the PUZ remains valid, if it was not appealed before the court’s decision.

What does PSD want?

Several amendments were made by political groups in the Senate to the form submitted by the Ministry of Development, the most controversial being those made by the PSD. They are mainly aimed at canceling the ban on the construction of private green spaces, zonal town planning plans can also be approved by district town halls, a real estate project can be implemented even if the town planning plan has been canceled in court, illegally built buildings that violate the rules of city development, have the opportunity to enter in law

Among the amendments proposed by the PSD are:

• The PUZ is approved by the decision of the local council or the decision of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest, adopted by an absolute majority, based on the comprehensive opinion issued by the national comprehensive approval commission and the local comprehensive approval commission, as well as on the basis of the conclusion of the SNAOPSN institutions. The competence of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest concerns exclusively urban planning documents concerning: (i) buildings separately classified as monuments according to Law no. 422/2001 on the protection of historical monuments, reissued with the following amendments and additions, (ii) immovable property, land and/or structures identified by a cadastral number, located in protective built-up zones established in accordance with the law, (iii) land that exceed the administrative-territorial boundary of the Sector and/or which are outside the city limits.

Clarification: Until now, PUZs could only be approved by the General Council/City Hall at Bucharest level. Now they can also be approved by local councils/district mayors.

• It is prohibited to change the intended use of state-owned or privately owned lands, inventoried in local registers of green spaces and provided by urban planning documentation as green spaces, except for the correction of significant errors in the previous documentation. Urban planning documentation, approved with non-compliance with the provisions of para. (4) are annulled in whole or in part. If the reason for the illegality concerns only a part of the regulated territory, the urban planning documentation is canceled only in part.

“Giving” a plot of land into private ownership to individuals or legal entities as green space is tantamount to actual expropriation and, implicitly, a serious violation of the right to private property in a democratic state,” the initiators explain. amendments

Explanation: Practically because of these changes, green spaces on private property are no longer protected and can be developed. We will remind, tens of hectares of the park were taken over in Bucharest. As well as the green areas between the blocks – mainly gardens. There is no question of privatizing sports facilities and former beaches on the shores of lakes. Thus, Bucharest, the capital with one of the lowest percentages of green space per inhabitant and the leader in pollution, will lose hundreds of hectares of green space.

• The urban planning certificate for the construction/decommissioning of buildings and objects is an individual administrative act by means of which the local state administration body notifies about the conditions necessary to achieve the investment goal, respectively, the conditions applicable to the construction, demolition, modification of the construction in progress or regular registration of construction with the application of the provisions of the urban planning documentation, valid on the date of registration of the application for the issuance of the urban planning certificate, which will be valid until the completion of the investment. After the start of the procedure for granting permission to perform construction works through a request for a town planning certificate, the rules arising from the town planning documentation valid at the time of the request, mentioned in the town planning certificate for construction/decommissioning, are maintained until the completion of the investment objective, regardless of the measures and/ or legal events that occurred subsequently regarding the relevant town planning documentation.

Clarification: if the PAZ is canceled because it was approved illegally and violates the law, then it is actually useless, because if the design act was issued, it continues, despite the cancellation of the illegal documentation.

• The article has been removed: It is not possible to initiate and approve urban planning documentation aimed at the legalization of structures erected without a building permit or those that do not meet the requirements of a building permit.

Explanation: until now, only structures built illegally, but in accordance with the urban planning regulations of the territory, could be considered legal. That is, the city hall could give a construction permit for legal entry. If this article is adopted, buildings that do not comply with urban planning regulations will be able to become legal. That is, you can make a 10-story building between the houses, and then legalize it by approving the PUZ.

The Senate is not a decision-making chamber. The form adopted by the Senate will go to the Chamber of Deputies for a final vote.