The chief architect of Lviv is Anton Kolomeytsev posted reaction to the odious law No. 5655 on his Facebook page.
We publish the full text of the post below.
"All signs point to the fact that Law 5655 (the so-called urban planning reform) will be signed. I will say frankly: the appearance of this law is something that personally causes a feeling of hopelessness in me.
Several times in my life I made a conscious choice not to emigrate, even though I speak several languages fluently and could realize myself quite well abroad. I have always told myself that I want to be a cog in creating a decent future for our country. And I always saw this future on the horizon. The war brought endless grief, but along with it, the opportunity to break with the past forever. A lot depends on what our first steps will be in building this future.
The role of local authorities in the field of construction is very difficult. This is the role of a mediator who must constantly balance interests. These interests are often diametrically opposed. And there are always many people who are dissatisfied with the decisions of the municipal authorities. These are not only residents who have a new high-rise building in front of their windows, but also developers who failed to build objects larger than what the municipality and members of the town planning council think is common sense.
But elections are a way to evaluate those who make the city's policy and who should be most responsible for its development.
The new law significantly reduces, and in fact completely kills, the influence of local authorities on development. Controlling functions will be transferred to private hands. And it just does not fit in the head. You didn't hear that in the new law, under the guise of fighting corruption, control from the municipality is thrown into the hands of developers!
I am familiar with the permit system in German cities. In order to understand how serious everything is, it is enough to know what a Baugenehmigung (building permit) from the Bauamt (building department) is. In a small German town, where only a few houses are built a year, you can wait for such a construction permit from the municipality for "only" 5-6 months. If we are talking about a big city and you got a permit in a year - you are terribly lucky! All this year, and sometimes even two years, the developer cannot do anything. During this time, the local government organizes public discussions, processes the submitted building intentions with the relevant departments of ecology, monument protection, road services, technical departments of the municipality, etc. This is how the order is created, to which I would like us to go.
What Law 5655 offers is a path in the diametrically opposite direction. In addition to removing the influence of municipalities, the law also suppresses the rights of architects and does not offer any tools for community involvement. Everyone's life is one, and most young professionals who see what laws are being passed will simply be fired at any opportunity.
I believe that all those who revealed the flaws of this law and fought for the truth during the last months are real titans. We want to believe that one day they will have the opportunity to become co-creators of a real urban reform. I hope that by that time, those of our cities that were not destroyed by enemy shelling will also not be irrevocably mutilated by today's reform.
I think that if the authorities of so many cities in Ukraine urge not to give this law a go, it is worth paying attention to! It is worth paying attention to the opinion of many young professionals and just conscientious citizens who expressed their clear dissatisfaction with the petition on the president's website, a record since independence!
Signing or not signing this law will be a very important signal for me."
Main photo: Oleksandr Mazurenko
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