Karlovy Vary have a new urban plan after almost 15 years, but it did not pass easily

Karlovy Vary – The representatives of Karlovy Vary today approved the new zoning plan for the city. Its preparation took almost 15 years. However, even today, the proposal for the zoning plan did not pass smoothly. Coalition representatives immediately after its adoption proposed the cancellation of the regulatory plan limiting construction in the area Na Vyhlídce. There is a danger that for this area, which has long been discussed in the city, the regulations will not apply, warned the opposition and members of the Chraňme Vary association.

At today’s council meeting, a paradoxical situation arose where at one point the representatives adopted a new zoning plan that refers to the regulatory plan. In the following point, the representatives then approved the proposal to cancel the regulatory plan. The coalition of ANO, Karlovaráků, and ODS rejected the opposition's request to swap these points.

The decision on the possible cancellation of the regulatory plan will be made by the Department of Urban Planning. According to the city leadership and department representatives, even if the regulatory plan is canceled, restrictions will still apply to the Na Vyhlídce area. They stated that the documentation of the urban study CASUA, which the city commissioned years ago, has been incorporated into the zoning plan. The study contains similar restrictions to the regulatory plan but is not binding and only has a advisory character. However, it will be necessary to make a change to the zoning plan in the near future.

"This is not just a question of the zoning plan; for this affected part of the city, we have several restrictive criteria. Firstly, it is a heritage reserve, so the National Heritage Institute and the Ministry of Culture are involved. There is also the fact that we are within UNESCO. This means that there are so-called buffer zones. So, I am convinced that this area is protected," said the mayor of Karlovy Vary, Andrea Pfeffer Ferklová (ANO), to ČTK. The city leadership will still negotiate with the investor about the form of construction at Na Vyhlídce.

However, this assurance did not satisfy the Chraňme Vary association. "We are concerned about the time between the approval of the zoning plan at today’s council meeting and the date when the announced change to the zoning plan for the Na Vyhlídce area will take place. During that time, uncontrolled construction may occur there," said Viktor Florian from the Chraňme Vary association at today’s council meeting.

It is also unclear whether the initiative to process the change to the zoning plan should come from the council, city leadership, or the department of urban planning itself.

The new zoning plan also deals with the city bypass and residential construction. In its preparation, two variants were considered for routing the city bypass or variants of residential construction. The office ultimately chose the variant of the large bypass, which is also included in the principles of territorial development of the Karlovy Vary Region. For residential construction, the area in the northern part of the city was chosen because the intention to build residential units in Doubí faced a negative opinion from the protected landscape area of Slavkovský les and the fact that it involves arable agricultural land.

The zoning plan, as the basic document for urban planning and construction activities, is urgently needed by the spa town. Investors are particularly waiting for clear rules for construction. In recent years, the city has approved some partial changes to the zoning plan to accommodate some investment intentions. However, larger interventions have not been made to the zoning plan.