The magistrate annulled the decision regarding the construction in the gap in Klimentská Street

Prague - The city hall has canceled the decision regarding the construction of a seven-story residential building in the gap in Klimentská Street in the center of Prague due to the protection of a historic one hundred and fifty-year-old sycamore tree. The Prague 1 construction office approved the project back in 2012, but the city hall already annulled it once following an appeal. With the new decision, it sent it back for reconsideration for the second time, CTK found out from the decision on the official notice board of the city hall. A petition has also arisen against the construction, as parents of children from a nearby kindergarten are concerned about the planned placement of a crane in its yard.
    "The question of whether it is possible to place the construction while preserving the historic tree was not resolved in the proceedings before the construction office, nor could it be resolved in the appeal proceedings," the office's decision states.
    According to the Environmental Atelier, which appealed against the issued construction placement decision, the crown of the sycamore is depicted smaller in the documentation for the zoning proceedings than it actually is, and therefore it is not possible to build terraces around it. It also argues that according to the findings of the Czech Environmental Inspection, the construction will disturb the tree's root system.
    The office also found inconsistencies between the documentation for the zoning decision (DUR) and the general technical requirements for construction in the capital. According to the documentation, it is supposed to be a new residential building, which the technical requirements define as a construction primarily for housing purposes. However, the project is said to have only 43.6 percent of the units allocated for apartments, the rest will be office spaces and studios.
    The construction is permitted by a contract with the local municipality from 2010, and the zoning proceedings began as early as 2011. However, the first decision was annulled by the city hall as the appellate authority and returned to the Prague 1 office for further consideration. The comments on the project primarily concerned noise and overshadowing of surrounding buildings, but the office rejected all of them.
    The zoning decision does not address in detail the criticized placement of the construction crane on the property of the adjacent kindergarten's playground. According to the document, it is permitted by an agreement on the execution of construction modifications between the owner of the building and the local municipality. However, parents are concerned that children would not be allowed in the garden and playground during the construction, and that they would be disturbed by noise. According to the construction department's decision, the project must include the construction of a noise barrier to protect the kindergarten.