Opponents of the hypermarket were unsuccessful, the Ústí district sold the street

Ústí nad Labem - The representatives of the Ústí nad Labem city district City today approved the sale of the entire approximately hundred-meter street U České besedy despite strong opposition from many residents. The company INT, which wants to build a shopping center there, will pay 1.88 million crowns for it. Most of the area between the center of Ústí nad Labem and the Spolchemie complex is expected to be occupied by the Interspar chain. A petition against the construction titled No to Hypermarkets has already been signed by over 2,200 residents of the city.
    The chairman of the petition committee, Dušan Oslej, claims that instead of 25 houses, most of which are somehow renovated, an unsightly box will grow in the center of the regional city. According to him, the sale of the street has deprived the city of the opportunity to influence the project at least. The proposals that the investor has submitted so far, he claims, are not final and are also unattractive. According to him, hypermarkets belong on the outskirts of cities, not in their centers.
    Most of the councilors did not heed the arguments of the opponents of the hypermarkets, and many supported the investor's plans. One of the project's proponents, councilor František Nesvadba (ODS), responded to the opponents by stating that "building hypermarkets protects the environment."
    According to Mayor Václav Verner, the district only sold the street that runs through the center of the area where the future shopping center is to be built. The houses that will have to give way to the center belong to private owners, and it will be up to the investor to negotiate a buyout with them.
    The mayor's deputy, Jan Řeřicha, said at a press conference on Friday that the investor promised him to hold a public debate with the residents about how the construction should look. He added that it will not be a classic hypermarket, but a shopping center.
    The opponents do not believe that the promised debate will change anything about the project. According to Oslej, the project is not in conflict with the urban plan, and after the sale of the street, the city no longer has leverage over the investor.