The court annulled the territorial decision for the Šantovka Tower high-rise building in Olomouc

Olomouc/Brno - The Olomouc branch of the regional court annulled the zoning decision for the planned construction of the Šantovka Tower skyscraper in the vicinity of the historical center of Olomouc. The reason is a systemic risk of bias among Olomouc officials. The project will be decided again by officials, but not in Olomouc. The regional court made this decision after the High Administrative Court (NSS) upheld the appeal of the public ombudsman Stanislav Křeček in January. The NSS ordered a reconsideration of the ombudsman’s complaint and the annulment of the contested zoning decision, Křeček stated today in a press release.

"The decision of the regional court was the only possible one, as it must respect the position of the NSS. And the NSS holds a clear opinion that the Olomouc municipality was biased. Therefore, all underlying binding opinions, including those of heritage experts, are unlawful and thus unusable in further proceedings," Křeček stated. The further development of the case, according to him, depends on whether a cassation appeal will be filed.

The residential building Šantovka Tower, with 90 apartments and a height of 74 meters, is to be part of the new Šantovka district, which the developer group Redstone, led by entrepreneur Richard Morávek, intends to build on a three-hectare site near the center of Olomouc. The project is linked to the existing shopping center Galerie Šantovka. "We are still reviewing the decision and reasoning of the NSS. At this moment, we will not comment on this matter," said Redstone spokesman Michal Folta today to ČTK.

Heritage officials disagree with the construction of the skyscraper, as some experts believe it would damage the historical panorama. The lawsuit in the public interest was filed five years ago by then-ombudswoman Anna Šabatová, and her successor Křeček later continued with the dispute. The lawsuit, for example, stated that biased officials were making decisions in the proceedings. "I welcome today's decision of the NSS, which acknowledged my arguments and concluded that the application for the placement of the building must first be assessed and decided by another unbiased administrative body. When making decisions in the public sphere, one cannot allow connections between the deciding officials and potential investors," Křeček stated today.

The regional court rejected the lawsuit twice. However, the NSS emphasized that the so-called critical level of systemic risk of bias was exceeded in the zoning proceedings, and therefore all decision-making officials of the building authority at the Olomouc municipality should have been excluded for bias. Thus, another building authority should have correctly decided on the placement of the building. Systemic risk of bias exists in proceedings where an official is simultaneously an employee of a municipality or region and makes decisions in delegated competence, that is, in the name of the state, on matters concerning the municipality or region. Such a risk existed in the process of placement of the Šantovka Tower according to the NSS, because Olomouc employees were deciding on a plan that in 2010 was supported by a cooperation agreement between the city and the investor. In subsequent years, the investor pointed out this agreement, urged the city for cooperation, and mentioned the possibility of claiming compensation for damages.