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With the Small Settlements Ordinance, the canton has imposed a preventive blockade on the construction boom in the villages. We are criticized aloud against the procedure. SVP’s cantonal council, Pascal Schmid, criticizes: Only a few days after the discussion in the grand council, the governing council had “needlessly issued an emergency ordinance.”
The canton checks on 304 small settlements if they are in the correct area.
- The Weiler theme is a hot topic in Thurgau spatial planning.
- The federal government requires the canton to resolve the basic conflict: the Hamlet areas are not a construction area for the federal government, but they are in Thurgau.
- Real estate owners fear that their land will lose value.
- Resistance to the project came from the communities. There are also critical voices in cantonal politics.
From Friday, things get serious: the Ordinance on small agreements comes into force with the publication in the Official Gazette. This means that numerous villages and small settlements will be assigned to a new area, and more importantly: they will move from construction to non-construction area. 29 are new to the agricultural area since Friday; 114 in a kind of conservation area.
The fund is an order of the Federal Council. This was first awarded in 2010; renewed later. It reads: The canton must verify villages and small settlements for its zone membership and, if necessary, assign them to an “appropriate zone”.
The basic conflict: Today’s village areas are not a construction area for the federal government, but they are in Thurgau. Therefore, the canton began a large-scale spatial planning exercise and examined more than 300 settlements.
The government wants to create legal certainty
From the canton’s point of view, the fear of impending zoning had unwanted excesses: since the announcement of the village area project, ‘hectic and sometimes inadequate construction work has been carried out in some small settlements’. This was stated by the governing council in a preliminary response.
In Thursday’s announcement, the governing council approved the regulation to prevent other “construction activities that may be contrary to federal law” from taking place in the areas in question. The objective: to create legal certainty.
The Office of Space Development is now responsible for construction projects in the aforementioned settlements. As with all buildings outside the construction zone. The office decides whether construction projects fit the zones or whether an exceptional permit can be issued for them.
Safety measures
As the governing council writes, regulations should be understood as precautionary measures until the legally binding review of small individual settlements. Once the cantonal structure plan has been adapted, the affected municipalities should take the appropriate zoning measures. People have already started this process, for example, information events have occurred.
For the settlements, which are likely to be located in a so-called conservation zone in the future, conversions are also possible “in principle comprehensive”. So it is in the explanatory report. For example, old farm buildings such as barns or sheds can be converted into residential buildings. A report says:
“The conservation area aims to maintain and maintain the small settlement while preserving the existing fabric of construction and the urban landscape.”
And this with respect to both the character of the small settlement and the appearance of the individual buildings.
SVP Cantonal Council criticizes the procedure
The government’s approach has been misunderstood in parts of Thurgau’s politics. This was made clear once again when the Frauenfeld Grand Council discussed progress on the matter last week. One of the critics is the cantonal council Weinfeld SVP Pascal Schmid.
SVP Cantonal Council Pascal Schmid of Weinfelden.
On request, he says, “I am disappointed that all concerns about the rule of law are being dismissed.” A few days after the discussion, the Governing Council “unnecessarily passed an emergency ordinance” that reduced the property guarantee of the rural population of Thurgau.
“For those affected, the building regulations and the once-for-all zone plan no longer apply.”
Schmid no longer sees an opportunity to politically object to the regulation. “This leaves only the legal process for the affected owners.”
Pascal Schmid says: “It will only be exciting if the administrative court has to deal with it.” It does not rule out questioning the regulation. There will be fierce discussions if the municipalities have to formally implement the precautionary zones ordered by the canton.
