site.btaCourt Finally Rules Unlawful Construction Project in Yailata Archaeological Reserve

128 - ENVIRONMENT - ARCHEOLOGICAL RESERVE - PROJECT - COURT

Court Finally Rules Unlawful Construction
Project in Yailata Archaeological
Reserve


Sofia, October 22 (BTA) - The Supreme Administrative Court
adjudged on Wednesday that a construction project in the Yailata
Archaeological Reserve on the northern Bulgarian Black Sea
coast is illegal. The court thus upheld a previous judgment by
the Dobrich Administrative Court which said that the concrete
two-floor building which has been under construction on a 0.15
ha plot should be demolished, dnevnik.bg reports.

The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court is final and
unappeallable.

The investors, two brothers from a nearby village who hold a
title deed for the land, claimed they had obtained a permit to
restore a fishing shed that once existed on the site. The
construction project triggered a public controversy when it was
started back in 2007. A cement slab was then cast on a natural
ledge overlooking the sea. Kavarna Municipality then denied
having issued a building permit, and the National Institute for
Monuments of Culture launched a check into the legal conformity
of the project. Construction was suspended by the authorities
when environmentalists alerted them that the work went far
beyond the limits set by the permit. Construction was not
resumed until a couple of days before the May 12 parliamentary
elections in 2013. This time, it appeared that a new permit has
been issued by the Kavarna Chief Architect.

Before this project, Yailata was unmarred by human activity and
is remarkable for its pristine beauty. It is a favourite spot
for nature lovers and a shooting location for Bulgarian
filmmakers.

The National Construction Control Directorate (NCCD) found in a
check that the construction of a two-floor building in the
Yailata Archaeological Reserve is indisputably unlawful and must
be suspended and removed. This was contested by the brothers
but the Dobrich Administrative Court declared their appeal null
and void in the beginning of this year.

After the Wednesday decision of the Supreme Administrative
Court, the investor brothers will have to demolish the building
and reclaim the land on which it stands at the moment.