site.btaArchitects Ask President to Veto Amended Spatial Development Act

ESD 15:11:31 04-02-2021
ZH1507ES.110
110 POLITICS - SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT - ARCHITECTS - DEMANDS

Architects Ask President to Impose
Partial Veto on Amended
Spatial Development Act


Sofia, February 4 (BTA) - The Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria has asked President Rumen Radev to veto certain revisions to the Spatial Development Act, arguing that they infringe on the constitutional rights of owners to dispose of their property and to build on it, architect Vladimir Milkov, Chairman of the Chamber, told a BTA-hosted news conference on Thursday. The principal objections of the organization are that the revisions shift from the municipalities to the owners and building entrepreneurs the obligation to apply regulation as a precondition for issuing a building permit and to alienate properties.

The architects are also disputing a provision which allows owners to be issued a building permit accompanied by an opinion without submitting a design.

The revisions, which passed conclusively on January 27, make the issue of a building permit conditional on the application of a detailed development plan to the street on which a new building will be put up, meaning that the owner of a property will be issued a building permit only when the municipality has become the owner of all parts of properties on which a street is planned to be built.

In a letter to the President, the Chamber of Architects said that many revisions would impede the investment process and make administrative services more costly and complicated. They also breach key principles of the relations in development planning, investment design and construction.

Milkov said the amendments would have a negative effect across the board, although it would not be immediately apparent. He argued that they were passed without impact assessment and a debate. There was no reply to letters sent to the Prime Minister and the Parliament Chair.

The Chamber of Engineers in Investment Design expressed full support for the architects. RI/DD