Hotel Near the House of the Blackheads and the New Construction Law

Pursuant to the decision No. BV-14-9068-nd of the Riga City Building Department dated 28.07.2014, the construction initiator UAB Nevertel, reg. No. 302915875, legal address: Vilniaus iela 31, Vilnius, LT-01402, Republic of Lithuania, represented in the Republic of Latvia by UAB Nevertel Latvia branch, reg. No. 40103619853, Bezdelīgu iela 12, Riga, LV-1048, tel.: 67704080, is submitting for public consultation the construction intention "New construction of a hotel building at Grēcinieku iela 25, Riga (Group 1, plot 87), land plot cadastral designation 0100 001 0087." Designer: SIA "Arhis Arhitekti", reg. No. 40003026957, Skārņu iela 4, Riga, LV-1050, telephone 67225852.
-- Announcement of the Riga City Building Department [1]

It never ceases to surprise that society stirs from its philistine slumber only when it is already too late. Then - yes, it will go to demonstrations, shake its fists and banners. Respectable ladies and gentlemen of society, lawyers, doctors, MPs also get drawn into this farce.

In January 2014 the new Construction Law came into force, which, as one can guess, was crafted under the auspices of the Ministry of Economics and which, when do you think, came into force? - Correct - on 1 October 2014. Now then: under the old law, a public consultation could be held if the new construction "worsens residents' living conditions or reduces the value of (another) property". Under the new law, public involvement is envisaged only when an environmental impact assessment is applicable to the building (i.e., it might smell, rumble, drone, etc.). In all other articles of the new law, public involvement is limited to public information. Moreover, if a detailed spatial plan is in force, a public consultation is not required at all. A detailed spatial plan, as I understand it, is generally reviewed once every ten or even fifteen years.

Of course, a detailed spatial plan can be contested in the Constitutional Court. The new Construction Law provides that a building permit may be contested within one month. The previous procedure did not provide for such a restriction, which, true, did create more than one comical situation - for example, in 2013 the Cabinet of Ministers could not hand over stairs for use, because someone had managed to contest the building permit (or the procurement?) when the work had already been completed.

Given the foregoing, the question arises: where were those protesters at the beginning of the year, when the new Construction Law was adopted? As it turns out, only Ilma Čepāne (Vienotība) had an opinion. The rest - full throttle ahead!

There is also some good news - the building permit for this particular construction, dubbed a "shed" on social networks, was issued under the old law. ;) True, objections must be expressed not on Facebook and Twitter, but in the manner, form and within the deadline set by the Building Department.

References:

[1] On the hotel at Grēcinieku iela - http://www.rpbv.lv/pazinojums-par-buvniecibas-ieceres-viesnicas-ekas-jaunbuve-grecinieku-iela-25-riga-nodosanu-publiska

[2] The new Construction Law - http://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=258572

[3] The old Construction Law - http://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=36531

[4] Opinions - http://www.lvportals.lv/visi/skaidrojumi/257121-jaunais-buvniecibas-likums-veicinat-buvniecibas-procesu-mazinat-administrativo-slogu/