A change of land use designation can only be achieved through an amendment to the municipal spatial plan. Spatial planning in accordance with established regulations is essential for the harmonious development of society; otherwise, spatial chaos would ensue, where everyone would design interventions solely on their own land, making it impossible to implement solutions in the public interest while ensuring environmental protection, nature conservation, agricultural land preservation, the development of public infrastructure and the economy, as well as addressing other developmental and protective needs that are key to sustainable spatial development.
Land use designation includes building, agricultural, forest, water, and other types of land, which are further subdivided—particularly important for building land, which is categorized for:
- – residential use,
- – central activities,
- – economic activities,
- – transport and other infrastructure,
- – and similar purposes.
Land use designation is determined by spatial acts, so it can only be changed through amendments to such acts. Since spatial acts are regulatory instruments, a proposal to change land use designation is not an individual administrative procedure in which your rights are decided, but rather participation in the preparation of a regulation through which the municipality defines and plans its spatial development.
How to obtain information about existing land use designation and its possibilities
Check with the competent municipality what land use designation is assigned to your land in the valid spatial plan. This information can be obtained through a land use certificate or a location information document, both of which are issued by the municipality for a fee (you will need the parcel number and the cadastral municipality for both). You can also access this data independently through various geographic information systems used or provided by municipalities, as well as through the national spatial information system provided by the state. However, data obtained in this way is not official, unlike that from the certificate of land use or the location information document.
Based on the obtained data on land use and other public legal regimes on the land (spatial implementation conditions, possible protective regimes, the municipality’s pre-emptive rights, etc.), you can determine what spatial plans and other regulations allow on your property or land of interest. For assistance and clarification, you can also contact the municipal spatial planning authority.
Procedure for changing land use designation
Check the time frame in which the municipality plans to prepare a new municipal spatial plan or to amend or supplement the existing one. The municipality will inform you when and how it will collect proposals for land use changes. These are not considered individually but are grouped and reviewed periodically by the municipality for reasons of procedural efficiency and to assess the justification of each proposal against the municipality’s spatial development goals, other proposals, and various public legal interests and regimes.
Submit a reasoned and documented proposal to the municipality during the period designated for collecting proposals for land use designation changes. This corresponds to the phase of preparing the so-called starting points for the municipal spatial plan. The form and method of justification are determined by each municipality, but the essential information required includes:
- parcel number,
- cadastral municipality of the land for which the proposal is submitted,
- data on the landowners,
- justification and explanation of the intended intervention, and
- a proposal for the new land use designation.
It is also recommended to include a cadastral map extract with the parcel marked, along with other visual materials showing the actual condition of the land.
If the municipality deems the proposal suitable, it will be included in the next phases of the municipal spatial plan preparation process. Proposals can only be considered if:
- they are in line with the spatial development goals of the municipality,
- they take into account protective restrictions in the area,
- they comply with urban planning criteria and the feasibility of equipping the land for construction.
In the subsequent phases of the process (draft and proposal of the spatial plan), the following will take place: collection of opinions from relevant spatial planning bodies, public display and public hearing, including all steps of the environmental impact assessment procedure, where applicable, followed by adoption and publication of the act. Since these phases are intended to verify the appropriateness of planned interventions from the perspective of various public interests and sectoral regulations, proposed solutions may be excluded or altered during later stages of the procedure. This means that a proposal for changing land use designation—although initially accepted and included in the planning process—may be excluded from the final spatial plan or modified (e.g., reduced in scope, subjected to different or additional building conditions, etc.).
Proposers of land use changes can find out during the public display of the municipal spatial plan whether their proposals were accepted and obtain additional information during public hearings. Citizens and other participants may submit comments and suggestions for improved spatial planning solutions. New proposals during the public display are generally not desirable or appropriate, as they conflict with the principle of procedural efficiency, which states that the municipality may only consider out-of-phase proposals if they do not disrupt the process or require repeating prescribed stages or conducting additional procedures, while ensuring equal treatment of all participants in spatial planning. New proposals requiring renewed opinion collection or triggering environmental or nature conservation assessments are therefore better addressed during the next amendment to the spatial act.
Proposal Costs
As of June 1, 2018, municipalities may charge a fee for the consideration of private proposals to change land use designation. A municipality that chooses to do so must first adopt a regulation specifying the fee amount. According to the law, this fee may range from EUR 50 to EUR 300 per proposal, depending on the type of land use change and the need to consider legal regimes and conduct an environmental impact assessment.
Paying the fee does not guarantee a change in land use designation; it only ensures that the proposal will be reviewed by the municipality in terms of compliance with fundamental spatial planning principles, the municipality’s spatial development goals, legal regimes in the area, and the feasibility of equipping the land with public utility and other infrastructure.
For more information or a viewing, visit our website or contact us at 00386-40-626-131, tajnistvo@bazarealestate.com.
