Arbitrary: Legalizations of tourism businesses in streams – 2024-03-30 00:39:04

The possibility of legalizing arbitrary projects that have been implemented by tourist businesses in a stream bed will be provided for by a regulation that has been included in the multi-legislation of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Ministry of Environment and Energy) which, according to what was reported on Monday by the minister Mr. Theodore Skylakakis is expected to be put up for consultation in the coming days.

At the same time, the draft law will also include provisions that will provide incentives to revive old hotels and other tourist accommodations that have been in operation for at least a decade and have been abandoned for more than 15 years.

In a stream bed

In particular, with regard to the arbitrariness in a stream bed, the new legislative initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will provide that the owner of the tourist business will have a window of one year in order to document to the Region the capacity of the flow of water in the new bed.

More specifically, the new regulation will concern the small water streams in the bed of which tourist facilities or accompanying projects have been erected or constructed, with a building permit or with other administrative acts, which were issued before the law 880/1979 which regulates various urban planning issues . Also, the regulation will specify, if further, the streams whose bed has been replaced with an open or closed section, in the same or another position.

In these cases, the interested owner (natural or legal person) in order to continue the operation of his activity, must, within one year from the passing of the new regulation, submit to the competent Environment and Spatial Planning Service of the Region:

1. building permit or other public document showing the time of construction of the tourist facility or its accompanying project,
2. aerial photographs accompanied by a photo interpretation report or other public document, from which the old bed of the stream can be determined and
3. hydrological and hydraulic study approved by the relevant Water Directorate of the Decentralized Administration, based on which the drainage capacity of the water flow from the new bed is documented. In the event that it is not documented, the study will be rejected and the interested party will have to immediately proceed with the execution of settlement and anti-flood protection projects.

For the issuance of building permits for extensions or repairs of the tourist facilities, the boundary line of the stream will be taken as that determined by the approved hydraulic study. The part of the bed that will not be included within the limits of the arranged stream _ either by diverting it, or by replacing it with a closed or open technical project in the same or a different position _ will be counted in the completeness of the property.

How to reopen abandoned hotels

At the same time, with new provisions of the multi-bill, incentives will be provided for the reopening, modernization and reuse of tourist accommodations that have ceased to operate continuously for a period exceeding 15 years. Essentially, it will concern hotels, camping, youth hostels, complex tourist accommodations, condo hotels and mixed tourist accommodations (hotels combined with furnished residences). For the specific abandoned tourist infrastructures, they will be allowed to reopen, after submitting an application to the Department of Architecture, Building Regulations and Licensing (DAOKA) of the Ministry of Interior, which should at least include the following:

1. Detailed technical documentation of the benefits that arise for the environment, the local or national economy and social cohesion from the immediate re-operation or modernization and reuse of the tourist accommodation, as well as the avoidance of its demolition or its further abandonment and obsolescence.
2. A file with the licensing history of the accommodation, from which it can be seen that it has been erected on the basis of a legal building permit or, at least, in the case that it was arbitrary, it has been legalized under the law 4495/2017 (A’ 167) on the regularization of arbitrary constructions. The history will also include a record of the period of operation of the accommodation, which should not be less than ten years.
3. Detailed description of the reopening plan and the planned works for the modernization, reuse or reconstruction of the tourist accommodation strictly within the limits of the existing building contours. Those accommodations are not considered abandoned for which a building permit or revision has been issued in the last decade, or their operation has stopped due to a stoppage of construction work or an urban planning violation.

The build set is unchanged

Also, the re-opening of the tourist accommodation will be in accordance with the building conditions and restrictions and the land uses of the area where they are located. Notwithstanding any other provision for the area where the tourist accommodation is located, the following possibilities will be provided:

1. To maintain their original use, modernize, repair or reconstruct for reasons of use, functionality, hygiene or aesthetics based on modern touristic and architectural standards. In any case, no changes will be allowed to the existing building contours of the tourist infrastructure and the works will not extend to the demolished buildings or their parts.
2. To remodel or redistribute their premises, for main or auxiliary use, with the possibility of new constructions. In any case, it will be possible to build new facilities, but with the simultaneous removal of existing structures, so that the whole structure remains unchanged. Especially in the cases of accommodation located in protected areas and in archaeological sites, this possibility will be provided exceptionally only after the opinion of the Central Council for Environmental Licensing or the Central Archaeological Council, respectively.
3. To change, without amending the existing license, the use of their facilities to another, milder use, such as small sports facilities, catering, refreshments or residence, as long as it is documented that in this way the environmental upgrading of the property is enhanced and the intensity of the existing of use.

In addition, in the context of the re-operation of the abandoned tourist accommodation, it will be allowed to include them in the category of Complex Tourist Accommodation. In any case, the provisions for their modernization, reconstruction and re-operation will not apply to all accommodations located in priority habitats, in areas of absolute nature protection, in cores of national forests, in national parks or in wetlands of international importance.

For the approval of the reopening plan, approval will be issued by the head of the General Directorate of Town Planning of the Ministry of Interior, after a recommendation from the Central Council for Urban Planning Issues and Disputes, the Central Council for Architecture as well as the Central Council for Environmental Licensing. All the details regarding the content of the application, the evaluation criteria of the application, its approval process and other details will be specified later by decision of the Ministers of Tourism and Environment.