The former mayor Heinz Koch (1990-2014), who died in the summer of 2019, has already described the hotel, the residential complex and the nursing home on the Kapellenberg in Eibelstadt as his “masterpiece”. For a good decade, the social democrat tried to build a hotel on the outskirts of the community, close to the motorway. The fact that the municipal company of the district later also built a nursing home there and a modern serviced residential complex with apartments suitable for the elderly also goes back to Koch.
Now – the condominiums have now almost all been sold and the hotel is flourishing – at the end of July there was a dispute before the Würzburg administrative court about the development costs calculated at the time. As administrative judge Thomas Hansen explained when asked by this editorial team, he also explained the background to those involved in the oral hearing. This begins in the year 2000.
Development costs have been reduced by almost half
At that time, the Eibelstadt city council came up with the idea of using the pretty town on the Main more for tourism. A hotel was to be built on the northern outskirts of the city, as well as a senior citizens’ and nursing home, which together with the hotel forms a barrier to reduce the noise from the motorway, federal highway and railway line for the rear areas and enable residential development there. In December 2009, the city bought a 22,128 square meter plot of land that encompassed the entire planning area. In the years that followed, parts of it were sold: to the district’s senior citizens’ facilities, to a property developer and on long-term lease to the hotel operators.
Hansen went on to say that Mayor Koch reduced the development costs in order to make it possible for the hotel to settle there. Around 600,000 euros should initially be distributed to all residents, Koch reduced the amount by 368,000 euros because he only included the costs of building the roads and not the value of the land.
Auditors of the district office noticed that the development costs were too low
The audit at the Würzburg district office noticed this, according to the written explanations of the administrative court on the cases. The test report states that the land acquisition costs for the 3,072 square meter property (EUR 368,640) and the proportionate road drainage costs were not included in the calculation of the eligible development costs for the development of the hotel and senior citizens’ center. However, these expenses were also part of the development effort and would have to be collected afterwards, the auditors demanded.
The city of Eibelstadt then changed its development notices in 2017 under Koch’s successor Markus Schenk (CSU) and demanded additional money from both the hoteliers and the property developer: from the hotel 97,292 euros, from the property developer a total of 79,260 euros for three properties. Both initially appealed against their respective decisions and finally sued the Würzburg administrative court.
As far as the senior citizens’ facility of the municipal company is concerned, it was agreed with former mayor Koch that the city of Eibelstadt would make land available in the public interest and assume the development costs. In return, Eibelstadt got a nursing and retirement home for its citizens.
How former mayor Koch justified himself during his lifetime
Even during Koch’s lifetime, he was repeatedly accused of having idiosyncratically determined the development contributions in the Kapellenberg building area. It is said that his administrative staff pointed out to him at the time that his actions were not legal. Koch explained his decision economically. Administrative judge Hansen is familiar with a statement by the former mayor in which Koch justified his actions and offset income for the city treasury, for example from trade tax.
However, according to the judgments of the administrative court, he should not have given a discount for the development contributions. The city of Eibelstadt has therefore rightly made the additional demands because the law stipulates exactly how the contributions are calculated.
Can the city of Eibelstadt demand development contributions from the apartment owners?
The hotel operators now want to agree on a comparison with the city. The developer has to pay back, but less than requested. Because at the time of the contribution notices, he no longer owned all the condominiums, the total was recalculated. Instead of 79,260 euros, it is now 14,456 euros. The city administration would now have to demand the difference from the apartment owners. It is questionable, however, whether the contributions are not already statute-barred in the meantime.
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