“Of course I will vote on February 9, this is important.” Geneviève and Marie-Josée, two retired friends, took the city tram for a ride to Cointrin. The wind, this Sunday afternoon, freezes the deserted streets of this district of villas. Villas which, perhaps, will give way to buildings. It depends on the vote of the Genevans.
The complicity of these old friends stops on the word to slip into the ballot box. Marie-Josée will vote no. “We have already built a lot. These new neighborhoods that we are being made are too concrete. And why make people live so close to planes? ”
Geneviève will vote yes. “My management has canceled my lease. I got to be able to stay, but I understood that it would be very difficult to relocate. So I think of all those people who are looking for an apartment. For them, you have to build. ”
Signs of abandonment
The summary is done. He held on to these arguments and the ballot was expected to be close. Because if the housing crisis has long justified urbanization, it is more and more contested. In November, the Genevans refused buildings in Petit-Saconnex.
Cointrin is today suspended pending the vote. The neighborhood is still inhabited, but there are signs of abandonment. Façades that are no longer repainted, a smashed mailbox and pioneering plants growing in the gardens. The sign that promoters have already bought plots.
Click here to display in a new tab.
The two sectors that the state wants to downgrade to zone 3 of development are on either side of avenue Louis-Casaï. They represent 22 hectares and 230 plots. This is part of a much larger plan to develop the whole side between the city and the airport.
This plan has already started. The Pond district is erected near the Vernier cisterns. Buildings sprout up along avenue Louis-Casaï. At the edge of the highway, on a strip of land, a string of offices, called an “economic showcase”, must protect the Cointrin neighborhood from noise. Le Grand-Saconnex will build at La Susette.
In all, this region offers a long-term potential of 10,000 homes and 14,000 jobs. The two sectors of Cointrin concerned by the vote represent 2300 homes and 800 jobs, to be achieved in the next thirty years.
For the State, this development makes it possible to meet the housing needs “of all classes of the population”. It is part of the continuity of the city, which avoids encroaching on the agricultural area and generating commuter traffic. It is also served by public transport.
A dozen associations refuse this development and have launched the referendum. “We must safeguard this lung of greenery and its biodiversity,” says Jean Hertzschuch, of Geneva Safeguard, who also denounces the “excessive urbanization” of the canton.
But the main criticism is about the place chosen, near the airport. “It is absurd to bring the city so close to the tarmac,” says Patrick Canellini. This will jeopardize the health and quality of life of future residents. ”
According to them, the noise from planes will be more important in the future because it will ricochet on the facades of buildings. A local resident has been fighting for this thesis for years, even claiming that the takeoff noise will be 5,000 times higher. MEPs have heard it several times and the state has commissioned a study on this phenomenon, a first in Switzerland. If the report admits the existence of reverberation, it assures that it will be offset by another effect, namely the protective screen formed by buildings. Finally, the study concludes that the noise will be lower on average, and that it is also possible to arrange the buildings so as to limit these nuisances.
“In any case, if the noise exceeds the standards, we will not be able to issue building permits,” said state councilor Antonio Hodgers. Besides, as it stands, we cannot build on the part closest to the airport. But the state is counting on the airport’s efforts to reduce its emissions by 2030.
“Fighting against noise”
“We must fight against noise, not against housing”, answer the supporters of the project. For them, the arrival of this future district will increase pressure on the airport. Conversely, this pressure worries the referendums, who see it as … a threat to the airport.
Supporters say they understand concerns about quality of life but say public spaces will be generous, as will greenery. And that neighborhood life can be rich, with nurseries, local shops, meeting places. Finally, there will be mixed use with a third of subsidized housing, apartments for sale and cooperatives. Something no one mentions: with a land use index of 1.2, the density will be low, in the low range of current requirements.
Nervous promoters
Six promoters are active in the Cointrin sector and they are quite nervous. In July, they wrote to Antonio Hodgers’ services, which we got. Objective: “jointly define (note: with the State) the actions to be put in place to thwart the arguments” of the referendaries. The promoters have indeed understood that the battle would be difficult. The Department did not follow up. In an internal note, he noted that this approach represented “an undesirable mixture of roles”.
This letter tells us who the promoters are. We find Claude Berda’s Urban Project company, which builds the Étang district, Carlo Lavizzari’s ICSC, Swiss Prime Site, Steiner, the Real Estate Creators and the company Juu SA. Most of these players are not yet owners, but they have no doubt signed sales agreements.
The Aton Développement company has acquired four lots on Chemin de l’Avanchet. Another has already purchased thirteen plots along the highway for the “showcase
economic”. This is Meyrlis SA, which spent $ 21 million on these acquisitions. Its administrator is Jean-Bernard Buchs, who also takes care of several Claude Berda companies. According to the state, a third of current owners are willing to sell.
Created: 26.01.2020, 17h43
–
