Provisions of local spatial development plans – if such a document was adopted – are very often unclear and susceptible to various interpretations. However, a CHOICE OF ONE OF THE POSSIBLE RESULTS OF THE INTERPRETATION CANNOT BE CONNECTED WITH NEGATIVE EFFECTS FOR THE INVESTOR.

This was stated by the Supreme Administrative Court in the judgment of 8 July 2021, ref. no. II OSK 3018/18.

As Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reports, the case concerned the construction of a hotel where a service and retail part was also envisaged.

The local plan in force for the area where the project was carried out permitted investments intended for “tourist services”. At the end of the construction works, the provincial governor decided that the hotel with the service part did not meet these requirements. Therefore, he initiated proceedings to declare the building permit invalid and ordered an immediate halt to the works.

However, the administrative courts did not agree with this decision. THE SUPREME ADMINISTRATIVE COURT HELD THAT THE ADOPTION BY THE INVESTOR AND THE AUTHORITIES OF ONE OF THE POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS OF THE LOCAL PLAN DID NOT CONSTITUTE A GROSS VIOLATION OF THE LAW.

This in turn constitutes a very important guideline for virtually all officials conducting construction proceedings.

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