Salzburg eases rules for expanding commercial zones

Salzburg’s state government plans to make it easier to designate new commercial areas and expand existing business sites from October 1, according to ORF. The changes are part of a revised state development programme and have drawn criticism from the Greens and environmental organisations.

The new rules are intended to enable new large retail businesses, more commercial land and less bureaucracy. The previous programme was too restrictive in the economic sector, regional planning councillor Martin Zauner of the FPÖ said when presenting the changes on Thursday.

Under the current rules, a new commercial area can be created only next to an existing one. The revised programme will allow exceptions, subject to conditions such as emissions protection and good transport connections.

The change could allow the designation of business land to begin in Stegenwald, a district of Werfen in the Pongau region. Plans for a large logistics centre there had previously collapsed because the necessary rezoning could not be approved.

The changes will also apply to smaller projects. The state government cited the planned rezoning of a 700-square-metre plot in Golling in the Tennengau region from green land to building land as an example.

The Greens have criticised the changes for months. State parliament member Simon Heilig-Hofbauer called them a “free pass for soil sealing” and said existing designated building land should be mobilised before green areas are developed.

The environmental organisation WWF had also criticised the plans in advance. The SPÖ said measures that protect or create jobs and reduce excessive bureaucracy were generally welcome, but added that it would need to examine the announcement in detail.