The People's Party (PP) has opened the door to the possibility that the management of urban reconstruction plans for areas affected by the DANA could fall to private developers. This would be possible if the amendment presented by the popular parliamentary group to the Accompanying Law is approved, which seeks to modify the regulation approved by the Consell with special and "urgent" urban planning measures to "favor reconstruction tasks" after the catastrophe. Until now, the rule required direct management by the administration.
These urban plans, promoted by the Consell led by Carlos Mazón, aimed to "create and order finalist land for housing construction", as well as the relocation of industries and tertiary land, and the integration of necessary infrastructure. The original law granted them a "preferential and urgent" character and shorter deadlines to expedite recovery, providing for "always by direct management", either through expropriation or land redistribution.
The modification proposed by the PP introduces the term "preferably" into the wording, indicating a priority for direct management, but no longer closes the door to private sector participation in the design and execution of the plans. With exclusive direct management, it was the Consell or the town councils that assumed expropriation and land redistribution. Opening the door to indirect management could allow a private urban developer to advance the investment in urbanization works, passing the costs on to affected property owners later or retaining land development rights.
From the Territory Department, headed by Vicente Martínez Mus, it is argued that the "priority" will remain direct management, but the aim is that the change "will not be an impediment to development in certain municipalities either". These special plans have the capacity to modify municipal general plans and affect urbanized or rural land.
Additionally, another PP amendment will allow other urban planning instruments, such as strategic territorial actions, to be "adapted, integrated, or transformed" into these special urban plans when there are prevailing "public needs or general interest", preserving the procedures already carried out.
A third PP amendment aims to liberalize industrial implementation on non-developable land, expanding exceptions for construction when urban or developable land is "inadequate". It also removes the requirement for a minimum plot size of 10,000 square meters and the need to keep half the area free for agricultural use. Furthermore, a minimum safety distance of 500 meters is established between hazardous industries and residential, educational, or health uses, with the possibility of municipal exceptions.
