Commercial illegalities to benefit in latest Planning Authority amnesty

A recently-announced scheme from the Planning Authority that will reguralise illegal developments in areas that are partly outside the building zones (ODZ), will not be limited to dwellings, but apply also to commercial developments.

This means that commercial establishments located in the development zone but which contain illegalities spreading in their ODZ grounds, can apply to regularise their position.

BUT the illegalities in question must be located within the boundaries of a fully permitted building and must predate 2016, as confirmed in aerial photos.

FOR example, a catering establishment in the development zone will be able to apply to regularise structures built without a permit in ODZ areas, but only within the boundaries of the establishment as established in an official permit. “Irregularities that go beyond the plot of land covered with a permit cannot benefit from this regularisation,” a PA spokesperson clarified.

Moreover the presentation of the official permit originally issued is compulsory, because site plans included in planning permits are crucial in determining the extent of the grounds covered by a property.

This also means that illegally-developed structures in properties which are entirely ODZ, cannot be regularised. Neither can the PA regularise developments that have spread into neighbouring ODZ plots. And nor can the PA regularise such structures if they form part of an entirely illegal complex.

Still, the legal notice does envisage the regularisation of illegalities on extremely large properties. In fact the tariffs to be paid to regularise roofed structures like gazebos and tool sheds range from €450 for properties with an ODZ area of 25sq.m, up to €1.2 million for properties with an ODZ area of over 10,000sq.m.

Regularising unroofed development like pools and paved areas will range from €400 for properties with an ODZ area of less than 25sq.m to €989,000 for properties with an ODZ area of over 10,000sq.m.

The tariffs do not reflect the size of the illegality but the total area in the property which is ODZ. It remains unclear whether pre-1967 properties, which predate any planning institution, will be eligible, since the legality of these properties was established by the PA’s rural policy, yet they still lack an official permit delineating the extent of their grounds. And many pre-1992 properties tend to lack site-plans clearly identifying the land parcel on which the development was permitted.

Irrespective of whether a development is commercial or residential, the PA regularisation board, currently chaired by Elizabeth Ellul, can still refuse the permit if it is deemed to create an “injury to amenity”. The legal notice gives a broad definition to injury to amenity which includes any development which jeopardises “the comfort, convenience, safety, security and utility that may be enjoyed within, and around, a property or neighbourhood”.

Decision-makers will therefore be required to take into consideration privacy distances and safety. “Given the wide definition of injury to amenity, the authority may consult any authority on a case-by-case basis” when it is assessing these applications, a PA spokesperson said.

Applications for the regularisation of partly ODZ properties will not be published separately on the Planning Authority website as happens with full development applications in the ODZ, which are published on a separate list every Wednesday. But applications for the regularisation of partly ODZ properties are published on the DOI website by locality