Non-governmental ecologists refused to take part in public hearings on site development of Sochi

A Committee for regulations of land use and development with the Mayor's office of Sochi held public hearings on development of the health resort. Activists of ecologic and non-governmental organizations refused to participate in the discussion. According to Chief Architect of the city, the hearings passed within legal boundaries.

Kozinskaya: the health resort of Sochi is destroyed as historic and cultural heritage

The Committee suggested the community of Sochi to consider eight more questions on development of the health resort. Chief Architect Oleg Sheveiko and Architect of the Central district Yury Kurichenko took part in the session.

Evgeny Zakharov, member of the pressure group for protection of green belt of the city, informed that on February, 2, he handed the Mayor of the city a group statement signed by residents of Sochi about their refusal to take part in the "criminal development of the health resort sanctioned by hearings organized by Mayor's office".

The activist reports that the next day, February, 3, "no one came to the hearings as a sign of protest", therefore, the architects of the city and the districts held the hearings one on one with the developers".

However, Olga Kozinskaya, Head of Public Town planning council, was present at the session for a short time. She openly declared her protest against the hearings calling them illegal after which she left the session.

Kozinskaya said that a "group of persons by holding the hearings without taking public opinion into consideration practically destroyed the health resort of Sochi as historic and cultural heritage".

"Every hearing involves a lot of new objects. Small houses are pulled down and replaced by huge dotted monsters disfiguring the health resort. Their building demands destruction of the green belt, seizure of public recreation zones, roads, pavements and communication facilities. The regulations of development of the health resort adopted in 2009 are violated. It is incomprehensible what the regulations had been adopted for if now " aberrations" are legitimatized without paying attention to public opinion", Kozinskaya said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

She explained that a certain "Giprogor" company from Saint Petersburg won the tender on design of layout of the territories and protected zones of the health resort where all the objects of historical heritage must be included.

"These documents are at a development stage yet. Our Public Town planning council helps the architects from Saint Petersburg. We wasted a lot of efforts, time, energy and our own money but in spite of this, Mayor's office continues hearings ignoring the absence of these documents", Chairperson of the Council added.

In her opinion, "it may result in a situation when by the moment the documents are ready historical objects in Sochi will be already destroyed". "Just as it happened with the sanatorium named after Maurice Thorez, they are trying to destroy "Primorskaya" hotel, round ticket boxes at the railway station have already been pulled down", the activist said.

As an example of the "aberrations" she set the aftermath of an emergency in Primorskaya embankment where a landslip began and, according to Kozinskaya, it is already impossible to stop it by strengthening actions.

Sheveiko: the objections of the community are taken into consideration but the Committee is analyzing their reasonableness

In his turn, Chief Architect of Sochi and Chairman of the Committee Oleg Sheveiko explained that the demands of the Town planning council and activists of other organizations to stop hearings were illegal for the "procedure of organizing public hearings is stipulated by the Town planning Code".

"If we follow the demands of the public and Town Planning council the rights of the people who appeal to the Committee will be infringed", the architect remarked. According to him, the objections of the community are taken into consideration but the Committee is analyzing their reasonableness.

Sheveiko declared that the Olympic law No 310 demanded all the constructions to be accomplished by 2013 and no new licenses to be issued.

"We will accurately follow this law. The citizens need not worry. The city is "sick" now because of the large-scale preparation for the Olympiad but after 2014 things will go nice", Oleg Sheveiko assured.