Illegal buildings outside the building zones should no longer be demolished if they are more than 30 years old. The National Council wants this. On Thursday, he approved a supplementary resolution to the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy (Eurek-N) Commission.

A majority of the Primary Advisory Commission abstained by one vote to 92 against 84. The project is going to the Council of States.

2000 Rustic Betrofen

Spokesmen argue that the rule of such limitations already applies to buildings in the building sector. They also cited a 2021 federal court ruling that required the demolition of buildings at a depot in the agricultural area of ​​Lucerne Municipality. Permanent implementation of the judge’s decision will result in uncontrollable effort on the part of the cantons and municipalities, they criticize.

Commission spokesman Mike Egger (SVP / SG) said the federal court’s decision would affect about 2,000 trustees in Ticino alone. There is a danger of dictatorship. This is because it will be difficult to document all cases nationwide.

Do not punish those who obey the law

The Federal Council and a minority of the Commission have taken the position that the implementation of the resolution would be detrimental to law abiding people. In addition, illegal construction outside the building areas is more serious than the area intended for construction, and the interest in restoring the legal condition is large accordingly.

Ursula Schneider (SP / FR) said the federal court’s decision was not about small buildings serving agriculture. Demolition of historic buildings that were once legally built and are now outside the construction area due to changes in plans is also not targeted.

According to Schneider Schüttel, the separation of building and non-building areas is the basic principle of spatial planning. This helps agriculture and ensures that enough land is available.

The fight against illegal construction

Environment Minister Simonetta Somaruga said the fight against illegal construction was a difficult one. Implementing the resolution increases the workload of the authorities, as it is necessary to specify the condition of a building three decades ago.

The question of whether the project will affect buildings that once issued building permits incorrectly has caused some debate. In this case, Somaruga stressed that the move was a clear reference to illegally constructed buildings.