The Holon H-500 Information Arena

1. What planning proceedings are necessary, after final approval of the H-500 scheme, for it to be possible to build on the land?

 

In order to obtain building permits within the boundaries of the H-500 scheme the following proceedings will be necessary –

 

(1) The preparation of a scheme that will include the partition of the area of the H-500 scheme into several domains for consolidation and partition or the preparation of such a partition plan ("the domains scheme"). The domains scheme will prescribe the apportionment of building rights between the different domains, the conditions for realising the rights in each domain and also provisions for implementing the consolidation and partition. The domains scheme will also prescribe the area of the park that will be included in the various different detailed plans, with reference to the part of the park located in each domain, provided that complete development of the whole park is ensured.

 

(2) The preparation of detailed plans for each of the domains (six domains are expected), which will also include consolidation and partition proceedings. The detailed plans will delineate the various different plots within the boundaries of each plan.

 

(3) The preparation by the scheme appraiser of balancing and allotment tables in order to balance the rights of the various different owners in each domain and define the allotment of the rights in each of the building plots.

 

It should be emphasised that the H-500 scheme is a local outline plan by virtue of which building permits cannot be issued. After its approval it will be necessary to prepare a series of detailed plans – one for each domain. It is expected that the different detailed plans will be prepared at the same time by several different planning teams. It is also to be expected that the domains scheme will determine the order of developing and realising the various different domains, as has been customary in the case of other outline schemes in recent years, both because of the need for transparency in the activity of the administrative authority and in order to create certainty in the market and avoid speculation and the leak of inside information in respect of the first domain in which the development work will begin.

 

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2. What type of construction does the scheme propose?

 

The scheme proposes a range of negotiable uses and different types of construction, as follows –

 

• 1,300 low-rise dwelling units

 

• 12,400 high-rise dwelling units, of which 2,000 are small dwelling units (80 m² each, including safe room) for eligible persons.

 

• 930,000 m² (principal area) for employment of various types, including commercial and multipurpose zoning.

 

The scheme appraiser will determine the ratio of value between the different types of construction that will be applied in allotting the rights, given the new position.

 

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3. What are the scheme domains and how and when will they be determined?

 

The H-500 scheme is an extensive one that extends over 4,080 dunams and it contains provisions for supplementary detailed planning of each of the domains that will be defined in the scope of a partition scheme or plan. The determination of a domains scheme will be a condition for the preparation of detailed plans in respect of each of the domains. When the domains scheme is approved, every owner of rights will be able to know the planning domain in which he will obtain an allotment in the scope of the balancing tables that will be prepared for each domain.

 

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4. How will the park be developed?

 

The park constitutes a public mission of prime importance that is being promoted by the H-500 scheme. It is a site of approximately 1,000 dunams of natural sand dunes – one of the last such sites in Gush Dan. The site is an "ecological island" that provides a sanctuary for hundreds of different types of plant and animal, including rare protected species. The present location of the park was laid down back in the Tel Aviv district outline planning scheme (DOS 5) because of the restraints deriving from the flight paths over the park. In the scope of oppositions, the district planning and building committee increased the size of the preserved heart of the park at the expense of areas that had been zoned for future planning in the event that there is a future change to the Ben Gurion Airport flight paths. The park will be developed in accordance with the design of a landscape architect and will include provision for the park's development in stages.

 

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5. How is the appraiser's work of preparing the balancing tables likely to be done?

 

The appraiser has been involved in the planning work since the initial preparation of the H-500 scheme. The more significant work will find expression on determination of the different planning domains and the domain boundaries. The appraiser should initially determine the apportionment of the total negotiable rights (residential, commercial and employment) between the different domains depending on the size of the area to be included in each domain and in accordance with customary appraisal parameters. The total rights in each domain will serve as the source for the allotment of rights to the owners of the parcels in the domain. The rights in each domain will be apportioned in order to effect a balance between the different domains, having regard to the different types of construction prescribed in each domain. To that end, the appraiser will determine coefficients of relative value for the incoming parcels in accordance with the previous planning position and coefficients of relative value for each of the types of construction in accordance with the new position. In the second stage, a separate balancing table will be made for each of the domains in order to balance the allotment of rights between the different owners in the same domain.

 

It should be explained that "additional rights" will be allotted in some of the domains over and above the initial allotment that the domain is entitled to obtain from an additional allotment of the 800 dwelling units that are intended to compensate the clearance of squatters and nuisances and the owners of rights in Givat Holon and Moledet who will have to vacate their homes. That allotment will augment the owners' rights in the particular domain and will not be at their expense.

 

The balancing tables will be made public at the stage of deposit since they form part of the domains scheme and detailed plans. Publication is intended to make them available for review by the rights owners, so that oppositions to the balancing tables can be filed and heard by the district planning and building committee and its advisers.

 

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6. At the present stage before the detailed planning, how can one know what rights will be allotted in consideration for a parcel of land within the boundaries of the scheme?

 

Generally speaking, it cannot be known with certainty before publication of the balancing tables what rights will be allotted for a specific parcel (high-rise or low-rise construction or employment). The scheme appraiser has extensive discretion to make the allotment, subject to professional considerations. It should be explained that the majority of the parcels in fact fall in the area of public space according to the previous planning position (Amendment no. 3) but they will nevertheless obtain a negotiable allotment in the scope of the P-500 scheme.

 

From past experience of detailed plans for the construction of Kiryat Ben Gurion (H-266), Kiryat Rabin (H-370), Kiryat Ayalon (H-300) and the Towers Boulevard domain (H-501), all the owners of rights obtained an allotment in accordance with the area of the parcels, regardless of the zoning fixed in the previous planning (Amendment no. 3). That is to say that anyone whose parcel is zoned for the park, a street or any other public designation in Amendment no. 3 is likely to obtain an allotment similar to that of the owner of a parcel that is zoned for residential or employment purposes. There are of course other factors that might affect the allotment (such as location – the proximity to built-up areas, or any other factor that the scheme appraiser deems fit). It is advisable for the landowners to avail themselves of the services of a real estate appraiser when the balancing tables are published in order to ensure that the allotment that they obtain is not disadvantageous.

 

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7. Which domain is likely to be planned first and how will the order of planning and development be determined?

 

At the moment the H-500 scheme does not prescribe which domain will be planned first or the order in which the development work will be done. It is quite possible that the detailed plans for the different domains will be arranged by several planning teams working at the same time. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the Municipality will do the development work randomly in so large a planning scheme in the order in which the permit applications are filed.

 

In recent years the trend has been to specify the development work performance stages in the planning documents in order to increase the transparency of the planning proceedings and avoid the dissemination of speculative information. It is to be expected that provisions on the development stages will be an integral part of the domains scheme. Publication of this is of great importance because it will affect the prices of plots (the most available domain will become the most expensive) and it will therefore also have a direct impact on the betterment levy that will be charged.

 

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8. Does the H-500 planning scheme involve betterment? What is the likely betterment levy after its approval?

 

The matter of betterment levy is subject to constant change (both in legislation and through the courts). It cannot be known what approach the Holon local planning and building committee will adopt in respect of the betterment issue deriving from the H-500 scheme. Only time will tell.

 

What can be said generally at this stage is –

 

• The betterment must be measured between two planning positions: the previous position (Amendment no. 3) and the new position (the H-500 scheme). The comparison must be made specifically in respect of each parcel.

 

• Both plans – Amendment no. 3 and the H-500 scheme – are outline planning schemes. That is to say that they have both prescribed that it is necessary to prepare detailed plans in order to proceed with construction.

 

• It is difficult to see clearly how the H-500 scheme increases availability in comparison with the previous planning position because several detailed plans that included allotment and balancing tables were prepared in the past merely by virtue of Amendment no. 3. That is to say that the Amendment no. 3 outline scheme alone (without the need for another outline scheme) sufficed for the preparation of detailed plans for the construction of new neighbourhoods in South Holon.

 

• The H-500 scheme does not alter the key for the allotment of rights that was prescribed in the previous scheme (Amendment no. 3).

 

• The H-500 scheme provides that for the preparation of the balancing tables in the detailed planning, the previous planning position (Amendment no. 3) will be treated as the originating position (the entry position) for the apportionment of rights.

 

• It is therefore possible that the Holon local planning and building committee will adopt an approach according to which betterment levy will not be charged by reason of the approval of the H-500 scheme and the betterment levy charge will be deferred until such time as the detailed plans are approved and the balancing tables are published.