Lawyers
Legal representation in the local planning and construction committee, District and appeal committees
Israel’s Planning and Construction Law requires a specific procedure for approving construction projects on its territory. In this section, we will examine the institutions responsible for approving construction projects as well as situations in which litigation is being pursued in response to objections from one of the planning stages.
By Igal Mor, Adv. & Notary
Accuracy in Legal Advice. Excellence in legal support.
What are the agencies responsible for issuing building permits?
Planning and Construction Law regulates a number of issues relating to construction and the powers of planning authorities. The law establishes the process for obtaining a building permit, prohibits construction that does not comply with its instructions, as well as provides financial sanctions, such as fines and even imprisonment for those who violate it.
According to the law, there are three levels of planning and construction committees. The local planning committeeis the lowest level of authority, followed by the district planning committee and finally the national planning committee.
Each of these committees has distinct powers and responsibilities. Consequently, the local committee is responsible for an area that overlaps the territory of one local authority, while the district committee is responsible for multiple cities or local authorities within its jurisdiction. As an example, the Haifa District Committee is responsible for both the city of Haifa as well as nearby settlements such as Hadera and Kiryat Ata. As the name implies, the national committee has jurisdiction over the entire country.
Powers of the Planning and Construction Committees
The local committee:
In the same manner as the planning and construction committees, the local committee is an official administrative body under the laws of administrative law. Therefore, the committee must act within the limits of its authority, make its decisions based on relevant considerations, and have a right to a hearing for affected applicants.
In accordance with the law, the local committee has the authority to grant a building permit subject to the city building plan (TBA) relevant to that area and to the planning and construction regulations of the Minister of the Interior. City building plans can be approved by the local committee, but some require the approval of the district committee, such as evacuation plans for buildings. In this situation, the local committee forwards the plans for approval to the district committee.
In most cases, the members of the committee are members of the city council, and sometimes the council’s head serves as the committee’s chairman. In light of this, the courts have interpreted the powers of the local committees narrowly as there is a constant fear of conflict of interest among committee members and damage to the public interest.
In the case of Shomron v. Mouna Hevera Livniin Ltd., the Supreme Court expressed suspicion about the actions of the local committees in P.M. 4095/05:
In contrast to planning institutions at the district and national levels that are composed of professionals and representatives from government ministries, the local planning and construction committees are dominated by elected members of the local authority council, who are responsible for governing and managing the local authority. (The local committee) is a body whose members are elected politicians, so they are subject to pressures from those with diverse local interests, to which elected officials are by nature indifferent.”
District committee:
As a matter of fact, this committee serves as the supervisor of the local committees in its jurisdiction. Among its powers are:
- To ensure that the local committees comply with the national plans issued by the national committee;
- The district committee decides whether to “deposit” plans approved by the local committee for public review and opposition. Upon receipt of the deposited plans, the district committee has the authority to approve or disapprove them in accordance with its plans and the law;
- From a local perspective, the district committee provides comments on national plans.
District Appeal Committee:
Appeals committees are quasi-judicial bodies that hear appeals against local committee decisions. Appeals committees are subcommittees of district committees.
Appeal against the decision of a local planning and construction committee
An applicant has the right to appeal to the appeals subcommittee if the local committee decides that it is against his interests. Members of this committee include attorneys and planning professionals such as architects, whose job it is to determine whether the local committee made its decision lawfully or whether it should withdraw its objections.
It should be noted that an appeal is not limited to situations in which the committee opposes the plan in its entirety, but can arise even in cases where the local committee accepted the plan with conditions. For example, a developer interested in building a 30-story tower requests a change to the IBA. There is a possibility that the local committee will approve the plan if conditions are met, such as only building a 25-story tower and requiring the contractor to build public spaces on his own dime. In this situation, the contractor can appeal against the imposition of these conditions even though the plans have been partially approved.
There are several types of appeal committees, including the appeal committee for planning and construction and the appeal committee for compensation and improvement levy:
- The Planning and Construction Appeals Committee reviews the decisions of the local authority regarding building permits, plot consolidation and division, and expropriation.
- As part of the Appeals Committee for Compensation and the Improvement Levy, appeals are discussed regarding the determinations of the local authority regarding the level of the improvement levy (which are within its authority) and on receiving compensation as provided for in Section 197 of the Planning and Construction Law.
It should be noted that after an appeal is filed, it must be verified that it has been submitted to the committee with substantial authority to consider it. In the absence of substantial authority, the committee will not discuss the request.
In the event a party is adversely affected by the decision of the appeals committee, he may petition the district court for administrative matters (which operates within the district courts) and have the matter handled as part of an administrative petition.
Appeals against administrative court decisions are subject to the permission of a Supreme Court judge and are heard in their entirety.
Legal representation in the planning and construction committees
Providing legal representation to planning committees and appeal committees is an integral part of lawyers’ work in the planning and construction fields as well as administrative law. As a matter of fact, the planning committees have discretionary powers and often parties are required to act and convince the committee or the appeals committee to accept the construction plan. It is even more important to be represented by a lawyer when discussing the application for a building permit as part of a large and complicated transaction.
As a matter of course, filing an appeal against a decision of a local committee is a distinct legal practice that requires the petitioner to have professional representation specializing in substantive law and legal procedures in order to achieve the desired outcome.
