Lawyers
Appeals within the planning and construction process
It’s the state’s job to make sure people live in peace and order in modern cities through a variety of tools. For instance, there are laws that limit the right to play loud music late at night, or businesses producing a lot of noise or waste are not permitted to operate within residential areas, and the principal tool used to regulate planning and construction within the boundaries of the modern and complex city is the planning and construction laws.
By Igal Mor, Adv. & Notary
Accuracy in Legal Advice. Excellence in legal support.
What is the planning and construction system?
The field of construction planning involves the regulation of various areas within the city, ensuring that the buildings are constructed in accordance with the law, and attempting to adjust the regulations concerning construction and the issuance of permits in order to ensure harmony throughout the entire city. This operation involves allocating and supervising the various areas in which people will be able to build, as well as ensuring that construction is integrated into the urban planning and is done in compliance with strict standards, including safety, preservation and stability, boundaries of plots, roads, and access roads.
Planning and construction laws in the State of Israel are governed by the Planning and Construction Law (5555 1965), which establishes a system of planning committees, defines their work and powers, and limits the number of licenses and approvals that may be issued by each committee. According to the law, a series of committees will be established in the State of Israel: a national committee, district committees, and local committees, whose role will be to examine the various areas according to their levels of responsibility (at the state level, district level, and city or area level, respectively) and determine how to proceed.
Those responsible for planning and construction supervise their work along two axes: proactive and reactive. A proactive approach by the planning and construction authorities is to publish “outline plans” which specify which buildings may be constructed in which part of the city and which are prohibited. These documents specify a variety of limitations that take into account issues such as air quality, environmental quality, sunlight, and the separation of residential areas from industrial areas.
A second axis of planning and construction is responding to public inquiries. Accordingly, if, for example, a certain person wishes to expand his yard or open a business in his house but the outline plan of the neighborhood prohibits such activities, he should contact the local committee for planning and construction (see below) and request that it change its plans or grant him authorization for non-standard use. Similarly, if, for example, an outline plan allocates an area for commercial activity adjacent to a school, it is the responsibility of the neighborhood residents to contact the relevant committee and request a change in the outline plan if they wish to prevent these two areas from being adjacent to each other.
Since in order to build a building, pave a road, open a balcony or add a parking lot, every person in the State of Israel must receive the approval of the municipality according to the outline plan published by the planning committee relevant to his area of residence, these plans are very important for professional construction entrepreneurs, contractors and even for private individuals who are interested to expand their house or prevent their neighbors from building additions or a multi-story tower.
However, what should a person do if his application to the planning and construction committee of his area of residence has been denied? Should he accept the violation of his rights and not just because of the committee’s decision?
The appeals committees
Among the most fundamental principles of modern law in democratic countries today is the rule of law. Under this principle, no government system is entitled to violate the rights of any individual except in accordance with the law. For the purpose of realizing this principle, as a default protection against arbitrary decisions by governmental bodies, any person in the State of Israel may petition the court against any decision that he or she believes violates his rights.
For reasons of efficiency, the legislator decided to include, as part of the planning and construction law, a “twin” system to the system of planning and construction committees – a system of appeal committees.
The Planning and Construction Law 5655 – 1965, Section 152
(1) Anyone who considers himself aggrieved by a local committee’s decision to refuse to issue a permit or reject an objection in accordance with section 149 (3) may appeal to the appeal committee within thirty days of receiving the decision.”
Professional appeals committees are tasked with examining and clarifying professional claims relating to planning and construction. Appeals committees are usually composed of members who participate in planning and construction committees of a “higher” level (primarily district appeals committees, though there is a national appeals committee for district planning committee decisions). It is their responsibility to examine whether the decisions of the planning and construction committee “under them” do not violate the residents’ rights in an unreasonable and proportionate manner.
There are district appeal committees within the Ministry of the Interior that handle appeals related to planning and construction.
In every district of the country, there are two types of appeal committees:
The Planning and Construction Appeals Committee functions as an appeals court for decisions made by the local Planning and Construction Committee regarding building plans, land designations, building permits, construction deviations, etc.
As a court for appealing decisions of the District Committee for Planning and Construction with respect to the improvement levy, the amount of the levy, and compensation to a property owner for damage to his property caused by the approval of any plan.
Note that appeals do not aim to enforce construction violations (if a neighbor built a balcony illegally, it is not the function of the appeals committee to deal with this issue). Therefore, only when a decision of the planning and construction committee violates the rights, it is appropriate to act and refer this matter to an appeals committee.
In Conclusion
There is a great deal of complexity involved in the laws concerning planning and construction, as well as the various rights that every resident has according to the outline plans.
Even when an appeal to the appeals committee is denied, the injured person or the person claiming a legitimate interest or right has the option of approaching the judicial courts by filing an administrative petition. In administrative matters, the doors of the court are open to the victim, and the court will hear the petition according to administrative law rules.
If you encountered a decision that violated your rights, we invite you to a legal consultation with a lawyer in our office, in order to examine the legal options available to you.
