Ministries approve decision after years of legal battles

In 2019, André Schmit resigned as Mayor of Schieren following a dispute with the Ministries of Home Affairs and Environment over the municipality's new general development plan. At the end of last year, the administrative court ruled in his favour, and both ministries have now approved the requested changes. The reasoning behind this approval, however, appears somewhat peculiar.

At the end of March following a council meeting, former mayor André Schmit stated: “I just hope that the two ministers now responsible, Mr. Gloden and later Mr. Wilmes, will, with show some insight, approve the Schieren municipal council’s decision in line with the principle of local autonomy.”

During the meeting, the council unanimously voted to reclassify plots of land on Lehberg, including some owned by Schmit himself, as building land.

This reclassification had already been foreseen in 2018. At the time, however, the Interior Ministry vetoed the move and even threatened to reject the entire local development plan (PAG), arguing that it would lead to “tentacular development” of the locality. Schmit challenged the decision and won before the administrative court, which ruled in two separate judgments that the ministry had violated the principle of municipal autonomy by threatening to dismiss the entire PAG.

Now, both the Home Affairs and Environment Ministries have validated the Schieren municipal council's decision. As recently as January, the Interior Ministry had suggested the process could take another three to five years.

Upon being asked why the approval was granted now, officials referred to the administrative court’s judgments. When pressed on the fact that the court had ruled on procedure rather than substance, the ministry responded:
“Since there are already houses on the site, we decided to respect municipal autonomy and approved the council’s decision.” However, houses were already present on the site back in 2018.

The Environment Ministry gave a similar justification:

“The Ministry of Home Affairs, following rulings by the administrative court concerning the PAG procedure in Schieren, has ultimately approved the expansion of the building perimeter in order to bring this matter to a close after many years and to avoid further lengthy proceedings. The Environment Ministry aligned itself with this approach.”

The rulings of the administrative court, meanwhile, set a precedent reaching beyond Schieren. Since then, the Home Affairs Ministry can no longer reject entire PAGs outright, but only strike down specific provisions that do not follow the law.

At the same time, discussions are underway to simplify the procedures for both PAGs and detailed development plans (PAPs). Within this framework, the Home Affairs Ministry could also establish a legal basis allowing it to require municipalities to rectify votes when deemed necessary.