Limited Permission for 'Building Construction' in the Mid-Upper Basin of Gyeongancheon, Yongin

[Asia Economy (Yongin) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The construction of apartment complexes and buildings above a certain scale in the mid-upper basin areas of Gyeongan Stream, including Pogok and Mohyeon-eup in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, will be conditionally permitted until the end of this year.

Yongin City announced on the 10th that, with the first phase of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) water pollution management system ending this year, it will lift the development load allocation restrictions imposed on the mid-upper basin areas of Gyeongan Stream, part of the Han River watershed, allowing development corresponding to the remaining quota.

The TMDL system is a regulation by the Ministry of Environment that allocates pollutant discharge limits to local governments to manage water source quality. In the designated areas, development is conditionally permitted within the total pollutant limits.

Development load refers to the amount of pollutant discharge allocated by the Ministry of Environment to each watershed and local government for a specific management period to control total pollution.

In June 2013, the city was allocated a regional development load equivalent to approximately 42,000 apartment units, based on BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) of 210.2 kg and T-P (Total Phosphorus) of 18.8 kg, for three mid-upper basin zones of Gyeongan Stream.

The target zones are Gyeongan A (Pogok-eup, Yangji-myeon, Yeoksam, Jungang, Dongbu, Yurim-dong), Gyeongan A1 (Choburi, Galdam-ri, Maesan-ri, Ilsan-ri in Mohyeon-eup), and Gyeongan A2 (Osan-ri, Neungwon-ri, Dongnim-ri in Mohyeon-eup).

However, due to rapid development in these areas, the allocated quota was quickly exhausted, leading the city to announce in March 2019 restrictions on partial or full development in zones lacking sufficient regional development load.

The quota now being permitted corresponds to the volume from 21 projects that were previously approved but later canceled or had their plans changed and reclaimed, along with existing remaining quotas, equivalent to 2,800 apartment units.

The projects eligible for this quota include apartment complexes with 20 or more units and projects subject to environmental impact assessments and consultations. In Mohyeon-eup, buildings with a total floor area of 800㎡ or more are also included, and for lodging and food service businesses, those with a total floor area of 400㎡ or more are subject.

The city plans to allocate development quotas through consultations for apartment complexes and construction projects of factories and neighborhood living facilities seeking permits by the end of this year.

Among these, large-scale public housing will only be allocated quotas if the project has prior consultation regarding the possibility of inflow to public sewage treatment facilities.

Baek Gun-gi, Mayor of Yongin City, explained, "While we regulated development under the TMDL system to keep the water source used by 1.1 million Yongin citizens clean, we have decided to conditionally allow development to promote balanced development in the relatively underdeveloped Cheoin area."