'Bundang New Town Leading District Public Contest Guidelines Resident Briefing'
"Reconsideration of Resident Consent Rate Standard Excluding Commercial Building Consent Rate"
Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province has decided to reconsider the selection criteria for the first-generation new town reconstruction pilot districts. This decision comes amid repeated criticisms that complexes with a high proportion of commercial properties benefit unfairly because the commercial property consent rate was excluded when calculating the resident consent rate.
Kim Ki-hong, the chief planner (MP) for the Bundang New Town redevelopment, stated at the 'Bundang New Town Pilot District Public Guidelines Resident Briefing' held at Seongnam City Hall on the 29th, "Since there is controversy over the resident consent rate excluding the commercial property consent rate, we will review the criteria."
Residents flocked to the "Bundang New Town Pilot District Contest Guidelines Resident Briefing" held at Seongnam City Hall at 2 p.m. on the 29th. [Photo by Seungwook Park]
Reconsidering Criteria Amid Criticism Over Resident Consent Rate Excluding Commercial Property Consent Rate
At the briefing, there were numerous criticisms regarding the calculation of the resident consent rate excluding commercial property consent. Former Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byung-wook said, "Seongnam City recently decided to exclude the consent of commercial property owners when calculating the resident consent rate, leading to controversy that certain complexes have an advantage in being selected as pilot districts. Since including commercial property consent in the resident consent rate calculation has been a consistent principle applied for decades in reconstruction projects, Seongnam City must clearly explain the reasons for this change."
He added, "Pilot districts are meant to create a 'sample' for integrated reconstruction, but if controversy arises, the project will take longer, and other complexes planning integrated reconstruction will also be affected."
The Bundang Reconstruction Association also participated in the event and distributed press releases to residents warning that the exclusion of commercial property consent from the resident consent rate could cause setbacks in reconstruction projects. Conflicts with commercial property owners may arise in the future, potentially leading to project delays or difficulties in promoting integrated reconstruction.
Seongnam City announced on the 25th that the commercial property consent rate would not be included when calculating the resident consent rate in the Bundang New Town pilot district selection guidelines. As a minimum requirement for application eligibility, only 20% of commercial property consent is required.
On the 29th, a banner stating that the reconstruction agreement rate reached 85% was hung in an apartment complex in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province. [Photo by Seungwook Park]
According to this criterion, Yangji Village (Kumho, Cheonggu, Hanyang) in Sunae-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam City, has emerged as a strong candidate for the pilot district. Yangji Village, where five complexes are pursuing integrated reconstruction, has about 450 commercial properties, making it difficult to secure a high commercial property consent rate. However, with the recent announcement by Seongnam City reducing the burden of securing commercial property consent, controversy over fairness with other complexes has arisen.
Chief planner Kim said, "The pilot district selection is conducted through the municipality's own public guidelines, and if selected as a pilot district, the 'Act on Maintenance and Improvement of Urban Areas and Dwelling Conditions' (Urban Maintenance Act) standards (consent of more than 75% of landowners and more than 50% per building) must be applied for designation as a maintenance zone. Therefore, we judged that commercial property consent must be secured anyway." He added, "Since the controversy over the commercial property consent rate has grown, we plan to review the criteria."
Additional Public Contributions and Floor Area Ratio Also Face Criticism
There were also criticisms regarding the additional public contribution ratio. One resident said, "Among the pilot district evaluation criteria, there is an item for 'additional public contributions,' but the public contribution ratio was not clearly specified. If additional public contributions are required, the burden on residents will increase accordingly."
In response, Chief planner Kim said, "Up to 12,000 households will be selected as pilot districts, but since 50,000 households are preparing applications, some level of competition is inevitable. It will not be too late to assess the specific situation during the public inspection scheduled for August."
There was also a request to provide guidelines in advance regarding the pilot district floor area ratio and donation ratios. Park Si-sam, chairman of the Parktown Reconstruction Promotion Preparation Committee, said, "The donation ratio, the scale of contributions, and the floor area ratio increase are all interconnected. We assumed a floor area ratio of 350% during the construction project and set the donation ratio accordingly, but if the guideline floor area ratio comes out as 320%, the contribution scale will increase."
Chief planner Kim responded, "We have held over 200 resident meetings and heard many opinions. We will promptly take action after the collection process."
Seong Sang-jin, Mayor of Seongnam, is speaking at the 'Bundang New Town Leading District Contest Guidelines Resident Briefing' held at Seongnam City Hall on the 29th. [Photo by Park Seung-wook]
On the same day, Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin said, "We do not intend to apply the evaluation criteria announced on the 25th unconditionally. If reasonable criticism and opinions are presented through the briefing, we will review them."
He added, "Even if a district is not selected as a pilot district, I have discussed with Minister Park Sang-woo of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to ensure that reconstruction promotion selections are made annually. Even if a district fails to be selected this year, it can pursue reconstruction again next year."
The application period for the Bundang New Town pilot district is from September 23 to 27. Seongnam City will consult with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in October and select and announce the pilot districts in November. Selected complexes will apply for special maintenance zones in the first half of next year, be designated as special maintenance zones in the second half, and proceed with reconstruction projects.
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