2023-08-03 16:04:49
As the daily newspaper “Die Presse” reports in its Friday edition, the control body examined nine examples of zoning procedures between the years 2017 and 2021. The Court of Auditors criticizes the fact that the regional planning “due to the special position of Vienna as a state and municipality is not subject to any control by another authority”, reported the “Presse”. During the review period, the then Green city councilors Maria Vassilakou, Birgit Hebein and, from 2020, SPÖ city councilor Ulli Sima were responsible for the planning department.
According to the “Presse”, the Court of Auditors also encountered “politically sensitive” real estate transactions. For example, the city sold a property in the 22nd district to the (city-owned) Wien Holding for EUR 261,400. They resold the property on the same day for EUR 350,000, “which corresponds to an increase in value of around a third within one day”, according to the report, the Court of Auditors is surprised.
The city was informed regarding Wien Holding’s intention to sell and the price. Although the property was blocked from building at that time, two construction projects were approved in the following years and the zoning and development plan was changed. According to the report, the property was then sold in 2012 for 1.4 million euros before it was sold once more in 2018, this time for seven million euros, it said.
In another case, the city issued an expert opinion for the sale of a property in the 23rd district, according to which no revision of the zoning and development plan was planned in the short term. Which naturally lowered the selling price. “Not even a year following the sale, she began to work on the zoning plan,” criticized the Court of Auditors.
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