(live here) – A public participation conference on the construction of the planned hotel instead of the casino building in Bat Galim in Haifa was held on Wednesday 7/3/24 at 5:30 p.m. The conference was chaired by Sharit Golan, chairman of the subcommittee for planning and construction, together with Kirill Kartnik, a member of the city council who ran for mayor in the last elections, and with Ruthie Rapoport, director of the city planning department in the Haifa municipality, who presented the plan designed by the subcommittee of the local Haifa planning and construction committee.
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Finished plan
At the conference, a variety of maps and construction plans were presented for the complex where the developers are interested in building a hotel, on the coastline of the sea in Bat Galim. The presentation shows that this is a plan that has been worked on for a considerable time and is in very advanced stages.
Public participation conference (Photo: Aviv Nesher)
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Here are the highlights of the program:
- Restoration of the casino building and its designation for preservation, with strict instructions for restoration according to the original structure and conditions that guarantee the restoration.
- Changing the zoning of the area for the purpose of building a hotel with 110 rooms.
- Combining the development of the building with the urban development of the promenade planned along the Rosenfeld wharf.
- Opening the area of the former pool complex to the public, with an easement to pass through the building without fences. Creating a back promenade that connects to the beach without separating walls.
- Inclusion of a transformation station serving the Bat Galim neighborhood in the project complex.
- Preservation of open public spaces in accordance with the approved planning – 400 square meters of open public space.
During the conference, many objections were raised to the program itself as well as to the way the conference was delivered, whose stated purpose is public participation. It is evident that the residents were extremely upset. They presented a variety of questions throughout the conference. The organizers answered the questions at the end of the meeting.
Inbal Yodfat-Naman, an activist of the “Waves Environment” forum, told Lahi Fe:
On Wednesday, a meeting was held to inform the public regarding the casino plan, which was initiated by Sharit Golan, the chairman of the local planning and construction committee. She found in front of her a determined group of residents. We reminded her that despite the ownership gap between an area and a public institution that is in the private hands of a developer, this is no reason to turn the area for a hotel without receiving adequate compensation for the public. We talked regarding the importance and the planning tools with which the municipality can ensure that the beach remains open and accessible to the entire Haifa public.
We reminded her of her role as the gatekeeper of this public interest. The meeting lasted for three hours and it seems that we managed to convince Sarit, if not of the correctness of our arguments, at least that we will not allow this plan to move forward in the dark. At the end of the meeting, Sarit’s words sounded very encouraging to me, as a bystander, and I hope that the municipality will take the determined public that came and implement a real public participation procedure here.
Public participation conference (Photo: Aviv Nesher)
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Access to the beach is a charged issue
The main issue that concerns the residents is access to the beach. Residents fear that the coastline will be blocked by the planned tourism structure.
Ruthie Rapoport explained that according to the presented plan, the building does not completely block the coastline, because there are spaces between the hotel buildings that constitute access to the sea. Rapoport also added that there will be no fencing to the sea and there will be no fencing around the promenade in Bat Galim. Although Shruthi presented a variety of simulations in which the approaches to the beach might be seen, the opponents complain that there is no commitment in the plan’s instructions not to fence off the hotel area and that by the fact that the complex is operated as a private business, there is a reasonable fear that the operators will gradually block the approaches to the beach and create them only for hotel guests.
Public participation conference (Photo: Aviv Nesher)
“What regarding the residents?”
Many residents suggested that the conference does not really constitute public participation, but an announcement to the public. Residents who participated in the conference said during the discussion that the organizers of the conference did not really come open to a discussion involving the residents, but only to update them on the plan, on which the entrepreneurs worked for a long time and which is presented as a finished product.
Sarit Golan answered that the meeting is being held as part of a discussion by a professional team and also to start implementing planning processes that are conducted with public transparency.
Aki Flexer, a resident of Bat Galim said at the conference:
“This is a project that will significantly affect all the residents of the neighborhood as well as all the passers-by on the urban sea front on the Bat Galim Promenade. The conference is not a public sharing, which is the first time you are presenting this program that was made a long time ago. When a finished product is served, then it is not public participation, but a hearing for the residents of Bat Galim.’
One of the residents asked: “Why are you here?”
Golan replied: “For the sake of making the program accessible to the public. We are formulating a recommendation from the professionals and a reference to the plan, and legitimate requests have been made to hear the residents.’
Land designation
One of the main claims raised by the residents during the discussion is the desire to designate the area for other uses that serve a wide public (such as a community center, a municipal museum or cafes and restaurants) and not a hotel that only serves its guests.
Sharit Golan responded to this claim that there is a fundamental mistake in the residents’ understanding of who the land belongs to: “The plots designated for construction are privately owned. There is no possibility that the Haifa Municipality will purchase this plot from the developer and change its designation.”
The following progress of the process
Ruthie Rapoport stated that a follow-up meeting is planned in a month (August 2024) and Golan added that she believes in transparency and therefore they would like to continue holding public participation meetings.
Where is the vision of the municipality?
The residents claimed that it is not evident that the Haifa municipality has a vision for the casino gem and it is difficult to understand how the plan serves the planning concept of the Bat Galim neighborhood and its waterfront. The residents also claimed that in other municipalities the developer has to work hard to succeed in achieving his wishes, but in the current situation the municipality is not fighting for its residents and has no vision – how to turn the casino into the gem it is.
Where will hotel guests park?
The residents claim that if a hotel with 110 rooms is built, it will be necessary to allow parking for a large number of vehicles that will arrive at the hotel gates. Since the hotel stands on a drying area and there is sea water under it, it is not possible to dig an underground parking lot there. Since this is the case, the problem of parking in the entire promenade area, which is already busy, will greatly increase.
