Zonevre expanding as a landscaper

As a landscaper you want to expand your business and go to the municipality to discuss what possibilities there are; the town planning department tells you that an expansion is not possible because your business is zoned. Then it is possible to use a planning attestation to make your business zoned and still expand.

Every plot of land in Flanders was assigned a particular zoning with the introduction of the regional plan in the late 1970s. Some examples are residential area, agricultural area, industrial area, nature area, and so on. Later the Special Plans of Construction (BPA) were introduced and today we speak of Spatial Implementation Plans (RUP). The purpose of these BPAs and SIPs is/was to update the outdated regional plans. However, these BPAs and SIPs do not cover all of Flanders; one often has to fall back on the regional plan to find out the destination of a plot of land.

Depending on that zoning, a business is zoned or zoned alien. Zone-owned means that the business is in the appropriate zone: a farm in agricultural area, a steel mill in industrial area, and so on. Examples of zone alien businesses include a local bakery in industrial area, but equally a landscaper in agricultural area. (As an aside, a common misconception is that people associate the word "zone alien" with "unlicensed. All the structures on a business site may be correctly licensed, yet the business may be zoned non-licensed). Specifically, landscapers are only zoned residential, craft and SME areas.

A business that today is located in the right zoning district, but wants to expand into zoned land, can - if its expansion needs do not exceed its spatial carrying capacity - use a planning certificate.

If the competent authority approves a planning certificate, it is obliged to draw up an SIP. The legislation stipulates that opinions on the starting note for the SIP must be requested no more than one year after a planning certificate is issued. In human terms, this means that the competent authority cannot disregard the procedure for starting an SIP.

Legislation

For a business to be eligible to apply for a planning certificate, one of these two conditions must be met:

- the company is subject to environmental permit or notification requirements;

- it involves a full-fledged agricultural or horticultural business.

Thus, to qualify as a garden landscaper, the company must be subject to environmental permit or notification requirements, since garden landscaping activities cannot be considered the activities of a full-fledged agricultural or horticultural company.

In order to apply for a planning certificate, it is essential that all structures are licensed or deemed licensed for normal operations, including function. These structures include not only the buildings on the site, but also paving, facilities (heating oil tank, compressors, ...).

The descriptive note

In order to apply for a planning certificate, a well-founded note must be prepared. The content of this note describes, on the one hand, the general operation of the business and, on the other hand, its spatial needs in the short and long term. It is important that the perpetuation of the function or the planned expansions do not exceed the carrying capacity of the surroundings. Good landscape integration also plays an important role in the assessment.

In addition, a document must be drawn up - and approved by Flanders - describing the environmental effects (on water, air, landscape, etc.) of the company on its surroundings. The situation before and after the granting of the planning certificate is mapped.

If the company qualifies for a planning certificate according to the legislation, the first step in the procedure is to make an appointment with the competent authority that will handle the application. After all, a planning certificate will not be started if there is no cooperation from the competent authority or if there is no chance of success.

Those who want to know if their farm is eligible for a planning certificate should contact a DLV advisor. This can be done via info@dlv.be or by calling the toll-free number 0800 90 910.