By-law changes a blow to property rights - civics

The City has given the public an extra month to comment on proposed changes to a by-law that regulates land use and development after drawing flak from civic groups that say they place developers’ commercial interests over residents’ rights to property, health, and safety.

The City published a draft of the revised Municipal Planning By-law (MPBL) in July giving the public two months to comment, but it has now pushed the deadline back to Friday October 25.

The revised by-law has been slammed by the Collective Ratepayers’ Association of the City of Cape Town (CRA), which represents the interests of 38 residents’ and ratepayers’ associations.

“The latest proposed amendments to the Municipal Planning By-law would appear to have been purposed to build legislative highways for developers to access unfettered opportunities that place developers’ commercial interests above those of local residents’ rights to property, health, and safety.

“These amendments allocate extraordinary power to the CoCT to permit development and similarly extraordinary power to developers, while undermining the ability of interested and affected parties to object, comment, and influence the future of their residential communities,” the CRA says in an open letter to mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

The letter calls for:

• An impact assessment study and socio-economic Impact assessments to be done.

• The City to adopt a mechanism for explaining how it has incorporated feedback from public participation processes into resultant by-laws.

• The City to rescind the additional use right of a second, third, and supplementary dwellings in inappropriate areas.

In response, the City said the ongoing public participation process complied with the statutory requirements of the Municipal Systems Act and it welcomed all comment and was willing to meet with concerned groups, such as the CRA.

“It is important to add that contrary to the CRA's assertions, the City gives feedback on the comments received during the commenting process. The public's comments, together with the City's remarks to these, are included in the report that will serve before Council when we submit the revised MPBL for final approval.

“Densification is a reality of our collective future, and of growing cities. The challenge is in finding the balance between protecting our natural and heritage resources, and meeting the needs of this growth in a sustainable manner that will ensure Cape Town is liveable and resilient to climate change shocks and other unforeseen challenges,” the City said.

“The latest census confirms major growth in Cape Town, with projections indicating our population may soon surpass five million.

“The City is preparing for this growth by addressing the legislative environment, among which the now revised draft Municipal Planning By-law; and through infrastructure development to meet the demands of our growing population, and to provide for the impact of densification. We will be spending R120 billion over the next 10 years in expanding infrastructure to secure potable water provision; dealing with waste water treatment; and so forth.”

CRA spokesperson Bridgette Lloyd said they were grateful to the City for responding to the open letter and prepared to work with the mayor.

“We have reached out to the mayor’s immediate team to schedule this meeting as a matter of urgency.

“As a collective, the CRA is well aware of the difficult task the City faces with a consistently increasing city population. The primary aim of the CRA remains a strong and meaningful public participation process.

“The by-law amendments will impact every resident directly. They will allow for four dwellings on any erf or 12 apartments on erven in a large group of pilot areas. Should the City continue to allow sectional title as a substitute for sub-division (ie, de-facto sub-division), with no public participation, then property owners can build, rent out, and/or sell these individual houses or flats with no public notification to or involvement from neighbours, communities, associations, or other affected persons.

“Unless it is necessary to request a departure, there is no public participation process available to interested and affected parties, and no appeal process available to them in the event of a disputed outcome. They are left with no option but to directly approach the courts.”

The CRA said the City might claim that its public participation process fully complied with the statutory requirements of the Municipal Systems Act, but its “approach falls short in light of the potential constitutional implications of the 2024 changes to the Municipal Planning By-Law. These amendments could infringe upon the constitutional rights of residents, necessitating a more comprehensive and inclusive public participation process.”

The CRA said the City had made extensive documentation available to help the public understand the changes to the MPBL, but “the value of these summaries is questionable in helping the public to grasp the impact and implications of the proposed changes”.

It also noted that the City had not responded to requests for an impact assessment.

“When constitutional rights are potentially affected, and given the scale and nature of the impacts inherent in the proposed amendments, it is difficult to justify the City's refusal to conduct an impact assessment or to share the results of those that have already been performed.”

Details of upcoming meetings:

• An in-person public meeting will be held on Tuesday October 8, at 6pm, in the Cape Town Civic Council Chambers. To attend, email a request to lums@capetown.gov.za for registration purposes.

• An online meeting will be held on Thursday October 10, at 5pm. To attend, send an email request to lums@capetown.gov.za for registration purposes.

• Individual meetings will be arranged on request from representative groups. Send an email request to lums@capetown.gov.za.

The new closing date for comments is midnight on Friday October 25.