THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE LAND

The PGOU is the most transcendent decision in the social, political and economic life of a municipality, considering that it is conceived to be in force for a long-lasting period, contains the basic framework for what is considered necessary for the Town in the future (infrastructure, utilities, green areas, protected areas…) regulating its future growth, and finally, because the PGOU classifies all the municipal territory in accordance with three basic types of land (urban land, developable land and non developable land) and therefore determines the rights and obligations of the owners of the land.

Because of all these reasons, the drawing up of the Plan is of great importance and therefore the Law establishes a series of procedures to control its elaboration (as seen in our precedent articles, the approval of a Plan is preceded by certain procedures that aim to resolve the legal claims of the owners of the affected properties – such as for example, the Public Information of the Plan for the period of one month, during which those interested parties can present objections). The great incidence that the planning classification and qualification of the land has in connection with the ownership of the land implies that the PGOU is a constant source of economic and social pressure and tensions.

Due to the fact that the classification of the land generates potential gains -betterments- and losses-planning charges or expropriation- for the owners of the properties involved, the Spanish Planning Legislation has as a basic rule that the area suitable to eventually be built on and the costs of the development of that area must be divided between the property owners in accordance with an arithmetical proportion to the amount of land owned by each and every land holder. This principle, known as the “equal distribution of benefits-betterments- and costs-charges- of the development”, was fully incorporated into the Valencian LRAU (Basic planning development act), and will be reinforced in the new –still a draft- Valencian Planning Law.

The Classification of the Land

The classification of the land is one of the fundamental issues dealt with by the General Plan as, in principle, it determines the rights and obligations of its owners. The majority of the objections made concerning the General Plan are made with respect to this matter.

The classification of the land depends entirely on the guidelines provided by the Plan which is the only instrument that can carry out this function. The whole of the municipality must be included within one of the three possible classifications of the land; this means that there can be no plot or property that is not classified in one way r another.

Although the classification of the land is ultimately an act of the political wishes of the municipality, subject to a series of legal requirements, it is also the expression of the choice of a certain model of town and structure of the land within the boundaries of the municipality.

The classification of the land is established in accordance with the projected structure and execution of the PGOU. Whether the development of the land is programmed by means of “Actuaciones Aisladas” the classification of the land will be defined as urban. If the development of the land is programmed by means of “Actuaciones Integradas” the land will be classified as developable. The choice between one or the other mechanisms of development is made in accordance with the pre-existing degree of development of the land. If the area already has a series of planning utilities, either partly or wholly, and already has a network of existing roads or roads contemplated by the plan, the land will be classified as urban and will be developed by means of “actuaciones aisladas”. If, however, there is no type of infrastructure or if the there is an inadequate or insufficient infrastructure, the land will be classified as developable and therefore will be developed by means of “Actuaciones Integradas”.

The element or utilities that define the degree of urbanisation of a certain piece of land are the following:

1.- Access to the sector of land in question by means of a surfaced public road.

2.- Supply of drinking water and electricity sufficient for the purposes of the foreseeable building on the sector.

3.- Sufficient provision of sewerage to the main network, although the Plan can authorise septic tanks in exceptional circumstances and under the adequate conditions for areas of a low degree of density of building.

4.- Pedestrian access, say, the existence of pavements and street lighting in at least one of the roads that borders the plot. At the same time the area of land must comply with the technical requirements established by the General Plan (for example, it would not be sufficient to light a street by means of above-ground cables if the plan required a subterranean system of lighting cables, or to make a road with a width of six metres when the Plan made provision for a road of a minimum width of eight metres).

Urban Land Classification.

Urban land is, in principle, the land that does not need prior development due to the fact that it is already completely developed in accordance with the development rules stipulated in the General Plan. Therefore it could be an area of perfectly developed land that had not been built on or, alternatively, an area of land that has been “consolidated” by having already been built on, but lacked a particular planning requirement (for example pavement, street lighting…). This is only a general principle as the General Plan can also classify plots of land that are not completely developed but that have certain required elements and that can be wholly developed by means of the previously mentioned “Actuaciones Aisladas” - that is, by means of certain particular development acts that can be carried out by the owner of the plot in question.

“Actuación Aislada” is the applicable development instrument to convert one particular plot into a building plot -“solar”-. The development required can be carried out simultaneously to the construction of the house or building on the plot connecting the plot to the existing infrastructure network and those existing and immediate utilities.

The ultimate aim is to assure the quality and homogeneity of the development works. This would be difficult to guarantee if the development was carried out in small stages. In an extreme case, such as the case of a street in which each “Actuación Aislada” develops the plot with the road bordering its boundaries connecting it to the neighbouring infrastructure, this would be theoretically possible but would not give the desired result.

Developable Land Classification

This classification comprises those sectors of land that do not already possess the planning elements that we defined above and that the General Plan has decided are suitable to be developed by means of an “Actuación Integrada”. The actual development of this type of land can be directly regulated by the Plan itself (defining the layout of the roads, designating the green belt areas……..) or by means of what is called a “Plan Parcial” which forms part of a “Actuación Integrada”.

It is the “Actuación Integrada” that effectively defines the potential building of the land. Until the development program is approved, there is no means of proceeding to develop the land and therefore it maintains the same limitations as non developable land.

“Actuación Integrada” is the public program for the joint development of two or more individual plots. The content of the Actuación Integrada consists of the programmed procedure for the development of the plots, the definition of the developments that are needed to be executed, defining the periods within which the development has to be completed, the physical area comprised within the program, the agent responsible for the urbanisation, and finally the technical and economic criteria applicable cost of the development, valuation of the land,…..).

Non Developable Land Classification

In this matter there is applicable the new Law of the Non Developable Land, Nº 10/2004, in force since December 17, 2004.

The Non Developable Land is that one in wich it is not possible to destine to other different uses than the agricultural, forest, and, in general, those linked to the rational use of the natural resources. Only, as exception to the general rule of unedificability of the rural land, the law admits possible uses, whenever they are strictly necessary. Its preservation is narrowly linked to the environmental protection.

The law, with an integral perspective of the territory planification, considers that there are presents in the territory certain factors that prevent this one from being developable. If the considered territory has some of the risks, values or natural elements worthy for preservation, the Town Planner must classify it as Non Developable Land, in a context of tidy and balanced development of the territory. To such an end the law distinguishes two categories of Non Developable Land, the Protected and the Common , according to the grade of preservation of the land and limitative regime established for its use.

In the Protected Non Developable Land there is included that land in which exist important risks, or is submitted to some regime of protection incompatible with its transformation, as well as those lands that have natural or landscape values which restoration, conservation or maintenance is convenient to the Local Public Good.

On the other hand, the Common Non Developable Land includes the rustical areas that the general planning considers that must be preserved of possible transformation, until, in accordance with the limitations established by the strategy of occupation of the territory, there are fulfilled the conditions foreseen for its possible incorporation to the urban development. In this category of land there will be authorized only those isolated developments of character that are compatible with the preservation of the rural areas.

As for the Previous Authorization, the law introduces an important transfer of competences in favor of the municipalities and, in consequence, helps to extend the frame of the autonomy that these have constitutionally guaranteed. In particular, the building of single-family housing isolated in the rural area, are now directly authorized by the Town Council, and therefore, the Previous Authorization of the Valencian Government is not needed anymore.