Alexander Dybin, St. Petersburg
The law on the integrated development of territories was adopted by the Parliament of St. Petersburg at the last meeting before the holidays. The document provides for the allocation to developers of plots with Soviet buildings from 1957 to 1970 for demolition. Residents will receive new housing or monetary compensation in return. Several opposition deputies voted against the law, but their votes were not enough to send the document for revision.
There are several complaints about the new renovation format. Firstly, residents can be relocated from inhabited areas to the outskirts of the city. There are simply no restrictions on the choice of compensatory housing, where the developer wants, he will relocate there.
Secondly, the procedure for getting into the Integrated development of territories is not as transparent as possible. The authorities issue a decree on the creation of a territory for integrated development, and residents have 90 days to convene a general meeting of home owners and vote for or against resettlement. To exit the program, you need at least a third of the votes of the owners. If the residents do not see their order in time, if they do not have time to hold a meeting or do not get the required number of votes, the house will be demolished.
Despite the fact that the law on CRT was practically not discussed in parliament, it was not announced, it was not taken to pieces, there was no public or media discussion, this topic literally captured the public space of the city. Petersburgers living in areas potentially subject to the Integrated development of territories, in just a week, united in chat rooms of opponents. There are more than 3,600 people in the citywide chat, there are already more than 90 chats at home. According to the head of the municipality No. 72, Pavel Shvets, the total number of people in all groups has exceeded 10,000.
“There are a lot of questions on CRT, I personally have about 30 of them, I intend to ask them to Governor Alexander Beglov and Speaker of the Saks Alexander Belsky”, - the source says, - “while in my municipality almost all houses fall under the program. Every day people call with questions. When and by whom will a decision be made, which quarters and how will be included in the KRT? How will the cost for compensation be formed, rumors have already begun that from the cadastre, and if from the market price, then what is the price of a house sentenced to demolition? It will not turn out that a person will move from a three-ruble note to a one-room apartment, because the price is the same? How now to sell these apartments, which could potentially be demolished? It's like a collapse of shares, in a second the price fell, the apartments depreciated. What will happen to mortgages, social rent?
In numerous chats, people find neighbors, discuss who will monitor the city government website, where resolutions should be published, someone collects signatures under an appeal to the Sachs deputies to amend the law, someone prepares leaflets with explanations for neighbors who do not sit in messengers.
According to the deputy of the legislative assembly of St. Petersburg Boris Vishnevsky, there is nothing surprising in such a quick reaction of society to the law on "renovation" is not. If the project is launched, it will break the habitual way of life of a huge number of people. According to Vishnevsky, up to a million people live in the "Khrushchev's era buildings" areas.
“People are extremely worried, the law is unacceptable, according to it a person can be relocated anywhere, houses can be demolished regardless of their technical condition, while it is difficult for people to protect themselves from this danger,” the deputy says. - The fact that people quickly organized themselves is completely normal, they have a real threat of losing their homes and their usual way of life. To be relocated from cozy, green, comfortable quarters where everything is available: metro, transport, parks, shops, hospitals, schools. People always react more sharply to this than to election violations, bans on rallies, and much more. And I think it's good that they are united. I had a meeting with activists of the Moscow region, but people from Chernaya Rechka and Okhta came there. We have developed a specific plan of action".
According to activists, Plan A involves an attempt to amend the law and fix the obligation of the developer to provide housing in the same area or even municipality. In addition, an amendment will be proposed that prohibits the demolition of houses with wear and tear of less than 70%, that is, really old and problematic houses on the verge of dilapidation will be able to get into the Integrated development of territories. Plan B involves solving the problem of each house individually, for this it is necessary to organize with neighbors, “catch” the resolution and vote against it in due time.
“It is very important that people unite with other houses”, - says Vishnevsky, “if one house breaks out and the next one doesn’t, then the residents of the broken house have a risk of living at a construction site for several years and getting a 30-story high-rise as a neighbor. The law is drafted in such a way that in the Integrated development of territories zone the developer can ignore urban planning documents, such as the general plan, building and planning rules”.
The head of municipality No. 72, Pavel Shvets, notes that the law has launched an interesting process in urban society. People began to get acquainted, self-organization appeared.
“Before, this simply didn’t happen, usually people in new LCDs quickly organize chats, discuss common problems and questions,” the deputy says, “there is no such thing in the old fund, because life is debugged. I am even grateful to the city authorities for this. The law led to the self-organization of people, this will help them interact with management companies, and the same authorities. This is a good consequence of a bad law. All this grew in just a week. People themselves make leaflets, distribute among elderly neighbors. I think that there will be even more dissatisfied with the topic of CRT, because it does not bode well. I think the authorities also understand this, since no one publicly advocates for the law. Usually the authorities accept something and begin to convince people that this is good, they show beautiful pictures, opinion leaders, deputies speak, and then there is silence. Everything is done in the interests of the construction lobby. If you look at the federal law, then the word "citizen" is not there at all. The goal is to ensure the number of new housing units. The Ministry of Construction gives indicators, for St. Petersburg it is 3.5 million square meters per year. And the city must provide them to have a good rating. There are fewer and fewer opportunities for such construction: either satellite towns or construction on the site of industrial zones. Or you can stimulate demand for housing in this way: relocate some people outside the ring road and start building 30-story houses in areas with good infrastructure”.
Novye Izvestia's interlocutors believe that the first specifics on the sites allocated for Integrated development of territories may not appear until next year, because not all the mechanisms have been spelled out yet. At the same time, municipal elections are expected in St. Petersburg in 2024. On the topic of "renovation" new leaders can grow up, who will go to the deputies on the wave of dissatisfaction with the resettlement.
“The opposition in the city is crushed, many have left, and the law has stirred up people. I see such district leaders who are ready to invest their efforts in defending their homes, there are local activists”, - Pavel Shvets concluded.