Urban and Area Development

Encouraging residential construction, transforming industrial parks and developing educational and cultural centres: all plans that start on the drawing board but have to be translated into formal decisions. Moreover, these are plans that involve conflicting interests. The success of such a concept not only has far-reaching consequences for municipal politics or for the initiator, but also has a major impact on (local) society. The planning and environmental attorneys at Pels Rijcken deal with urban and area development on a daily basis and will help you navigate through the legal requirements and execute your projects quickly.

Urban and Area Development attorneys

For a project to succeed, every detail is important and great care must be taken when formulating and substantiating a proposal for a new zoning plan, its partial revision, or when applying for an integrated environmental permit. Thanks to their expertise and years of experience in urban and area development, our attorneys are familiar with the pitfalls involved and have finely-tuned political-administrative antennae.

Topics that often play a role in urban and area development include:

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
• Air quality and odours
• Traffic and parking
• Noise
• Sunlight and wind nuisance
• Nature/flora and fauna
• Water
• Land development/anterior agreement.

Our planning and environmental attorneys frequently work closely with colleagues specialised in other sectors, such as State aid, procurement and real estate law as well as issues concerning an owners’ association, purchase, rent, and long-term leasehold. This multidisciplinary approach enables Pels Rijcken to provide assistance – both in-depth and broad – in urban and area developments.

Make your project Council of State-proof

Pels Rijcken offers legal project management to make your projects, decisions and investigations Council of State-proof:

• The Blind Spots Check ensures that invisible loopholes in the decision-making process – assumptions made too easily, principles determined too quickly, and misplaced confidence – are detected in good time
• The Crash Test is used to test a draft decision from start to finish, before it is published.

Some of our recent work includes:

• Development of the Rijnsburgerblok in the station area of the municipality of Leiden
• Zoning plan for the Zalmhaven tower in the municipality of Rotterdam
• Zoning plan for the Logistiek Park Moerdijk industrial park
• Redevelopment of the shopping area in the municipality of Tilburg
• Zoning plan for the expansion of the Harnaschpolder industrial park
• Zoning amendment plan for the restructuring of the Bommelerwaard greenhouse agriculture area.

The team has also gained substantial experience with area developments realised pursuant to zoning plans with a broader scope under the Crisis and Recovery Act, such as:

• Redevelopment of the HEMbrugterrein in Zaanstad
• Redevelopment of the Binckhorst in The Hague