The Committee for Planning and Construction in the discussion on the evacuation of the military base and the establishment of a neighborhood in its territory
Last night (Tuesday 14/12/2021) the local committee for planning and construction in the Haifa municipality met in order to vote on the project to establish a new residential neighborhood at the location of the military base in Stella Maris.
As part of the discussion, various issues related to the structure of the buildings, parking spaces, traffic routes, shopping centers, banks, attractions, schools, etc. were raised.
As I recall, a few weeks ago the committee was supposed to vote on the issue, but as reported in Hai Pa, only 4 council members came to the discussion, out of the 10 necessary to hold a vote. As a result, the meeting was adjourned and convened as mentioned, last night.
Broadcast of the Planning and Construction Committee 14/12/21 • Discussion of the plan to build a new neighborhood in Stella Maris - starting from the 27th minute | watch
Evacuation of the military base
Eli Darman, an architect at the Darman and Rebecca architecture office and the editor of the project, began by presenting the plan, according to which the air force base in Stella Maris, which is considered government territory, will be evacuated, with the bunkers there being adopted for the benefit of the residents. "The desire is to expose the base of the bunkers, to create a public space around it and a roof that will serve as an observation deck," said.
View of Haifa Bay
The neighborhood is planned to be built so that the view is towards Haifa Bay, between the slope of the bay and Tschernihovsky Street. In the front part, houses of 3-5 stories will be built and in the lower part buildings of up to 15 stories. In total, about 460 housing units are expected to be built.
Public park and commercial areas
The streets will be built along the lines of the topography, so that the public will be able to walk and spend time in them. In addition, a public park with a bicycle path, commercial areas and seating areas is planned.
At the end of the presentation of the program, a lively discussion began between the participants.
It is better to designate the area as a park for the general public
Moti Blitzblau of the Greens expressed opposition when he claimed that the plan creates a situation where only a few will enjoy the amazing and unique view that the area offers, while it is much better to establish a park there that will be used by the whole public and also preserve the natural urban landscape of Haifa, what's more, Haifa is not abundant with parks. This will provide a quality of life for the general public and will not be closed only for a few.
A school does not require a view
Victor Filarski from the Israel Land Authority raised another issue for the new neighborhood - the requirement of the city planning department to add a school of only 12 classes: "a school not in its usual meaning". According to Filarski, the building does not have to be inside the complex in order to give a beautiful view to the residential buildings.
"A school doesn't require a view," he said, "the students need to learn." It will be set up somewhere else, at the moment I don't have a place. A school does not have to be right in the compound.' It is important to note that in the initial position of the municipality, the city planning department waived the requirement.
Something that needs to be planned from the beginning
At the end of his remarks, the members of the committee were asked questions regarding the lack of a solution for finding a site to build a school. Zvika Barbie summarized the participants' objection: "A new neighborhood is good news for the city of Haifa, but you cannot establish a neighborhood and only then start looking for where the children will study." This should be produced at the beginning of the program.'
Yes to establishing a new neighborhood, no to poor planning
Council member Eli Ben Dayan and other council members also opposed the establishment of the new neighborhood following the submission of a plan "full of holes and lacking in the establishment of basic infrastructure such as an elementary school, maintenance of infrastructure in the Tscheranhovski axis, a solution for community services and more", according to them.
"We are waiting with anticipation to receive a ready and factual plan so that we can consider its feasibility.
We did not see proper planning of a neighborhood. We say yes to building a new neighborhood, not to poor planning.
To date, we have mostly received presentations costing tens of thousands of shekels and nothing more. The design presented could have created damage for generations. I am glad that the proposal finally came down for reconsideration. We members of the Likud faction will continue to support the provision of housing solutions and the improvement of infrastructure in the city," said Ben Dayan.
The vote was postponed
At the end of the discussion, it was decided to postpone the vote due to a number of significant issues that remained open, one of which is the issue of the location of a school in the neighborhood, when the committee asked to return it to the city planning department in order to examine this issue and other unresolved issues, in depth.
To the citizen of Haifa - it is a shame to introduce dark racism into every corner.
If it were Dubai, they would build two 50-story towers, 500 apartments and another 300 hotel rooms with an infinity pool on the roof where you can swim above all of Haifa. A huge park on the cliff with fountains. And thousands of tourists every evening in restaurants on the mountain promenade and an observation arm above Stella Maris for a selfie.
But this is Haifa. So get six-story blocks with bunkers for decoration and a small path at the end of an unnecessary street instead of a park
Maybe stop building in Haifa already? Leave some green spaces!? how sad! The place is lovely right now! A little air, a spectacular view... a little open space... please!
Destroying nature in Haifa for a handful of shekels, a well-known and problematic Ashkenazi Jewish behavior!! Money conquers all, too bad!!
As I wrote, extremely failed planning by the architects who scattered buildings in an absurd geometric manner in the area. The number of housing units must be increased from only 400 to 800. Cancel a low-rise building in front of the cliff to make room for a wide promenade, a school and sports facilities and a commercial strip of cafes on the promenade. The construction should be concentrated in the towers so that it will be more spacious and preserve views of the existing buildings on Tschernihovsky Street. Apartment towers will allow a view to every apartment in the neighborhood. and space the construction and give more area for a cliff park. The 15-25 story towers will easily contain 800 apartments with a spectacular two-way view of the sea. An internal street parallel to Tschernihovsky will connect the underground parking lots of each tower. That way there will be no roads and vehicles in the neighborhood. We must plan modern. The plan presented by the guides is the 80s. No more advanced principle was applied.