(haipo) – The Haifa District Planning and Building Committee discussed the Lincoln Slope – Tel Aharon plan in Haifa. During a lengthy meeting held on Monday, January 20, 2025, committee members decided to tour the area relevant to the plan, and to ask the developer to complete an environmental document andבHenna הFallen leaves תGroup (Bahat), before a final decision is made regarding its deposit.
The plan is an initiative of the Haifa Municipality, with the area being privately owned. The plan proposes a new residential neighborhood, consisting of approximately 2,850 units, in an area where approved building plans exist from the Mandate period and is designated for residential use according to the local outline plan, Haifa/2000.
Let's start from the end – the decision made in the discussion (quote from the minutes):
After the committee heard the comments of the plan's editors, the local committee that is presenting the plan, the comments of the committee members, land rights holders, and the comments of residents in its vicinity as detailed during the discussion above, the committee decides to re-discuss the deposit of the plan after conducting a tour of the area by the committee members.
Until a date is set for further discussion of the plan, additions and adjustments will be made with regard to the issues raised during the discussion, which will be presented and detailed in the next discussion. Among other things, materials will be completed on the following topics:
- Environment: Completion of the environmental annex and its transfer to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
- Traffic: Completion of the transfer of materials on the subject of transportation and contacting the Ministry of Transportation to receive instructions regarding the preparation of a traffic plan.
- Sewerage: Transferring a reference to the issue of a final solution for sewage from the neighborhood to the Ministry of Health.
- Drainage: Completion of missing information in the drainage appendix, such as regarding the location of drainage outlets and examining their impact on the wadis.
Minutes – Lincoln Uprising – Haifa – District Committee Decision Document – 20.1.2025
Reservations that arose during the discussion
During the meeting, several reservations were expressed about the plan. Among the opponents were the Green Mountain organization, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Agriculture, along with other parties. Architect and former deputy mayor Shmuel Gelbhart presented his position and said that the time has come for the District Planning Committee to take the initiative.
And hold a comprehensive discussion on the entire city of Haifa, and not just focus on individual plans one after the other. He explained that the bulk of the construction in the city should be moved to the Haifa area, the bay, as can also be seen in Tel Aviv. In today's discussion, the Society for the Protection of Nature and other committee members requested that the environmental and transportation tests be completed, that alternatives be examined, and that the committee members tour the plan area before making a decision on deposit.
"Someone needs to tidy up"
Lior Apt, an economist and urban planner from the "Green Mountain" organization, referred to the prioritization of plans in the municipality and said: "The municipality is advancing a process of urban renewal and building projects in open areas, but it is important to understand that there is no demand for all the offerings. The result may be empty neighborhoods. At the same time, projects are being approved within the old neighborhoods and the construction of new neighborhoods, without asking whether there will be enough people to come and buy all the housing units. It is clear that it is easier for contractors to build in an empty place than to carry out evacuation-construction projects, which require much more of them, but municipal interests must also be taken into account.
We are very concerned that new residential buildings will remain unoccupied, which could lead to empty areas. It is important to prioritize the projects so that they contribute to residents and urban growth. Currently, there seems to be no organized prioritization, and the municipality is planning plans that will double the number of housing units in the city. Someone needs to sort things out and ask who will live in all these apartments. Another point that needs to be taken into account is that the existing rights are for a maximum of 1,000 units and there is no reason to increase them, but rather to move them to preserve the wadis."
"The southern entrance to the city will become one big quarry"
Noa Belter, a landscape architect and urban planner from the Green Mountain organization, noted that the city's front area is expected to become a quarry in the coming decades if the plan is accepted. "It is important to understand the true meaning of the plan we are talking about. The mountain will be dug up, and the entire area will be hewn. The southern entrance to the city will become one big quarry. The residents of Ahuza will breathe this air, and then the construction will remain on the entire mountain. This is a destructive plan, which will damage 700 dunams of natural and valuable forest, cut down about 4,000 trees unnecessarily, and turn Haifa's iconic entrance into an open wound on Mount Carmel. Furthermore, the plan will not solve the problem of the trapped neighborhood of Ahuza West, but will burden the exit from Smolenskin with another 2,500 units."
It should be noted that before the plan reached the district committee, it also passed through the local committee. In November of last year, the local committee plenum supported the submission of the "Lincoln Rebels" plan by a majority of 14 committee members who were in favor, against 3 opponents. The discussion of the plan was particularly heated, and included references to the complexity and the expected consequences if the plan was not approved.
"The plan will harm the city's unique landscape and ecology"
According to the Society for the Protection of Nature, the plan harms ecological corridors and disrupts the ecological continuity. "The area is a 'gateway' to the city of Haifa and has unique scenic qualities," said Society for the Protection of Nature representative Shahar Mat. "The plan will require extensive quarrying and large retaining walls, which will change the original landscape of the Carmel Ridge beyond recognition. In the Society for the Protection of Nature's position, this is a plan that harms the unique landscape and ecology of the city, and the residents of Haifa, without any planning justification, in light of the many plans that are currently being promoted in the city."
"The plan will not be implemented in the next 50 years"
Ilan Bornstein, the owner of a residential plot in the planned neighborhood, said in the discussion that he strongly opposes the plan because it is not feasible. "Nothing will come of this plan. Mayor Yona Yahav explained in November 2024 in a response to Councilwoman Yael Shinar that in his lifetime and in her lifetime nothing will be built in the plan, and therefore I believe that in the next 50 years nothing will be built there. The plan in its previous version was rejected by the District Committee's decision in 2014, and one of the main reasons is that it included a plot in exchange for a number of forced plots in a mosha, against the wishes of the plot owners. At that time, it was about plots of up to 40 units, which were about 5 plots. The District Committee decided that because of this mosha, the plan was canceled. Today the situation is much more serious, because the plots are not 40 apartments, but 300 apartments, and therefore it includes hundreds of forced partners and nothing will come of the plan. "There are huge carvings within the plots and it is not possible to build on them."
"We must allow construction to take place on site"
Adv. Assaf Irony, partner at Sh. Friedman, Abramson Law Firm, who represents Morris Levy, the Gabbay Group and the Goldstein Group, spoke in favor of the plan:
"There is land zoned for residential use from the Mandate period. It was known that redevelopment was needed because it was not good enough. In the late 90s, Maurice Levy arrived and, in full coordination with the municipality, he began promoting redevelopment of the entire area. The plan took 15 years, in full coordination with the municipality, until it was submitted. Following the objections, the municipality said that it would redevelop the upper part of the plan. I came into the picture in 2018 and filed an administrative petition. Which ended with the municipality agreeing to a planning alternative.
In February 2021, the new construction concept, which we see today, was approved. Along with the construction concept, a schedule was approved, so that in seven years it would be possible to submit the plan to the District Committee. Unfortunately, in the repeated printing, the municipality did not meet the schedules. In April 2023, we filed the second petition. The District Court issued a ruling criticizing the municipality and determined that there were schedules that must be met. Following this, the municipality advanced the plan and submitted the plan to the District Committee in April 2024. Today, I ask that the continuation of the planning process be as quickly and efficiently as possible." He detailed the legal procedures in which he acted to advance the plan and the planning procedures in which his clients have been operating since 1998. He emphasized that construction must be allowed to take place on site.
A municipal attorney responded to the opponents' claims at the hearing and said that they repeatedly talk about the area of the neighborhood as the gateway to the city of Haifa, but this doesn't get anywhere. This area is marked for construction, nowhere has it been treated as an asset. In addition, they talked about the need to prioritize urban renewal projects, but in a city like Haifa, such plans need to be promoted.
Another point raised by a municipal attorney is that an open view is not a right to purchase. The construction will not obscure the view from others. In addition, the costs for development due to the planned design will be much smaller, and this is something that has been examined a lot, and from the landowners' point of view, the design is compact and not unusual.
The Lincoln Rebels' plan has a very long history. As you may recall,, In 2013, a plan was submitted to build the neighborhood, which included over 3,000 units. A number of significant deficiencies were discovered in the plan, so the district committee rejected it. In 2015, the committee approved part of the plan. 4 years later, some private landowners filed a petition against the municipality, demanding that the plan be promoted. According to the municipality, the plan includes fewer units than the original plan, and is therefore uneconomical (i.e., deficit-based).
The district committee decided to go to the field and request additional details from the planners.
However, the court that heard the petition decided that the municipality was obligated to set a timetable for handling the plan. In 2023, the private landowners filed another petition against the municipality. Although the petition was rejected, the court ruled that the municipality must submit the plan by April 2024. The municipality complied with the demand and submitted a plan for the construction of approximately 2,800 housing units to the District Committee.
It's sad that they can't build in Haifa, the western slopes of the Carmel are begging for construction like Marc Chagall Street, what an amazing view, it's a shame they don't utilize this area for construction
Peace
There has also been a construction plan in blocks 10790 + 10791 for decades. But they were also stopped due to the committees' desire to increase the number of units in the blocks, but the Haifa Municipality lacks creativity to promote the city that has the most beautiful views in the country. Evacuation and construction create heavy traffic pressure on the Carmel. The city must be expanded.
I suggest that all landowners there organize themselves to advance the lands colored orange, which means land for construction.
Hello everyone! I glanced at the plan. The plan is tainted with abject illogicality in every respect, from transportation and accessibility to the quality of life of those who will move there and in the surrounding area. This is typical planning folly for architects on behalf of the client who come to maximize housing at the expense of everything else. The principle in many Mediterranean countries and their coasts is that the construction should blend in with the natural landscape and not be "the landscape", i.e. the planning blends in with the existing topography and does not create or plan a new topography. (In a side note, it should be remembered that artificial and urban change of natural topography causes climate change). When such a bad plan is submitted for approval, the submitter's expectation is that the opponents will compromise on something, and in this case, the compromise will only be a cry for generations, i.e. a bad plan minus. Of course, we must fight to ensure that this plan is shelved forever, but in this country, the greater the planning folly, the greater its chances of being accepted by the planning institutions.
In light of the words of the Defense Ministry representative, "Construction in the urban fabric adjacent to the wall should be encouraged. This plan does not see the possibility of planning a sustainable neighborhood."
Just common sense! (which supports the above)
On the other hand, it is not clear what the city's interests are in promoting this planning horror, because it is clear that the public's good and well-being are not in their sights.
We already suffer from air pollution. Removing green lungs will make Haifa the most polluted city in Israel.
This is land that mostly belongs to the billionaire Ofer family. We can reach an agreement with them to receive compensation in alternative lands in Neot Navon for high-rise construction instead of spreading out on the mountain, and the same goes for the other landowners for construction in Neot Navon within areas where roads and infrastructure are already being built. Simply take 100 units for which a road with retaining walls will be excavated for tens of millions of shekels, and these 100 units will be put into a tower of even 200 units in the flat area of 30-40 floors, which will allow this area to be kept green forever, a green lung of Neot Navon and the slopes of Haifa. This way we will get proper utilization of land, we will get protection for the green mountain, we will get flat neighborhoods where children can ride bicycles and not just for parents to transport them in private cars because a bus barely passes through them.
And the developers and landowners will receive, in a prudent manner, alternative land that can be immediately built on and enhanced rights.
Or give them air rights to be sold to other developers in Neot Navon as additional tradable floors.
Why is what is possible in other cities not possible in Haifa?
You have no idea what you are writing.
Architect Gelberhart, in his then position as planning supervisor in the Haifa municipality, transferred building rights from the upper area of Lincoln Slope to the lower area of Ofer, and then separated the improved lower area into a separate plan that was indeed finally approved. Therefore, even if you try, there is no more Zafer left for Ofer.
4,000 trees??? What 4,000 trees is she talking about??? There aren't even 4,000 bushes there…
It is mandatory to build houses in all of Lincoln Hills with a minimum height of 1,000 floors per building!!
To demolish every existing building in Haifa and build to a height and instead of, for example, the Carmel Center, to build buildings that will each be at least 200 meters long and wide and 3,000 stories high!!!
This is a must!!! , otherwise there will be no place for people to live! Later it will be necessary to add 20 times more floors to the 3,000 floors that will be built in every such building, this is a must! Because otherwise there will be no place for the next generation!! ….. Am I delusional?! …..
Why is it so difficult for you to include in your lexicon the concept of "preventing the birth of more than one child for at least 7,8-8200 generations in order to reduce the population"? And why not look for biological ways that the structure of the bones of both the born and the living will be changed and the quality and color of their skin to those that only appear in fashion magazines?! Have you ever met secret people who work in the Ministry of Defense, such as graduates of Unit 50? They are geniuses who have developed and are developing and inventing everything in every field, including biology! After all, military security technology catches up with civilian technology in about 76 years. After all, about 8 percent of the population has a dull appearance and is not at all handsome, and about 16% of the population is ugly, and only about XNUMX% of the population is beautiful. But with tons of buildings and the destruction of flora and fauna, it's great for tycoons to live in Tenerife and the Maldives, huh?! When humanity starts to wither and die, you tycoons won't be alive either and you won't be able to buy anything with your money! Because there won't be anything! .... Except for your concrete of course!
Yossi, do yourself a favor and use your brain. Only in the last war did 1200 people die, along with 600 other fighters.
This country is full of wars, hence the high birth rate.