Prosecutor's Office Investigates Hotel Construction in Kolašin

The Kolašin Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) has formed a case and is conducting an investigation regarding construction on cadastral plot number 317/3, after the Board for Spatial Planning, Communal-Housing Affairs and Traffic in that city filed a criminal complaint with the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) in February against the owner and responsible persons in the company "Bjelasica Invest", the previous chief city architect, as well as the designer, auditor, contractor, supervisory authority, inspectorate and other unidentified persons who were involved in the design and construction of the condo hotel on Mirka Vešovića Street.

"After obtaining the necessary documentation from the competent Ministry and the architectural project from the Municipality of Kolašin, an order was given for an expert examination by experts in the geodetic, construction and architectural professions. The records of the urban planning and construction inspection were also submitted to the Prosecutor's Office. The investigation in this case is ongoing," the head of the ODT told "Vijesti". Maja Šćepanović.

One of the founders of the company building the facility is the acting secretary of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property. Damir Davidovic.

The construction of the building, the subject of the survey, is currently nearing completion, and it is a hotel based on the condo business model. As stated in the criminal complaint, which "Vijesti" had access to, "the project shows that the basement floor is planned with larger dimensions than those allowed by the UTU and DUP, that is, the basement floor extends beyond the construction line", which, according to the Committee, is "strictly prohibited by the Law on the Construction of Buildings".

The most problematic part of the building, according to the complainants, is the external staircase to the ground floor, which they suspect is “outside the construction line, to the edge of Mirka Vešovića 1 Street”. The criminal complaint states that “such a staircase endangers the safety of drivers, and the street is left without a sidewalk”. They also claim that the extension of the staircase is the street itself, so “it is clear that the safety of drivers is not guaranteed”.

The signatories of the criminal complaint state that "if such illegal construction remains, it will result in either the closure of the street or the demolition of the staircase."

They also believe that "the permit for the construction of external staircases outside the building line is scandalous, because if the investor built the surface of the building up to the line, he had to build the staircase inside, and not build it directly next to the street."

They also explain that "the investor has gone outside the construction line with the garages on two sides - the eastern one, towards Mirka Vešovića Street 1, and the northern one, towards the local street that further leads to the Distribution building and the residential building located across from the 'Bjanka' hotel."

"According to the DUP, the distance between buildings and neighboring plots must be at least two meters, which the investor did not comply with. This jeopardized the safety of drivers and pedestrians. By building stairs to the street, and on the other side at less than one meter, it is now impossible to build pedestrian paths, so pedestrian movement is absolutely unsafe because they have to move along the street. An additional danger is the height of the building and the potential for snow to fall from the roof, which also makes the building dangerous for other people," the criminal complaint states.

The criminal complaint was signed by Miličko Bulatović (PES), Miodrag Mijo Vlahović (GI URA) i Bojan Zekovic (The Movement Together We Build Kolašin, consisting of DPS, SDP, SD and non-party figures), as well as the President of the Municipal Assembly Vasilije Bulatović (For the future of Kolašin). The application was not signed by the remaining two members of the Committee, Andrijana Jelić (Democrats) and Duško Šćepanović (The Together We Build Kolašin Movement).

According to the current DUP “Centar”, prepared 15 years ago, Mirka Vešovića 1 Street is planned as a pedestrian zone. Preparatory procedures for the construction of a condo hotel began after that. The municipality, obviously, has other intentions with that road. The reconstruction was planned in last year’s Spatial Planning Program and Urban Sanitation Program, but the works were abandoned.