Kolašin: They cut down the park to build a hotel

On the plot of the company "Kips gradnja", a few hundred meters from the center of Kolašin, near schools and kindergartens, i.e. sports halls and fields, 44 trees were cut down last weekend. On part of the cadastral plot number 280/5, within the Detailed Urban Plan "Centar", a company from Podgorica plans to build a four-star hotel, and the cut trees are in the place that will be occupied by that facility.

According to "Vijesti" information from the Forestry and Hunting Management Administration, which approved the felling, black pine, spruce, elm, poplar, maple, ash, linden and willow trees were removed. That part of the city, which is now a wasteland and where preparatory work for the start of construction is taking place, was a kind of mini park and a place where sports activities of elementary school students were once held.

"Kips" Construction told "Vijesta" that they are the owners of the cadastral plot. They explain that they turned to the Directorate for Forest and Hunting Management "in order to issue the necessary approval to remove part of the trees from the plot, in order to create conditions for the construction" of a mixed-use hotel.

"Although we did not consider it necessary to address the authority regarding the removal of trees, because this is not about a forest and a hunting ground, but about an urban part of the city, we nevertheless addressed a request in order to eliminate any doubts regarding the correctness of cutting those trees. The Directorate for Forestry and Hunting Grounds Management, acting on our request and in accordance with Article 55 of the Law on Forests, issued us a decision approving the felling of trees. We removed the trees in question after carrying out preliminary measurements and marking by an authorized person of the forest administration. Therefore, the basis for the removal of seedlings was the decision (permit) of the Directorate for Forest and Hunting Management", says the company "Kips gradnja".

They claim that along with the request, they submitted the "necessary documentation with a revised project showing the planned number of seedlings that will be planted" to the Directorate for Forest and Hunting Management. They also say that they "planned to plant a larger number of saplings than were removed", and that the Directorate for Forest and Hunting Management took this and "the other criteria into account and gave a solution".

According to the title deed, the plot of land on which the hotel will be built is a pasture. According to the decision of the Directorate for Forest and Hunting Management, cutting of 23 deciduous trees and 21 conifers is allowed. From that decision, it is obvious that the request of "Kips gradne" was decided in the administrative procedure, as well as for other cases of felling trees in private ownership. In the name of tax, the company paid 151 euros to that state-owned company.

On November 16, the municipality of Kolašin forwarded the case of the company "Kips gradnja" to the Environmental Protection Agency for a decision on the need to prepare an environmental impact assessment study for the construction of a hotel.

"After the procedure, the Agency issued decision number 03-UPI-1485/5 of December 8, 2022, which determines that the construction of the hotel requires the development of an environmental impact assessment report. In the decision-making process on the need for an environmental impact assessment for the project in question, it was determined that the preparation of the impact assessment report will provide the missing necessary data, determine in detail the state of the quality of the environmental segments, predict the negative impacts of the project on the environment, determine appropriate environmental protection measures the environment and define a program for monitoring the impact on the environment during the operation of the project as well as in the event of an accident", explained the Agency.

However, as they told "Vijesta" in the Agency, so far no Elaborate has been submitted for further action. According to the decision, "Kips gradnja" "can submit to the Environmental Protection Agency a request for approval of the environmental impact assessment report no later than two years from the date of receipt of the decision on the need for an impact assessment".

"Kips gradnja" reported the construction of a hotel in Kolašin to the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism at the beginning of November last year. Along with the construction report, among other things, according to the documentation that "Vijesti" had access to, the main project was submitted, as well as the report on the revision of the main project.

They promised to "replant" trees

According to the data from the request for the preparation of the Elaborate, the future hotel will have a basement, a basement, a ground floor, three floors, an attic and an attic, and the maximum gross building plot (BRGP) is 11.098,73 square meters. The capacity of the hotel is 201 accommodation units.

"On the site in question there are a number of tall, mature trees that will be preserved to a large extent. The trees that are located directly on the site of the building itself and the road will be transplanted to another planned place on the same plot so that no tree will be destroyed or cut down, as soon as the negative impact of the construction of the building on the existing flora of the site will be reduced," it is written in the request about the need to create Elaborata.

At that location, it was stated in the document, "there are no protected or sensitive species of fauna and flora, which may be polluted or threatened by the realization of the project".

Investors in the request for the need for the Elaborate, promise that all free areas will be permeated with greenery and vegetation. Allegedly, it is planned that "48 percent of the plot will be greened, while a large number of existing trees will be preserved."