Citizens of Žabljak, around 240 of them, have signed a petition asking the local authorities to abandon the construction of a garage behind the Old Municipality building.
The petition signatories believe that the construction of a garage in Žabljak would bring more harm than good to all its residents, as well as future visitors.
"Our concern is justified by the fact that the location planned for the construction of the car garage (entrance/exit from the upper side) is located across from the school yard gate, on Božidara Žugića Street, which is already congested with traffic even without the garage, so people have to wait up to 15 minutes to get to the school or kindergarten. The situation is the same on the lower side, where it is across from the school restaurant Duga, so that in both places there is a possibility of endangering the safety of students. The Duga restaurant is open-plan and is a classroom for practical teaching. The placement of this facility, which entails heavy traffic, noise and a high concentration of exhaust gases, calls into question the survival of the catering school in a city where tourism is the main industry," the petition states.
The signatories also claim that in the area where the garage is planned to be built, there are numerous catering facilities that receive a large flow of guests during the tourist season, who expect peace and clean air.
"This will not be possible if this project is implemented. The guests of the Gorske Oči hotel are often elderly and sick people, whose safety would be jeopardized by traffic jams caused by the use of this garage. The residents of the surrounding buildings would also be endangered by the same difficulties, who would completely lose the already partially disturbed peace. Also, in the same location, next to the garage itself, there is the Old Municipality building, which is on the list of protected assets. Taking into account the fact that Žabljak is the ecological capital of Montenegro, and that the only green area in its very center is precisely at this location, according to this project it would be replaced by air pollutants - nitrogen oxides (gasoline, oil, tires), as well as engine noise. With all the facts presented so far, we rightly believe that the construction of this facility would bring more harm than good to our city, all its residents, as well as future visitors," the petition signatories believe.
They also claim that the Detailed Urban Plan of the Municipality of Žabljak in Zone C foresees and plans a space that can be organized as a parking garage with a much larger capacity than planned in the project, with smaller investments and without the consequences highlighted above.
The initiative to abandon the construction of the garage was presented to the councilors of the Žabljak parliament at the last session by the school principal. Milojka Stijepović.
She said that the garage entrance would be directly at the schoolyard gate, which would jeopardize the safety of students and employees.
She also said that there were no conditions for the access street to be widened due to the buildings on both sides of the street.
"We can't just think about those who come to us. We have to start thinking about ourselves. We need a school. Imagine if 74 students weren't in Žabljak today. We've become a city of old people. Sometimes it's better not to do something than to do it and then regret it later. The garage should be built somewhere else," said Stijepović, who is one of the signatories of the petition.
President of the Municipality Radoš Žugić He said that the location for the garage was determined in the DUP, which was prepared in 2018.
"According to the current DUP, there is no other place to build a garage except behind the Old Municipality building," said Žugić.
He also said that the Municipality has announced a tender for the development of a conceptual design and main project for the garage, which will cost over 40 thousand euros.
"The project already shows that the garage will cost around three million euros due to the terrain where the work needs to be done. Its price is greatly increased by the situation of poor geodetic conditions because there are pipelines on that side, and I think also the sewage network that needs to be relocated or buried deeper," said Žugić.
He also pointed out that the construction of the Durmitor Warriors Square in the city center will be completed by July 13th.
"When it is built, we will be left without a large number of parking spaces in the city center. I would not agree that the garage is only of interest to people who come. I think it is appropriate to have a garage near the old and new municipal buildings. The project showed that the garage has 85 parking spaces, and I think that is not a small number when it comes to Žabljak, which has a problem with a sufficient number of parking spaces. I also believe that the current traffic situation is no worse than it will be when the garage is built. I believe that the garage would solve some of these problems along with a quality solution to the status of Božidara Žugića Street, which is the priority of all priorities when it comes to the center of Žabljak," said Žugić.
He said that this year the municipality's budget has allocated 200.000 for the garage, but that "it will be difficult to decide to start work this year with two hundred euros if the project costs three million and to make a hole there that will wait for better times."
He announced that he would send the garage project to the Capital Projects Authority and the Government.
"If the state approves the money, I will tell you that we have received the funds, which does not mean that we will forcefully go to shame. We did not do anything by force, so we will not do this either, but I believe that this move behind the Old Municipality building cannot make better sense than a garage with 85 parking spaces," said Žugić.
Žugić said that the list of citizens' signatures was "highly falsified" and that it included the names of people who did not sign the petition.
Some of the councilors said that the project was too expensive for the small number of parking spaces and suggested that the area be developed as a green space and the garage be built in another location.
"For three million, twice as many parking spaces could be provided as would be available at the proposed location. I think it is economically unprofitable to do so," said one of the councilors.
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