Coastal zone bill approved with tweaks

Parliament on Thursday ratified the draft law on the use of public property in coastal areas with the inclusion of some revisions that had been requested by social organizations.

The Finance Ministry accepted part of the comments submitted by social organizations to the Parliament on the draft law “Conditions for the utilization of public property in coastal areas and other provisions.”

But not the one that caused the greatest conflict with environmental organizations – and the concern of the Scientific Committee of the Parliament – was that on the abolition of the minimum width of 30 meters in the calculation of the beach zone for commercial use. 

The most important tweaks concern the definition of the seashore, with the addition of a phrase to highlight its environmental and social dimension, namely that it is an essential element of the natural environment, protected by the state, which manages it according to its nature and its public nature. It also introduced the possibility of direct rental of beach umbrellas due to proximity by rental rooms and apartments, in addition to hotels.

Similarly, the mandatory free zone between two consecutive concessions was reduced from 6 meters to 4 in the case of businesses operating in adjacent buildings. 

The draft law provided for particularly severe penalties for those who exceeded the leased space by more than 50%. It was suggested in Parliament that this percentage was too high and so it was eventually reduced to 30%. 

With regard to the hiring of lifeguards by businesses when the municipality does not do so (and the deduction of the cost from the municipality’s share of the umbrella seats), the draft law provides that the terms of this procedure (i.e. how to hire the lifeguard, how to determine the duration of the contract and the fee) will be determined by a joint decision of the ministries of Economy and Interior. It is specified that these costs cannot exceed the concession fee (share) of the municipality.