Environmentalists opposed to the rezoning of 210 acres of forest in the Jerusalem Hills for the planned White Ridge neighborhood have been handed a lifeline.
The National Planning and Building Commission's Appeals Sub-Committee has cancelled a decision by the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee to expand the junction at Moshav Ora into a two level interchange and insisted that the plan must be redesigned. The committee was petitioned by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI).
The cancellation is crucial because construction of the huge new Jerusalem suburb in the White Ridge (Rekhes Lavan) in the southwest of the city was approved on condition that the new Ora Interchange is built.
The controversial plan will reshape the White Ridge in the Jerusalem hills, between Moshav Ora and Moshav Aminadav and the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Menachem. Over 5,000 housing units, 300 hotel rooms, commercial and business space, stores, a filling station, and other uses will be built on the land.
Celebrations of an overall victory by environmentalists are likely to be premature. The Planning Administration has asked the full National Planning and Building Commission to discuss the matter and it has the power to overturn the appeals sub-committee's decision.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 1, 2021
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