Call for a postponement

City Council Gives Green Light to the Seeviertel Project

This is what the Seeviertel could look like on the site of the former lake station on the shores of Lake Traunsee in Gmunden (center of the photo).(Bild: Project A01 Architects)

At a memorable meeting of the Gmunden City Council, the project proponents’ requests for changes to the Seeviertel project were approved. The VP and FP voted unanimously in favor, though some VP politicians were absent from the meeting. There was also talk of postponing the vote.

The City Council has once again given the green light for the construction of the Seeviertel in Gmunden. As previously reported, the Soravia Group applied for an amendment to the building code and land-use plans six months ago. Now there is a political majority in favor of the project. The VP and FP voted, among other things, to raise the second-home quota from 25 to 75 percent. The SP, the Greens, Neos, and the WIA list rejected the proposals.

VP Deputy Mayor Absent
This special city council meeting will long remain in many people’s memories. A number of VP politicians did not attend the session. For example, Deputy Mayor Wolfgang Schlair was absent; according to rumors, he had been excluded from the caucus. Like the other absent party colleagues, he is said to have taken a negative stance toward Soravia’s proposed changes. However, VP Mayor Stefan Krapf made it clear: “There is no alternative to this project. We’ve been waiting 30 years for a hotel; it has constantly fallen through because of the word ‘but.’”

Documents Received Shortly Before the Meeting
The decision was nearly delayed once again. The Greens called for an adjournment because documents were not made available until just a few hours before the city council meeting. Deputy Mayor Ulrike Feichtinger was furious: “We’re giving up our planning security. Suddenly, the building rights can be sold off.”

WIA City Councilmember Phillip Wiatschka accused the project of being “rushed through”: “I’m speechless and appalled at how negligently we’re proceeding.” FP faction leader Dina Fritz called for objectivity: “The specter of a vending-machine hotel is being conjured up. Yet the project applicants have contractually committed to building a four-star hotel. Reception hours of 14 to 16 hours a day must be maintained.