Building planning authorities

Where can I find information (preferably online) about building and development projects in my neighbourhood? Not just the projects announced in this week's local paper - but past and future proposals, too.

Also - if there is a development planned, are the people in the area automatically given the opportunity to comment - as in the UK - or do they find out when the bulldozers arrive?

Look for "Bauamt", "Bauplanungsamt", "Bausatzung", "Bauleitplanung" ... and make yourself acquainted with the local/regional "Bauplanungsrecht"

The city of Heidelberg page does have a development plan for one project up on their site as well as Land Use Plan, zoning ordinance info etc, but also contact info where you could make further, more specific inquiries.

You might want to check out the BauGB as well re:oeffentliche Auslegung (presentation for public comment, i.e. Section 3)

Thanks - if anyone else is looking, I also found this http://ww1.heidelberg.de/buergerinfo/suche...n&go=Suchen which is searchable. Not sure if it covers private as well as public developments.

For Heidelberg - since that's listed as your place? Which suburb/district in particular?

There's no official single authority for all development. However, if you're really up to it, you can search here for development projects in your neighborhood - that's a search engine for all public protocols from Heidelberg's various municipal councils. You could also of course request information from the Bezirksbeirat of your suburb. Public sessions are also announced there, which you could attend. The Stadtentwicklungs- und Verkehrsausschuss and your local Bezirksbeirat are your best bets when searching online.

For more generic info, have a look at the Flächennutzungsplan 2015/2020 as well as other documents issued by the Heidelberg/Mannheim Neighborhood Community. Those are officially sanctioned.

There isn't much new things planned in Heidelberg really btw. Only two new residential areas, currently in preparation building (Schollengewann in Wieblingen and Im Bieth in Kirchheim), as well as some minor developmental things in other suburbs.

Oh, and technically, for a lot of things, there's no requirement for the city to have the citizens comment on developmental projects. If it's something that affects a whole lot of people (such as the street being ripped open for half a year or so), there tends to be some local assembly you'll be invited to with some flyer in your mail, at which you'll have the chance to comment. Some bigger projects will be announced in the official paper (in the appropriate section, same section as the Ausschreibungen), and will then usually be laid out with plans somewhere for a week or two (like at the Rathaus) for viewing and commenting. The official paper for these announcements for Heidelberg is the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, in particular that weekly extra (Blick in die Stadtteile or whatever, iirc on Wednesdays) that comes with it.

Kato, you sound like you really know your way around Baurecht. Are you in the field?

Nope, just got a bit interested in it a while ago, due to the constant large-scale construction sites around the city (one of which is now right in front of my house for the next two years).

OK, next time I'm in HD I'll go look for big construction sites and then I'll stalk you. Will be rough since I have no idea what you look like, m/f etc.

There was a bank (I think?) ripped down near the court, across from where the Finanzamt used to be, but I don't know if it'll take 2 years for them to construct whatever's going on the site. Was looking for parking when the wrecking ball was at work and I thought, my golly, that would be great therapy.

Any idea about historical preservation regulations? heard your town had cracked down on shopkeepers in the altstadt and made them change a yellow sign to grey or something.

Good luck, there's only some 3,000 people living around that one site, and it's of course not the only one


The old building was the local branch of the Landeszentralbank, which closed down a couple years ago. They're now building a combination Aldi and assisted living apartment house for elderly people there. Which will be huge and ugly of course - it will take up a good part of the park next to it, and it will be two floors higher than the bank directly opposite it.


Hmm, bit complicated. Quite a lot plays into that - historical preservation slapped on about 60% of all buildings there, the UNESCO World Heritage application for the Altstadt restricting about anything, the city renting out street space (in the Hauptstraße) for signs/seats/stands only with quite exact restrictions on what's allowed...

For the Hauptstraße, there's restrictions on signs placed in public (nothing too bright and shiny), restrictions on the type of furniture bars and cafes can put outside (no plastic please), restrictions on what kind of wares can be displayed outside shops (iirc only fruit and flowers)... and so on.
All legal of course, as it's all in the rental contracts the shops have to sign to put anything in front of their shops.

I expect the next thing to be introduced there to be a restriction on placement of those sign-stands (like "maximum 1.5m from the next wall"), as that's something that has sorta soured people as of late.