Citizens' requests yes - but only with requests for advice

Created: 05/17/2022, 07:39

By: Dieter Roettig

Citizens' petition approved: Annette Rießner (Heimatverein), Irmi Gebertshammer (Bund Naturschutz), Peter Bierl (Wednesday disco), Solveig Grundler (climate lobby) and Eric Polap, Lea Schürer and Carlos Gil Renault from the youth advisory board (from left).

© Roettig

Dießen – This is not how “parking lot rebel” Peter Bierl imagined the outcome of the current municipal council meeting.

He and his fellow initiators were approved for the citizens' petition against the expansion of the parking lot in Rotter Straße, but the market community will not give up without a fight.

With a majority of 17 to 5 votes, the municipal councils voted for a simultaneous and competing council request, which very much aims to expand the previous makeshift parking lot.

A motion by Gabriele Übler (Greens) to revoke the expansion decision was also rejected by a score of 17:5.

As reported, the expansion was first approved in June 2018 with the votes of the Greens, with only one dissenting vote from Michael Hofmann (Bavarian party).

In the repeated vote of the newly elected municipal council at the end of January 2022 after significant changes to the plan, the Greens and CSU municipal councilor Johannes Wernseher voted against it, but were unable to prevent the project against the majority.

This is exactly what the "citizens' initiative against surface sealing" wants to achieve now: A coalition of the Dießen climate lobby, the local history association, youth advisory council, the local group of the Bund Naturschutz and the political circle "Wednesday disco" led by Peter Bierl, who acts as spokesman for the initiative.

Within a few weeks, she collected almost twice as much as the 775 signatures required from Diessen citizens and thus officially applied for a citizen's petition.

Before the special meeting of the market town council called for this purpose, Peter Bierl appealed again in writing to the councils to rescind the expansion decision.

According to the municipal regulations, this is possible after the admissibility of the citizens' request has been established: "This would mean that a nonsensical and ecologically harmful project in terms of transport policy, which costs at least 760,000 euros, would be off the table." In addition, one could avoid the administrative effort and the enormous costs for the procedure with written notification , polling stations and the option to vote by post.

The Green Gabriele Übler emphasized that pausing is a commandment of reason.

You see no use for this parking lot.

In his letter, Peter Bierl called on the municipal council not to oppose the citizens' petition with a council petition.

If that were decided, the citizens would have to answer three questions on the same topic.

Namely the citizens' request, the council request and an additional key question.

Bierl: "As a rule, this leads to confusion and increases the number of invalid votes." The question of the citizens' request is: "Are you in favor of the market Dießen am Ammersee its plans to build a fixed, year-round usable parking lot on Rotter Straße the fl. no.

1962, district of St. Georgen, and thus preserve the unsealed green area with temporary parking for events?" On the other hand, on the same ballot paper is the question of the market community: "Are you in favor of the Dießen am Ammersee market,

as decided by the market town council on January 31, 2022, the expansion of the previous relief parking lot on property Fl.

1962, district of St. Georgen on Rotter Straße, and thus create a paved parking lot that can be used all year round?”

If the majority of the questions asked are answered in the affirmative in a way that cannot be compared with one another, the key question, which must also be ticked in any case, decides: • no expansion of the temporary parking space or • expansion of the temporary parking space.

percolation open

Compared to the original plans of 150 parking spaces, the new municipal council opted for a looser arrangement with only 86 parking spaces and intensive greenery.

Cost estimate: around 760,000 euros.

Mayor Sandra Perzul does not let the allegation of sealing the almost five thousand square meter "Zspannegrundstück" between Landsberger and Rotter Strasse sit down.

Only the driveways would be asphalted, but the groups of parking spaces for four to nine vehicles, which were divided by green areas, would be “designed with a high proportion of greenery and as open as possible, as well as 18 new trees”.

The declared goal of the market town council is to make the surfaces as natural as possible.

A maximum of 30 percent would be sealed.

As part of the expansion, retention spaces will also be installed,

which carefully guide the water that accumulates during heavy rain into the drainage system.

According to Perzul, the square cannot be used all year round in its current state.

In the discussion, Gabriele Übler raised the cost of the expansion to one million euros, which displeased municipal councilor Franz Sanktjohanser (Diessen citizen).

He also complained that the initiators withheld the real facts when collecting signatures and only advertised with exaggerated slogans.

Proponent Florian Zarbo (free voters) emphasized that you are not creating a concrete desert here, as misrepresented, but real added value.

And the costs would come back through the decided parking space management.

Michael Hofmann (BP) put it briefly and pointedly: "We don't have any ecologically valuable meadows here, as the initiators claim.

Your goal and that of the Greens is ultimately the fight against the car.”