Legal dispute over the congress center: setback for new construction opponents

Created: 05/23/2022, 07:00

By: Andreas Seiler

A perennial favorite in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: the future of the congress center.

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The market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen is legally on the safe side when it comes to the ongoing issue of the congress center.

The district office came to this conclusion after an examination.

The district authority dismissed a complaint from opponents of the new building.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen – The citizens' initiative from 2019 is omnipresent in the controversial debate about the future of the Garmisch-Partenkirchner Kongresshaus.

At that time, a clear majority spoke out in favor of maintaining and renovating the property, including a partial new building.

However, this result is no longer binding, but one could derive a political obligation.

Jörg Setzpfand and Dr.

Christoph Elschenbroich, initiators of the citizens' initiative "Save our congress center" at the time, and councilor Anton Hofer (Garmisch+Partenkirchen together).

The three filed a legal oversight complaint with the district office in April.

Your demand: The market should follow the decisions taken by the municipal council in 2019 and 2020 to implement the will of the citizens and to get the renovation going.

This involved investigations and calculations, above all a usage, operational and spatial concept as well as a detailed cost estimate - surveys that the complainants believed were important.

Sitzpfand, Elschenbroich and Hofer did not hold back with criticism, there was talk of a "procrastination tactic".

No indications of legal violations

But the district authority gave them a rebuff - and attested the Garmisch-Partenkirchen market a correct approach.

In a reply letter, Günter Hopfensperger from the municipal supervisory board explained that there was no misconduct.

The investigation did not reveal any indications of legal violations.

According to the argument, not only a few renovations were carried out.

The commissioned GaPa Tourismus GmbH - the municipality's subsidiary is the operator of the congress center - also initiated the location development plan "GaPa Congress 2025".

This includes a broad process of citizen participation.

At the end of the dialogue, which includes various event formats, there should be a request for advice.

"With this approach, the Garmisch-Partenkirchen market is not violating the resolutions of the municipal council, but is implementing them," is Hopfensperger's conclusion.

With citizen participation, the resolutions from 2019 and 2020 would be supplemented and expanded.

Municipal councilor Hofer is not satisfied with the result – no wonder.

Overall, the judgment of the district office sounds “very constructed”, he complains.

The focus is conspicuously strong or exclusively on the citizen participation of GaPa tourism and completely hides the decided responsibilities and tasks of the building authority and the financial administration - although these are "extremely relevant" for the framework conditions of the project such as scope, costs and financing.

He, according to Hofer, will evaluate the Hopfensperger verdict with his fellow campaigners and then possibly initiate "further steps".

Chef: "Everything done just right"

Mayor Elisabeth Koch (CSU) feels confirmed.

"Everything was done right," is her summary.

The head of the town hall practices as a bridge builder and also invites the critics to the public dialogue, which is professionally moderated by the Munich consulting firm Cima.

"Everyone has the opportunity to participate," says Koch.

In their eyes, it is a "primeval democratic process" in which it should crystallize where the journey is going in terms of the congress house.

There are two variants that, according to experts, would cost about the same: a new building or a general renovation.