As of: February 20, 2024, 12:00 p.m
By: Wolfgang Schörner
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If a municipality wants to turn forested areas into a residential or commercial area, for example, it has to create replacements for the trees.
In Penzberg this is becoming increasingly difficult.
© Korbinian Wolf
If a municipality wants to turn forested areas into a residential or commercial area, for example, it has to create replacements for the trees, for example through reforestation in another location.
However, the city of Penzberg is increasingly reaching its limits.
Penzberg – The city of Penzberg is apparently having increasing problems finding areas that it can reforest as a replacement for clearing.
This only became clear recently when the building committee discussed new commercial space that the city wants to designate in the Nonnenwald industrial park on a strip south of Roche and the printing center.
At that time, one suggestion was: If designation in the western area of the strip is not possible because of suspected raised moor areas there, one could switch to the forest areas further south.
Carl-Christian Wippermann, head of the city's environmental and climate protection department, then warned that this would require forest compensation, but that the city no longer has the corresponding areas in Penzberg.
The fact that the city has fundamental problems with this is also evident from a report that Wippermann presented to the building committee last year.
In it he speaks of a difficult search that could develop into a serious problem - if they want to designate new building areas.
As a background, Wippermann explained that as part of development planning procedures such as for the new urban residential area south of Birkenstrasse, for the industrial park and the children's home on Nonnenwaldstrasse, “forest law compensation” is required, usually by the Office for Food, Agriculture and Forestry (AELF ).
What is usually required is forest conversion or initial reforestation.
According to Wippermann, all measures should, if possible, take place in the immediate vicinity of the procedure.
This is exactly what poses “big challenges” for the city administration.
While the city usually still has areas for forest conversion on its territory, there are no longer any primary reforestation areas available under city ownership.
Planned construction projects are becoming more expensive
According to him, this means that the city has to acquire such areas, “which of course makes planned construction projects more expensive.”
The city recently requested initial afforestation areas in the Eurasburg Forest, which belongs to the Bad Tölz forestry company.
However, according to Wippermann, it is not well received by the surrounding district offices and communities when Penzberg tries to find such areas in their districts and communities.
A development that, according to him, the AELF also sees critically.
Difficult search for first reforestation areas
He explained that “a major concern of the administration” is that future planning such as changing the land use plan takes forest law compensation into account at an early stage.
It would be welcome if the search for compensation areas were started before a development plan was drawn up.
Wippermann expects that this search for initial reforestation areas will become “more difficult and significantly more expensive” due to increasing pressure from use.
If the Bavarian State Forests, “as the largest provider and partner for initial afforestation areas,” no longer have any areas available, “the city of Penzberg would have a really serious problem.”
The first warnings about a lack of space are already being received today, he reported.
According to him, “the city council should urgently examine for each individual case whether a development in the area of a required forestry compensation appears sensible.”