City of Offenbach against softening of noise protection measures in residential areas

According to a letter from the Hessian Association of Towns and Municipalities in December 2015, the German Association of Towns and Municipalities and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) are advocating the revision of the Building Code and the Land Use Ordinance in 2016 to regulate noise protection when residential buildings "move closer to existing uses", for example commercial buildings.

In particular, there are plans to introduce a new zoning category for "mixed-use areas for internal development" in the Building Use Ordinance and to enshrine the "Hamburg window" as a passive noise protection measure in law, which would mean moving residential and commercial buildings closer together.

Peter Schneider has clear words for this: "The planned new regulations and the introduction of the new area category would soften noise protection in cities. At the same time, the current immission control legislation is to be undermined. I will do everything in my power to ensure that planning law does not compromise health protection for our citizens. In particular, a change must not lead to a situation where health-compatible indoor noise levels can only be maintained with closed windows. Noise makes people ill, and we have known this since before the results of the NORAH study became known."

The Head of the Environment Department bases his statements on a report by the Conference of Environment Ministers from November 13, 2015 and the working group of the State Committee for Immission Control tasked with examining the facts. There it is made clear that there are enough instruments in the current immission control law to regulate noise protection when new residential areas are designated. In particular, immission control law defines when noise levels have reached the limits of reasonableness. These must be taken into account in (building) planning law.

In particular, there are also good regulations for individual cases with historically evolved structures and uses that are not always compatible with each other in the form of the "TA Lärm" ("Technical Instructions on Noise"), which have proven themselves in administrative practice and do justice to all uses.

Criticism of the new considerations was also voiced in the working group of the State Committee for Immission Control. For example, it also stated that "the priority of building planning law over immission control regulations demanded by the construction side is to be rejected because this contradicts the principle of the 'unity of the legal system'. The protection against harmful environmental effects in the course of approvals of companies within the framework of the Federal Immission Control Act cannot be decided arbitrarily by the planning authorities."

Mayor Schneider also rejects the fact that the initiative is campaigning for the "Hamburg window" to be enshrined in law as a passive noise protection measure. "Windows that you can't open so that it doesn't get too loud in your home due to the commercial noise produced next door?" Unthinkable for Peter Schneider. And in his opinion, the noise levels on the balcony or terrace must be just as tolerable and reasonable. "Passive noise protection is not an effective means of paving the way for commercial noise, as this would result in an erosion of noise protection, which is why this cannot be considered in principle. Who is to be protected from whom here, the industry from the people?"

If planning cannot guarantee noise levels that are compatible with human health, the planning authority must abandon the project if necessary, according to Schneider. "I think a city of short distances with a mix of uses is desirable and, of course, makes ecological sense. The designation of residential areas should therefore preferably take place in existing areas and not on greenfield sites. However, noise protection and the health of residents must not be neglected."

Optimizing noise protection as part of urban inner-city development is a challenge for local authorities, especially in the city of Offenbach am Main, which is particularly affected by aircraft noise. This will not succeed without the support of experts at federal and state level. Nor without an open-ended, qualified discussion, Schneider continued. "I will do everything I can to ensure that the necessities for the protection of our population in the city of Offenbach are also heard at a crucial point. I have initiated a corresponding statement on the plans in Berlin."