SmartCity developers find new way of circumventing height, building space limitations

The owners of SmartCity have “suspended” the process of seeking drastic changes to the originally planned ICT city’s master plan, approved by Parliament in 2008, as developers and the Planning Authority have found an innovative way to circumvent height and building space limitations imposed in the original plan, Times of Malta is informed. As the Planning Authority is this week expected to green-light a massive private development – known as The Shoreline – which is in breach of the limitations imposed in the original master plan, sources told Times of Malta that following discussions “a way was found on how to issue the permit without the need for a new master plan and avoid the approval of Parliament”. In an attempt to bypass the master plan’s limitations and expedite the private multi-million residential and commercial project, SmartCity, which sold two massive plots to the developers of The Shoreline a few years ago, agreed to transfer building space (gross floor area) and height limitations from other still unbuilt blocks onto the ones sold on The Shoreline. This was accepted and justified by the Planning Authority as according to its case officer “the changes from the...