CDA’s board may review charges for vehicular lanes

Properties with a lane on one side would be able to create wicket gates

ISLAMABAD: The board of the civic authority is likely to take up on Wednesday a summary which would review what classifies as a corner plot, what constitutes a vehicular street and imposition of charges for opening non-vehicular passages.

The summary would also alter permissions for where the property can have a gate and windows.

According to Capital Development Authority (CDA) documents, a public street is a street where the public right of way (ROW) exists, providing access or approach via a vehicle to abutting plots on one or either sides. It includes vehicular street, road and parking area.

However, since the exact dimensions of a vehicular street were not defined in the regulations, it was initially taken to be any passage which was 40-feet-wide — following from the Development of Private Housing Schemes in Islamabad Capital Territory Zoning Plan. It was then lowered to 30 feet. In areas such as Sector C-15, plots with passages just 10-feet wide were declared as corner plots.

However, the CDA board in its meeting held on July 17, 2017, reduced the minimum ROW for roads to 30 feet in front of plots which were 25 feet by 50 feet (smaller than five maralas).

In an earlier meeting held on March 17, 2017, the CDA Board had considered a summary on “Permission of Sub-Division of Residential Plots, abutting on Vehicular Streets, Roads and Non-Vehicular Lanes". It decided that the status of such plots, which abut on vehicular streets and are located adjacent to 30-feet-wide non-vehicular lanes and are conventionally not marked as corner plots, may be declared as corner plots and will have to pay the charges as determined by the finance wing for sub-division.

According to the CDA documents, it was further proposed that a definition of the vehicular street may be inserted in the Islamabad Residential Sectors Zoning (Building Control) Regulations 2005. This definition would list a vehicular street as one having a width of 30 feet and above.

Accordingly, in case of the first allotment of non-auctioned plots, 10 per cent ‘corner charges’ will be imposed, calculated on the basis of actual cost of plot.

However, if a plot becomes corner plot subsequent to the first allotment, due to an amendment in the layout plan for various reasons, the10 per cent charge will be calculated on the market price of the plot, as determined by the finance wing of CDA.

The summary further states that non-corner plots which have lanes or passages on one side of the plot, the CDA will now permit creating a wicket gate, windows, ventilators or other such openings.

The new summary proposes that the CDA may impose five per cent of the actual cost of the plot as charges for lanes or passages between 15 feet and 30 feet,  2.5 per cent for up to 15 feet in case of the first allotment of non-auctioned plots.

However, if the lane or passage is created after the first allotment, due to an amendment in the layout plan for different reasons, charges will be calculated on the market price of the plot. The CDA document says that such charges would be levied by the building control authority and the concerned Estate Management Directorates.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2018.