The National Planning and Building Commission for Priority Residential Sites, headed by chairman Ministry of Finance deputy budget director Eran Nitzan, yesterday approved for validation a plan for a residential neighborhood, industrial zone, and national park on the site of Apollonia in Herzliya.
The plan, designed by architect Yair Avigdor and managed by Yahel Engineers Project Initiation in cooperation with the Israel Land Authority, the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, and the Herzliya municipality, includes a 3,000-housing unit residential neighborhood next to a large national park with archeological areas, open space of various types, and priority areas for rehabilitation.
The plan includes a new entrance to Herzliya from the coastal road (Highway 2) and a 50,000-sq.m. industrial zone. The plan also proposes commercial and hotel space.
While the National Planning and Building Commission for Priority Residential Sites has approved the plan for validation, some of the space in the plan was previously used for an Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI) plant, and is very polluted. The plan therefore stipulates a series of actions aimed at ensuring that the land is treated and rehabilitated. For this reason, although the plan has now been approved, it will take time for the pollution hazards to be identified, mapped, and treated, so that actual implementation of the plan can begin.
The Ministry of Finance today said, "Implementation of the plan will be accompanied by a government team for ensuring that the barriers mentioned in the National Planning and Building Commission for Priority Residential Sites are overcome according to an expedited schedule, in addition to the actions required for treating the land and developing the national park."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 3, 2016
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