Building on Shore Areas

The Land Use and Building Act coordinates and restricts building on shore areas. Building on shore areas (100 meters from the coastline) or shore zones (200-300 meters from the coastline) requires that the area has either a detailed shore plan or a legally binding local master plan which contains special provisions concerning use of the local master plan or a part thereof as the basis for granting a building permit. If no such planning permission exists, exceptional permit measures are applied.

In the use of shores, the importance of planning and local master plans for shores are outlined. Shore plans coordinate the use of shores, with consideration given to factors such as nature conservation, water management, recreational use and the need for landowners to be treated equitably. Attention must also be payed to landscape values of the shore area.

A special and important feature unique to the detailed shore plan is that it is the only form of use of land in the Land Use and Building Act’s systematics, where the land owner has the right to draw up a proposition for the use of land (cf. detailed local plan, where the land owner only has the right to propose the alteration of the local detailed plan).

A local detailed shore plan establishes a right to construct in the area and dissolves the need for a separate planning requirement solution or deviation decision. Local shore plans clarify building opportunities in the area and brings certainty to valuation of properties. The land owner has the right to draw up a proposition for the land use on shore areas. Before drawing up such proposition, the land owner is required to contact the local municipality and act accordingly to the Land Use and Building Act. A local detailed plan drawn up by the land owner must constitute a functional whole.

Deviation decisions are applied from the local building control authority. To gain a deviation decision it is required ia. that the operation does not harm planning or hinder the reaching of objectives of nature conservation. The operation’s effects on the amount and integrity of free shore as well as scenery, environmental values, state of water and recreational use are evaluated during the permit procedure. The need for landowners to be treated equitably is taken in to account in the permit procedure. Planning conducted by municipals may be required in such instances where it seems apparent that a certain area is becoming dense with holiday homes in a shore area.