Tougher island building regulations
Upholding presidential decrees aimed at protecting two of Greece’s less spoiled islands from unchecked construction activity, the Council of State has imposed even stricter building regulations in a decision made public yesterday. While accepting most of the strictures imposed on the minimum area of land on which owners may build and the maximum height of their edifices on the islands of Kythnos and Halki, Greece’s highest administrative court rejected a clause that allowed certain exceptions to the rule. These concerned plots bordering on roads. The ministry is understood to favor imposing similar restrictions throughout the archipelago. Under the current system, landowners must possess at least an acre (4,000 square meters) of land in order to build in areas outside designated settlements. The new decrees are intended to prevent houses and holiday complexes from sprouting up all over the islands – as has happened in popular resorts such as Myconos – by doubling the minimum plot size. Furthermore, the decrees impose a maximum height and area of 4.5 meters and 150 square meters, respectively, on new homes, shops and offices within the listed settlements of Chora, Dryopis and Loutra on Kythnos in the Cyclades. Similar restrictions will also apply to hotels and rental accommodation complexes. In the listed settlement of Nimborio on the small Dodecanese island of Halki, the maximum height for all buildings has been reduced from 10 to 7.5 meters, and the number of floors from three to two. The decrees by the Ministry of the Aegean have reportedly aroused the ire of the Public Works Ministry, which normally has jurisdiction over building regulations.
