05/12/2023 – 21:38
The São Paulo Court ordered on Monday, the 4th, the temporary suspension of the review of the Zoning Law of the capital of São Paulo, the first vote of which was scheduled for Thursday, the 7th. The decision is preliminary and determines the holding of public hearings in all 32 sub-prefectures of the city.
The Zoning Law defines the city’s main urban rules, such as the height of buildings, environmental protection areas and incentives for the real estate sector. The City Council will appeal and rule out postponing the review until next year. The expansion of public hearings to all sub-prefectures is not considered. All the remaining ones (around six) will be held at the Legislative headquarters, with the postponement of the one scheduled for this Wednesday, 6th.
The suspension responds to a popular action filed at the end of November by Debora Lima, national coordinator of the Homeless Workers Movement (MTST). The organization has criticized the actions of the Chamber’s leaders in the review and was at a demonstration for more popular participation last Thursday, the 30th.
President of the Urban, Metropolitan and Environmental Policy Commission, Rubinho Nunes (União Brasil), has highlighted that the Chamber held more hearings than the regulatory requirement, of which around half were outside the Legislative headquarters, in locations in the central areas, North, south, east and west. He also highlighted that the direct action of unconstitutionality mentioned in the injunction was rejected by Minister Luiz Fux, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), in November.
The councilor said that the appeal from the Chamber’s Attorney’s Office must be filed by noon this Wednesday, 6th. “The Judiciary exceeds its competence by invading the exclusive competence of the Legislative Branch. I am sure that the Court of Justice will reverse this decision,” he declared during a press conference. “I believe that, in a maximum of one or two days, this decision, which is completely out of step with reality, must be reversed.”
According to him, the first vote will be held as soon as the Chamber reaches a favorable decision. The estimate is that the councilors’ initial assessment will be at the beginning of next week, while the final will be put to a vote on December 19th or 20th. Even before the injunction, the commission was already evaluating postponing the second vote by a few days. “If it is necessary to vote on December 26th or 27th, I am sure the house will be willing to work”, stated the councilor.
Urgent protection determines that hearings must be called at least 10 days in advance. Signed by judge Larissa Kruger Vatzco, of the 12th Public Finance Court, it also requires the presentation of “all documentation necessary to understand the project, under penalty of the adoption of coercive measures in order to comply with the urgent protection”. “The proposal is progressing without adequate popular participation, which is privileged at various times by the Constitution of the Republic and Brazilian legislation”, she assessed.
In the preliminary injunction, the judge assesses that the information provided to the population to evaluate the changes in the law was insufficient. “Much of the project is difficult for the lay population to understand, which hinders the debate, due to the lack of time for people to understand the changes”, she points out.
Furthermore, she denies that the decision is interference by the Judiciary. “This is not, therefore, jurisdictional interference in legislative activity, and there is no need to speak of a violation of the principle of separation of powers. This is because parliamentary activity remains healthy as it will be up to the councilors to approve the bill”, highlighted the judge. “The risk to the useful outcome of the process lies in the fact that once the legislation is approved, the present demand may lose its purpose”, she added.
MTST leadership and author of the action, Debora Lima has said that the pace of processing the project is “overrun”. “The City Council, in turn, presented an extremely reduced calendar with hearings restricted to a few neighborhoods,” said the movement in a statement released after the decision.
In the action, the lawyer for the MTST leadership cites a civil inquiry that investigates the review at the Public Ministry of São Paulo. “The City Statute was violated, which provides for the democratic management of the city through the participation of the population with debates, hearings and public consultations, as well as a violation of the Master Plan itself and the Organic Law of the Municipality”, he argues.
With the court decision, a possible promulgation by Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) could be delayed until next year, given the 30-day deadline. The House committee held 27 public hearings during the review.
Before being sent to the Chamber, the current zoning review process was suspended between 2019 and 2022, also after a challenge to the participatory process. The text underwent several changes throughout this year until it was sent to the Chamber.
On Monday, the 4th, the rapporteur, Rodrigo Goulart (PSD), presented a replacement text, with new proposals. How the Estadão anticipated, one of the main ones was the transformation of Special Environmental Protection Zones (Zepam) into areas of social interest, which allow for more housing and have more flexible rules.
The councilor highlighted that 1,200 people participated in public hearings at the Legislature, in person or online. Furthermore, he highlighted that the author of the action did not present proposals during the public hearings, but acknowledged that MTST leaders suggested changes to the zoning at a meeting, which are being evaluated.
The MTST is linked to federal deputy Guilherme Boulos (PSOL), who is a pre-candidate for Mayor in the next election, in dispute with the current mayor, Ricardo Nunes. Some councilors from the government’s base say that the challenges to the project are an attempt to bring forward next year’s election, which is denied by the opposition.
Other organizations also contest the popular participation process. Since arriving at the Chamber in October, the zoning review has had two other suspension requests denied by the courts, filed by Defenda São Paulo and by councilors. Furthermore, in the first semester, the Public Ministry even filed a review to suspend the processing of the Master Plan on the eve of the first vote, but it was not accepted by the Courts.
The revision bill brings together other significant changes anticipated by the Estadão. Among them are the discouragement of the construction of micro-apartments for accommodation (such as Airbnb), the delimitation of blocks with veto and release for tall buildings, the proposal of mechanisms for the protection of villages, the creation of a special zone with more flexible rules in military area near Ibirapuera Park and the ban on scrap metals and the sale of recyclable material in the center, among others.
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