Land-use planning (Bauleitplanung) for wind turbines: expert support (Germany)
Wind turbine land-use planning in Germany: we provide technical support for the procedure and prepare the documents required for it.
Urban land-use planning (Bauleitplanung) controls where building is permitted in Germany. It comprises the municipalities' preparatory land-use plan and binding land-use plan, which creates building rights. Wind turbines in the outlying area are privileged under section 35(1) no. 5 of the Federal Building Code (BauGB). Under section 249(9) BauGB, the federal states may set minimum distances of no more than 1,000 metres from certain residential uses, which do not apply in wind energy areas. The privilege outside designated wind energy areas is governed by section 249 BauGB and depends on statutory cut-off dates, proof of area targets and transitional provisions. Designations in the preparatory land-use plan as special building areas or special areas for wind energy count as wind energy areas within the meaning of the Wind Energy Area Requirements Act (WindBG), which is why they are of greater importance. Such a procedure can be a prerequisite for the permit. We support you technically and with the documents required. For developers, urban land-use planning is therefore a key decision point in site development.
The procedure follows the Federal Building Code. The municipality involves the public and authorities (sections 3 and 4 BauGB), coordinates with neighbouring municipalities and weighs all interests against each other (section 1(7) BauGB). The plans must be adapted to the objectives of spatial planning, so priority areas and exclusion areas of regional planning must be observed. An environmental assessment with an environmental report is provided for as a rule. Species protection issues must already be identified and assessed in urban land-use planning, at least insofar as insurmountable species protection obstacles to the plan come into consideration; the level of detail depends on the stage of planning, and the more extensive assessment takes place in the permit procedure. In designated wind energy areas, certain assessments may be dispensed with or adapted in the permit procedure under section 6 WindBG, subject to the statutory conditions; this must be checked for the specific area and project. A curtailment obligation may then apply for bats, which must be pointed out in the environmental report.
Depending on the project, different types of plan are suitable. A project-related binding land-use plan regulates a specific project and can, if required, set the dismantling in advance. An offer-based binding land-use plan sets a special area without specific plants. In repowering, a dedicated binding land-use plan can provide that new turbines are only permissible if older ones are dismantled. A qualified binding land-use plan must set out at least the type and extent of building use, the buildable plots and the traffic areas. Whether distance rules under state law apply depends on the relevant federal and state-law provisions and on the specific designation of the wind energy area. Together with neighbouring municipalities, a joint preparatory land-use plan can be drawn up under section 204 BauGB. The statement of reasons must be drafted so that it withstands judicial review.
Urban land-use planning comes at the start of permit planning. It is usually followed by the BImSchG procedure (Federal Immission Control Act). Planning law and spatial planning law continue to be reviewed there, and parallel procedures can bring synergies. The technical foundations are provided by, among others, the detailed nature conservation surveys for the special species protection assessment (saP) and the landscape management plan (LBP). For photovoltaics, there is urban land-use planning for solar parks. In Austria, the equivalent step is rezoning for wind farms.
