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Mayor Benz: "Citizens will decide on the future use of the area"
DARMSTADT-ARHEILGEN – The city council of Darmstadt, a city of science, decided in its meeting on Wednesday (20th) to repeal the project-related development plan A 43 (Frankfurter Landstraße 171–173).
The plan, legally binding since March 17, 2022, envisioned a mixed-use building: a supermarket, 15 apartments – eight of which were publicly subsidized – and an underground parking garage with 41 spaces. Since the project is not being pursued further, Section 12, Paragraph 6 of the German Building Code provides for the repeal of project-specific development plans.
With the repeal, the previously valid development plans A 7.1 ("An der Reitbahn") and A 7.2 ("Um die Kleine Brückenstraße") come back into force. The regulations stipulated therein will therefore apply again to future construction projects.
Voices from the magistrate
Mayor and Head of Economic Affairs Hanno Benz explained:
“With this decision, we have cleared the way to abandon the project, which was rejected by large parts of the Arheilgen citizenry, and to put this area to a use accepted by the citizens. Together with the citizens, we will decide what will happen to the land.”
Planning Director Michael Kolmer added:
“The cancellation is a formal consequence of the decision not to implement the construction project. This establishes clarity under planning law and reactivates the previously valid provisions of development plan A 7.1.”
Procedure and Outlook
The city council passed the resolution to prepare and publish the plans on June 24, 2025. The public consultation period ran from June 30 to July 30, without any comments being received from the public.
The draft repeal statute is to be adopted by the city council as a statute in the near future. The repeal will then come into effect through public announcement.
