Development of the town of Vaterstetten: The middle is slipping backwards – Ebersberg

Sometimes the most insightful debates are the ones that don’t happen — at least not in public. That’s how it was recently in the Vaterstetten municipal council when the next emergency renovation of the town hall was discussed. The façade renovation, which cost at least 330,000 euros, was approved without any comments or dissenting votes. There was also no comment from the committee on the schedule presented by the administration for how long the town hall should continue to be used as such: the building from 1970 will still need 15 years.

This time indication plus the lack of a reaction from the municipal council indicates that the committee has at least already agreed on the key points of the Agenda 2030 list of priorities. Because one of the toughest large-scale projects in the larger community is the redesign of the center of Vaterstetten, which includes additional retail space and a market square that is generally more attractive, as well as a new town hall.

The redesign of the center of Vaterstetten has been on the agenda since the end of the 1990s, but initially without the demolition of the town hall. Instead, a community hall was to be placed next to it, and a cinema was also being discussed in the meantime. Finally, in 2009, when it became apparent that the project, which was estimated at more than 20 million euros at the time, would not be affordable, the idea came up to include the town hall in the plans.

Specifically, it was about a kind of building relocation: the town hall and the citizens’ hall – either as one or two buildings – were to be rebuilt on the community-owned land east of Möschenfelder Straße and in the parking lot next to the church. The whole thing should have been financed by selling the property on which the current town hall is located. There, an investor should then develop commercial space, such as offices and retail, but also apartments. However, when the investor favored by the community had to file for bankruptcy in 2013, the last attempt to find a new center for Vaterstetten ended.

The new town hall will be on the priority list – but rather at the bottom

However, the majority opinion in the municipal council remained that the old town hall should be replaced by a new one at some point and as soon as possible. When it turned out in 2016 that the town hall had to be renovated due to fire protection deficiencies, representatives of the CSU, SPD, Greens and Free Voters factions said that this should have been the last major measure to be taken on the building. Among other things, phrases such as “bottomless pit” and “pig sty” were used. But according to the current municipal council decision, it will be kept until around 2037.

For Mayor Leonhard Spitzauer (CSU), who was not yet a member of the municipal council at the time, it is clear that the town hall should be rebuilt, despite the 15-year term of use. Namely to the east of the current Möschenfelder Straße, which, as in the old plans, is to be pivoted. There was already a revised draft for this in 2019, but without a timetable. The mayor is under no illusions about such a thing: “It’s definitely not the number one priority, it will take at least ten years.” He could already say that much about the current consultations on the list of priorities.

A design presented in 2019 for the new town center of Vaterstetten on Wendelstein- and Möschenfelder Straße.

(Photo: bgsm architects urban planners/oh)

The head of the town hall also provides information about what is at the top of the list of voluntary services: It is geothermal energy. This is not a surprise, however, as there are corresponding statements from all municipal council groups. According to an initial estimate from the summer, the municipality will invest around 20 million euros here.

According to Spitzauer, the other projects are still being coordinated, and the next meeting of the responsible working group is planned for February. Perhaps there will therefore already be a first presentation of the list of priorities in March. However, the mayor also hints at what will be on the agenda after the town hall on the timeline: the community hall, with which the entire town center planning began a good quarter of a century ago, will probably be the last building block of this center.

source site