The so-called Green Center is located between the southern and northern development of the Unterhachinger Stumpfwiese. A piece of free land, the last on the former field of the Stumpf farmer, on which the municipality has been developing a new building area since the 1990s. For years there has been a heated argument about how it should be designed. In particular, a possible breakthrough between Witney- and Ludwig-Specht-Straße divides the residents into two camps. After seven years of discussion with citizens’ workshops and surveys, collections of signatures and exams, the municipal council wants to start planning next Wednesday. During the preliminary discussions in the building committee on Tuesday, a compromise emerged, but it became clear: the municipal councils are still not doing easily.
On the one hand, there are residents who absolutely want to avoid being able to drive through the Green Center, especially by car. Because they fear that many will then take the route as a shortcut. This was the opinion of almost all participants in a citizens’ workshop in 2015. But this was promptly followed by a signature campaign from those who demanded the breakthrough. And because both sides have about the same number of supporters, it will definitely be uncomfortable when the local council takes a stand. So the church got out of the dilemma by postponing the matter. If the building is to be continued on the stump meadow first, then that can still be decided.
That year the administration found that “the time has now come” and the proceedings have been resumed. In the exams, the local council agreed on two possible variants: a sidewalk through the Green Center or a sidewalk and bike path, possibly as shared space with one-way regulation. This should now be voted on. Just how often the building authority manager Stefan Lauszat mentioned the term “citizen participation” in his lecture shows how delicate things are still seen in the town hall. If it weren’t for Corona and currently high incidences, the community would have presented the ideas to residents again in December at a “winter market” at the Green Center. Now a different concept for citizen information is to be developed.
But the Greens didn’t like this approach at all. “We need real citizen participation and should take our time for it,” said parliamentary group spokeswoman Evi Karbaumer, “it’s just too quick to get people on board.” Some of the others on the committee simply lost their breath after seven years. Mayor Wolfgang Panzer (SPD) said: “I’m completely off my feet. It is an insinuation to say that we don’t want to take people with us.” It is now up to the local politicians to make a decision. Peter Hupfauer from the FDP made a similar statement: “It is our job to approach the citizens with a well-considered proposal.” There are some who want it that way and others who want it differently. The municipal council has to make responsible decisions for the common good. “We can’t get out of the number, it will always end at the point where we make a decision.” Dieter Senninger from the SPD also warned: “We now have to show our colors and get the development plan off the ground.”
The two proposed variants were not enough for the CSU, however. Her councilor Franz Felzmann called for more “effort and creativity” at “this neuralgic point” and again brought an investigation into possible car traffic. He did not find a majority for it. She spoke out in favor of the so-called half-open variant with a sidewalk and bike path. Walter-Paetzmann-Straße is also to become a permanent one-way street.