Citizens will decide in May in the dispute over a new hotel building in Schliersee in Upper Bavaria. The local council unanimously decided on Tuesday evening to allow a referendum, as the community announced in the evening. The council set the date for May 5th.
The initiators of the Schlierseer Hof citizens’ initiative collected around 1,300 signatures for the citizens’ petition under the motto “Preserve Schliersee’s beauty – no mega hotel on the lake”. That’s about twice as many as would have been needed in the town of 7,000 inhabitants.
The owners of the aging Schlierseer Hof want to tear down the house and build a larger one. They argue that a renovation is more expensive than the new building, which is estimated at 55 million euros. Opponents criticize the planned building, which is around 90 meters long and almost 24 meters high, as too big and too massive.
“We are in favor of the comprehensive renovation, conversion or moderate new construction of the Schlierseer Hof,” said Alexander von Schoeler, press spokesman for the citizens’ initiative, in the evening. However, development according to current plans would significantly disrupt the townscape. Now the citizens should decide whether they want the planned new construction of the Schlierseer Hof not to significantly exceed the current size of the development.
Mayor Franz Schnitzenbaumer (CSU) said before the local council meeting that it would not be a bad thing if such a large project was put on a broad basis. He himself hopes that a possible new upscale hotel will boost tourism in the town, especially in the off-season.
The owner family argues that they have already reduced the number of rooms from 146 to 116 in consultation with the municipality. Less doesn’t pay off and doesn’t allow for financing from the bank, said hotelier Marcel de Alwis. If the citizens of Schliersee decide against the new building, he sees no prospects for the continued operation of the house.