The municipality of Unterhaching sometimes groans quite a bit under the weight of the densification. She often allows further residential development, in the immediate vicinity of the outdoor pool she has now drawn the red card and intervened with a radical decision. She would like to secure the property directly opposite the swimming pool entrance. The building committee is largely in agreement that another green area should be created here for the leisure facility and local recreation. Only the CSU is strictly against it. She speaks of the “most expensive lawn in Germany”.
Schrenkstrasse is a small dead-end street that leads past the ticket booths at the southern end of the baths in the direction of Hachinger Bach. So far there is only one residential building in the front area opposite the swimming pool, behind it is a meadow. Now an investor would like to construct several buildings here with a total of 22 residential units and an underground car park. Alarm bells went off immediately for Mayor Wolfgang Panzer (SPD). Not with us, he had already let the municipal council know during the first consultations. He sees the preservation of the outdoor pool at risk if all new residents were to use Schrenkstrasse in the future. In the meantime, his administration has thought about what the municipality can do to thwart such plans and has now presented an “effective” draft, as head of the building department Stefan Lauszat says.
If the municipal council agrees to the management proposal at its meeting this Wednesday, then the property will be designated as a “public outdoor pool”. This means that no fundamental structural development could take place here in the medium term. Instead, a green area and facilities for the pool such as a water guard house, changing rooms or trampolines would be conceivable. With up to 7,000 visitors on hot summer days in non-Corona years, such a need cannot be denied. “If you know the capacity of our swimming pool, it’s good to expand the lawn,” said SPD parliamentary group spokesman Peter Wöstenbrink.
On summer days there is a lot going on in and in front of the Unterhachinger outdoor pool. According to the mayor, there is no space for additional residents on Schrenkstrasse.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
Even in winter, the area would not go unused, according to the idea from the town hall, where they are considering a park for the general public. The administration wanted to go even further and also declare the front property, on which a residential building currently stands, to be a common area in order to enable child and senior care there in the future. However, most committee members had concerns. CSU parliamentary group spokesman Korbinian Rausch finds that the community is “significantly” encroaching on property rights. These are “neo-communist views”.
Now, with a decision on Wednesday, the residents would not have to move out of their house, nor could bathers spread out their towels on the property this summer. The building has grandfathering and the municipality can only access it if structural changes are to be made there. It is then also necessary to pay compensation to the property owners. No one can say how high it would be, it certainly wouldn’t be cheap in such a central location. “It’s not a bargain for a meadow. But it’s our outdoor pool and the alternative would be residential development,” FDP councilor Bernard Maidment agreed.
Mayor Panzer once again defended his actions at the meeting and warned against building at this point: “We’re all talking about green spaces and retention areas.” Because the property is considered a flood area due to its proximity to the Hachinger Bach. He also recalls the municipality’s goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2030. “We want to break new ground, do we want to seal more areas there?” Asked Panzer, who sees the community as overwhelmed with additional residential development. “That also entails costs,” said the mayor. You also have to think about the social infrastructure.