Another project bites the dust

Israel largest IKEA store project has turned into an impossible dream. The land where it was planned is zoned as industrial area, and an IKEA store is defined as commerce. Both are obsolete categories, since what is industry today? Certainly nothing to do with a typical metal bashing shop in the Turkish Empire. But bureaucratic laws never change and will always be used to kill new iniciatives. It is extremely unreasonable.

The Tel Aviv Court for Administrative Affairs has cancelled the extraordinary rezoning permit for IKEA Israel and Gazit-Globe Ltd. (TASE: GLOB) at Ma’ayan Soreq in Rishon LeZion. In order to bypass the Planning and Building Law (1965), the Rishon LeZion municipality had awarded the companies an extraordinary land permit to temporarily use the land for commerce instead of industry. The Tel Aviv Court for Administrative Affairs has overturned this decision.The court overturned a decision by the regional planning and building commission’s appeals committee for the site, saying it had “flaws that verged on extreme unreasonableness.” The decision, if not overturned by the Supreme Court, means that the IKEA store will not be able to be built in Rishon LeZion, unless the urban building plan is changed.