Facts
A. is the owner of a plot in the hamlet of Allens, in the municipality of Cossonay. On this plot there is an old residential building, the ridge of which is oriented north-south. A. obtained a building permit for a new five-unit residential building, the ridge of which is oriented east-west.
A. then submitted a project to demolish the old house and build two new five-unit residential buildings, with east-west oriented ridges. The municipality refused this building permit, on the grounds that the orientation of the ridges did not comply with the municipal regulations. The Administrative and Public Law Court of the Vaud Cantonal Tribunal confirmed this refusal.
A. then appealed to the Federal Tribunal, which upholds the appeal and refers the case back to the previous instances for a new examination of the aesthetics of the project.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considers that Article 18a, paragraph 4 of the Federal Spatial Planning Act (LAT) provides that the interest in the use of solar energy takes precedence in principle over aesthetic aspects. This provision is directly applicable and restricts the discretion of the authorities issuing building permits.
The Federal Tribunal considers that the Cantonal Court has limited its review to arbitrariness in the interpretation of the municipal regulations, whereas the interests protected by federal law justified a more thorough review. The interpretation of the municipal…