Facts
X. is the owner of a property located in the agricultural zone in Adligenswil. In 1996, he received authorization to rebuild the old farmhouse that had been destroyed by fire on this property. Contrary to the authorization, X. installed two 4.5-room apartments on the ground and upper floors, and a 2-room apartment in the attic, instead of the two residential units authorized on the ground and upper floors. The Lucerne Spatial Planning Office subsequently refused to grant the necessary special permit for this, whereupon the Adligenswil Municipal Council obliged X. to remove the associated installations by 30 April 1999 at the latest.
X. contested this order with the cantonal Administrative Court, which dismissed the appeal on 26 June 2002. X. then filed an administrative court appeal with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
According to Article 24c, paragraph 1 of the Spatial Planning Act (RPG), buildings and facilities outside the building zones that can be used as intended and are no longer in conformity with the zone are generally protected in their existence. However, the scope of Article 24c RPG is limited to buildings and facilities that have become non-conforming with the zone due to a subsequent change in laws or plans, but not to buildings where the non-conformity with the zone has arisen solely due to actual changes, such as the abandonment of the agricultural operation.
In the present case, the old farmhouse was…