Facts
Walter Rickli is the owner of a parcel in the municipality of Niederlenz. The municipal corporation of Niederlenz intends to expand its existing gravel pit and to use properties for this purpose, some of which are forested. In the Cultural Landscape Plan and the Land Use Regulations for Cultural Landscape of the municipality of Niederlenz dated June 29, 1990, which were approved by the Grand Council of the Canton of Aargau on June 2, 1992, a gravel extraction zone was designated.
Walter Rickli filed a normative control appeal against this land use plan designation with the Administrative Court of the Canton of Aargau. At the same time, a complaint procedure against the building permit for the gravel extraction issued by the Niederlenz Municipal Council was pending with the Government Council of the Canton of Aargau.
The Administrative Court dismissed the normative control appeal against the land use plan designation, while it partially upheld the appeal against the building permit and remanded the matter to the Government Council for re-evaluation. Walter Rickli appealed the normative control decision to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that the administrative court appeal is admissible, as the provisions in the land use plan based on federal administrative law are disputed. The designation of the gravel extraction zone in the land use plan meets the criteria of an administrative decision within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Federal Supreme Court finds that in the context of land use planning, a comprehensive balancing of interests must be carried out, taking into account all relevant spatial planning and environmental protection aspects. This applies in particular to projects subject to environmental impact assessment (EIA) such as the planned gravel extraction. The deficiencies in the factual clarifications…