Facts
The municipal corporation of Reinach applied to the Reinach Municipal Council on April 11, 1994 for a building permit for a forestry workshop on a forest parcel. The Municipal Council granted the permit and dismissed an objection from neighbors S. and D. S. and D. then filed an administrative appeal with the Government Council of the Canton of Aargau, which was unsuccessful. Subsequently, S. and D. filed an administrative court appeal against the decision of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Aargau with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the building application for the forestry workshop should be rejected. On the one hand, it could not be proven that the workshop is operationally necessary for the efficient management of the forest at the planned location. The long-term achievable timber harvesting quantity of around 2,100 m³ per year does not justify a separate workshop. On the other hand, for forestry buildings and facilities planned in the forest, it must be examined whether the project could not be equally well constructed in the building zone and whether the construction in the forest appears to be significantly more advantageous than the construction in the building zone. The respondents were unable to prove this, as it was primarily a matter of financial considerations.
In summary, it must be noted that when assessing the conformity with the land use plan of forestry buildings and facilities planned in the forest, both the purpose and the operational and forestry…