Facts
On November 24, 2002, the eligible voters of the municipality of Arosa decided on a comprehensive revision of the local zoning plan, which was approved by the Cantonal Government on April 6/8, 2004. The Prätschli area was predominantly assigned to the agricultural zone, overlaid with a winter sports zone.
On December 18, 2005, the eligible voters of the municipality of Arosa decided on a partial revision of the local zoning plan. In an area of 2.1 hectares in the Prätschli area, a new Hotel Zone 4 (H4) with a mandatory neighborhood plan was designated to realize a wellness hotel with approximately 200 hotel rooms and 24 suites, as well as a separate staff house with 92 studios.
Against this partial revision of the local zoning plan, the married couple A. and co-participants, as well as H., filed a planning appeal, which ultimately ended up at the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
According to the consistent case law of the Federal Supreme Court, oversized building zones are not only impractical but also illegal. While the demand for building land for the next 15 years is not the only factor in determining the building zones, it does represent the upper limit, from which only exceptionally, after a comprehensive weighing of all relevant interests, may be deviated.
In the present case, the undeveloped residential building zones of the municipality of Arosa were, according to the 2002/2004 local zoning plan revision, almost twice as large as the demand calculated using the trend method for the next 15 years. In addition, there were considerable internal utilization reserves in the largely developed area, which were not taken into account in the demand calculation. Under these circumstances, the building zone of Arosa was already…