Conversion of a barn located in the agricultural zone into a holiday home

Facts

On 9 March 2012, A. submitted a building permit application for the conversion of the barn located in the agricultural zone of the municipality of Binn into a holiday home. The Cantonal Building Commission of the Canton of Valais rejected the application on 6 September 2012. On 30 April 2013, A. submitted another building permit application for a modified conversion project. By decision of 29 September 2016, the Building Commission declared the barn to be worthy of protection and placed it under protection. By decision of the same date, it granted the building permit for the modified conversion project. The Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE) appealed this decision to the State Council of the Canton of Valais, which dismissed the appeal on 29 May 2019. The ARE then challenged the State Council's decision before the Cantonal Court of the Canton of Valais, which also dismissed the appeal on 27 January 2020. Thereupon, the ARE filed an appeal in public law matters with the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court first examined whether the provisions of Art. 24d(2) and (3) of the Spatial Planning Act (RPG) are applicable to the barn in question. It concluded that the building is not usable as intended within the meaning of the Federal Supreme Court's case law, as the roof and floor structures need to be replaced and work on the base wall is necessary to ensure structural stability. Therefore, the barn may fall under the term "ruin" and would thus not be covered by the scope of Art. 24d(2) RPG. Even if the barn were to be classified as usable as intended, the Federal Supreme Court is of the…