Dismissal of the Appeal against the Issuance of the Building Permit for a Sex Industry Use

Facts

[A. AG] , [B.] and [C. SA] (Appellants) filed an appeal against the issuance of the building permit for the conversion of the 3rd floor of a building in the city of Zurich for sex industry purposes by [D. AG] (Respondent). The Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich had dismissed the appeal of the Appellants. The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the Administrative Court and dismissed the appeal.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court stated that the Appellants, as direct neighbours of the planned brothel, have a legitimate interest in the review of the contested decision. However, it denied a violation of the right to be heard by waiving an additional on-site inspection, as the facts of the case were already sufficiently established. The Federal Supreme Court also considered the calculation of the residential share in the surrounding area as not arbitrary. Furthermore, the Federal Supreme Court found that the coordination requirement under Art. 25a SPA was not violated, as the permits required for the operation of the brothel do not have any significant direct impact on the design of the construction project. Regarding the…