Facts
The appellant [X.] lives in the vicinity of the Grand Casino Bern and filed a complaint against the decision of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern, according to which no building permit is required for the casino's gaming operations under Concession A. The Federal Court dismissed the complaint.
The company [Y. AG] operates a conference center with a congress hall on the property with Land Registry No. 3029 in Bern. In 1999, it received a building permit for the renovation and incorporation of the Teatro and the stage building into the casino's access control area. In 2002, the Federal Council granted the Grand Casino Kursaal Bern AG an operating Concession A under the Federal Act on Gambling and Casinos. The appellant [X.] argued that a new building permit was required for the gaming operations under this new concession.
The Federal Court concluded that the commencement of gaming operations under Concession A does not constitute a change of use requiring a building permit. The number and management of the seating and gaming areas in the casino have not changed to such an extent that this would be associated with a legally relevant increase in emissions or impacts on the zoning plan. The court also considered an increase in staff of around 100 employees as not requiring a building permit.
Considerations
The Federal Court stated that a building permit requirement must be affirmed if the realization of the construction or facility is generally, in the ordinary course of events, associated with such important spatial consequences that there is a public or neighbor interest in prior control. In the present case, the court did not consider these requirements to be…