Facts
Parties:
- Appellants: Helvetia Nostra and [A.] , represented by attorney Pierre Chiffelle
- Respondent: [B.] , represented by attorney Mark Aufdenblatten
- Municipality of Zermatt
- State Council of the Canton of Valais
Subject: Building permit
Facts:
[B.] is the owner of a plot in the core zone of the municipality of Zermatt with a secondary residence quota of over 20%. She submitted a building application for the demolition of two houses and the construction of two multi-family buildings. Building A should contain two 7½-room apartments without usage restrictions, Building B 13 primary residences with usage restrictions.
The municipality of Zermatt granted the building permit. Helvetia Nostra and [A.] filed an appeal with the State Council and later with the Cantonal Court, both of which were dismissed. The appellants then filed an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court first examines the admissibility of the appeal and finds that Helvetia Nostra, as an organization entitled to appeal in the field of nature and heritage conservation, is authorized to file the appeal. The appeal is therefore admissible.
The dispute concerns whether the building permit for Building B constitutes an evasion of the secondary residence ban under Art. 75b Cst. and Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 SHA. The Federal Supreme Court examines this freely and finds that the architectural design of the apartments and their location in the town center do not indicate evasion. Furthermore, there is an agreement with [C. AG] ,…