Benidorm council is moving forward with the change in the regulation that will allow the number of streets recognised as commercial hubs to be increased. At the time, it was reported that the proposed streets to be considered as ‘commercial hubs’ are Ametlla del Mar, Beniardá, Foietes, Esperanto, Armada Española and Vicente Llorca Alós, as well as pedestrian areas. A proposal which was explained in the Consejo Asesor de Escena Urbana (Urban Scene Advisory Council) three years ago and which will have to be detailed in the next phase of the procedure, in which other suggestions put forward by Aico, asociación de comerciantes de Benidorm (Benidorm’s traders’ association), could be added.
According to the decree, the favourable environmental report studies the possibility of extending the commercial hubs “to the streets of strong commercial demand, a concept that is variable over time, as the pandemic has shown, so it should incorporate a rule that derives to sectoral studies and ordinances of easy administrative processing its alteration by changes in supply and/or commercial demand.
With this, they will accept the implementation of commercial activity in the basements and first floors of the premises in which until now it was not possible because they did not have this qualification.
In addition, they include the request of the Servicio Territorial de Urbanismo de Alicante (Territorial Urban Planning Service of Alicante), which demanded that the management mechanism of the endowment actions should be through Programas de Actuación Aislada (Isolated Action Programmes), instead of interior reform plans, to make it more agile because it would not be necessary to go through the environmental process. This will affect the value of the change of use of the use below ground level in Edificación Abierta (Open Building) (EA) and (VU) planning zones, analogous to Mod 01. For this, the ‘bottom table’ will be the new coefficient that will weight the commercial value of a basement depending on the position of the use with respect to the streets with which it connects, stairs, etc., in comparison to an equivalent ground floor premises.
Hotels may also benefit, as the ‘bottom table’ may be applied to the tertiary-commercial use on the first floor and basement of these establishments located in EA and VU open building zones. However, they are not to be included in the 15/40% increases in use, such as nightclubs, bars, restaurants, shops, spas, etc., which are not exclusive use for customers.
The ‘bottom table’ will also be applied to the lucrative private use in these same spaces that are located in EA and VUU Open Building development zones, not included in the increase in use.
According to the environmental analysis, these new actions “will be of little relevance and small entity”, but it considers that they can contribute to an improvement of the urban landscape in the long term.
