The fourth, and last, section of Sembach IV Business Park, for which igr drew up the site development plan, is due to be implemented. A logistics company wants to establish a 50,000 m2 depot and an approximately 40 m high high-bay warehouse on the approximately 72.5 ha development site. Construction is due to commence in spring 2017.
In the Sembach business park, the last construction phase of the "Flugplatz Sembach" (Sembach Airfield) transformation area will acquire a new use, following the receipt of a recent request from a logistics company to build a logistics centre there. igr was awarded the contract for the creation of a site development plan, including an environmental report, expert reports on species conservation, and noise pollution assessments. Parallel to preparing the site development plan, igr is also changing the land-use plan.
The development site lies on the boundary of two municipalities - Mehlingen and Sembach.
Due to its position stretching across two municipalities, it was necessary to draw up a site development plan for each municipality. The plan is to establish in particular commercial and industrial facilities which require a large amount of space. The business park has ideal traffic connections, and has a unique selling point in the Kaiserslautern area, due to its size. Due to its proximity to both local communities, it was necessary to assess the impact, in particular of the industrial area, on the nearby residential areas in relation to industrial noise and other emissions which fall under the Hazardous Incident Ordinance, and to take account of any potential conflicts in the site development plan. Due to the site topography, the height modulation within the plots was also regulated through the determination of corresponding ground elevations in the site development plan, in order to allow the location of facilities requiring large areas.
On the long unused former military airbase, high value biotopes have developed in some areas. The assumed presence of birds, bats and reptiles meant that, in close coordination with the district nature protection authority, the plots and species were thoroughly examined. Following confirmation of the most valuable areas, the demarcation of the business and industrial plots was optimised to preserve these areas as far as possible. Working with the district nature protection authority and a local nature conservation association, it was possible to develop ways to minimise the impact. In small areas of the affected plots, rough pastures and oat grass meadows have developed. Consequently, these areas fall under the general protection accorded by section 15 of the State Nature Conservation Act in conjunction with section 30 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act. In order to be able to build on these plots, an exemption application in line with section 30 para. 3 & 4 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act was prepared by igr.
The consideration of the plan amendment is scheduled for January 2017. In which case the site development plan will have been be approved within eight months.
Hartmut Jopp