On Wednesday, January 29, the Council of State issued a favorable decision on a project to build 78 social housing units in the Nancy metropolitan area, which had previously been prevented in order to preserve protected wild species.
The project of the social landlord Batigère plans to establish these housing units in Villers-lès-Nancy, in the suburbs of Nancy.
Batigère had obtained authorisation from the prefect to deviate from the legislation on protected species, allowing him in particular to temporarily capture and kill spotted salamanders, which are on the red list of amphibians in metropolitan France.
This authorization had been contested in court by 60 local residents and an association, "La salamandre de l'Asnée", who had won their case before the administrative courts, at first instance and then on appeal.
The Nancy Administrative Court of Appeal had ruled that the project was "not necessary" to achieve the objectives of the social housing policy, since the municipality already met "the requirements of the SRU law".
The project leader had not demonstrated the existence of a "particular situation of tension in terms of social housing" or an "unmet need", the Court of Appeal noted.
She also believed that there could be "other sites" locally that would allow projects of this type to be developed while respecting legislation on protected species.
It therefore concluded that there was no "compelling reason of major public interest" which justified derogating from the legislation on the protection of protected species.
But the Council of State overturned this decision of the Court of Appeal, considering that the objectives of the project, in terms of sustainable development and social housing policy, were sufficient.
By extending the observation period for the rate of social housing in the municipality to 10 years, the Council of State notes that this rate is "structurally lower than the 20% target set by the legislator". It adds that these targets must be considered "as thresholds to be achieved" and do not constitute "ceilings".
The Council of State did not rule on the possibility that there are "other satisfactory sites" for the construction of these social housing units, as mentioned by the Court of Appeal.
The Council of State therefore referred the case back to the same Administrative Court of Appeal in Nancy.
Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.
