Town Planning Practice: Context, Procedures and Statistics for Hong Kong

8.UNSPECIFIED USE ZONES

UNSPECIFIED USE ZONES GENERAL BACKGROUN D 'Unspecified Use ' (U ) zonin g mainl y exist s i n Developmen t Permissio n Are a (DPA) Plans . A s DP A Plan s ar e graduall y replace d b y Outlin e Zonin g Plan s (OZP), it is usually rezoned a s 'Undetermined' i n the OZP . To assis t applicants , a se t o f Town Plannin g Boar d (TPB ) guideline s — Town Planning Board Guidelines for Planning Application for Factory I Workshop I Warehouse Use within 'Unspecified Use' (U) Zones on Development Permission Area Plans under Section 16 of the Town Planning Ordinance — is promulgate d b y th e Tow n Plannin g Board . Use s covere d b y th e sai d TP B guidelines ar e no t examine d i n thi s book . However , application s fo r 'Villag e Type House' (VTH) under U zonin g are considered. There were altogethe r 59 7 cases, o f whic h 11 0 wen t befor e s . 1 7 (1 ) revie w hearings . Fiv e case s wen t further fo r s . 17(B ) appeals . Th e relevan t dat a ar e presente d i n Tabl e 8. 1 below. Table฀8. 1฀Numbe r฀o f฀application s฀b y฀status฀( U฀zones )฀ Status฀ s.฀16฀application฀ s.฀17(1)฀application฀ s.฀17(B)฀applicatio n฀ Number฀of฀application s฀ 597฀ 110฀ 5฀ The proportio n o f this typ e o f applications t o the al l categories o f application s varied tremendousl y ove r th e years . I t increase d fro m 0 % in 199 0 t o 31 % in 1993, an d the n fel l bac k t o 0 % in 1997 . Details o f the variatio n ar e show n i n Table 8.2 . 8 110฀ Analysis฀o f฀Plannin g฀Applicatio n฀Statistic s฀b y฀Zone:฀1975-199 8฀ Table฀8. 2฀Proportio n฀o f฀application s฀i n฀U ฀zone s฀t o฀application s฀i n฀al l฀zone s฀b y฀ number฀o f฀application s฀b y฀yea r฀ Year฀o f฀ meeting฀date s฀ 1990฀ 1991฀ 1992฀ 1993฀ 1994฀ 1995฀ 1996฀ 1997฀ Number฀o f฀s .฀1 6฀ applications฀ 0฀ 14฀ 148฀ 217฀ 168฀ 44฀ 6฀ 0฀ Total฀numbe r฀o f฀ s.฀1 6฀application s฀ 267฀ 398฀ 618฀ 736฀ 1005฀ 747฀ 870฀ 1052฀ Proportion฀(% )฀ 0฀ 3.5฀ 23.9฀ 29.5฀ 16.7฀ 5.9฀ 0.7฀ 0฀ AVERAGE SUCCES S RATE S Unlike th e application s i n othe r zones , th e averag e succes s rat e o f s . 1 6 applications an d tha t o f s . 17(1 ) review s fo r 'VTH ' application s withi n 'Unspecified Use ' zone were ver y close . They were 56 % and 54 % respectively . However, fo r appea l applications , none was allowe d by the Appeal Board. Th e details ar e show n in Table 8. 3 below . Table฀8. 3฀Numbe r฀o f฀approve d฀an d฀rejecte d฀application s฀b y฀status฀( U฀zones )฀ Status฀ s.฀1 6฀applicatio n฀ s.฀17(1 )฀applicatio n฀ s.฀17(B )฀applicatio n฀ Approved฀ 332฀ 59฀ 0฀ Rejected฀ 263฀ 46฀ 2฀ Others฀ 2฀ 5฀ 3฀ When compare d with the same type of s. 16 applications under othe r categorie s of zoning, th e averag e succes s rat e o f applications withi n 'Unspecified ' zone s ranked third , slightl y belo w th e averag e succes s rat e o f 57% . Fo r s . 17(1 ) applications, 'Unspecified zone ' ranked first. Detail s are summarized i n Table s 8.4 an d 8. 5 below . Table฀8. 4฀Averag e฀succes s฀rate s฀of฀s .฀1 6฀applications฀fo r฀'VTH '฀use฀by฀zon e฀ Rank฀ 1฀ 2฀ 3฀ 4฀ Zoning฀ Government/Institution/Community฀ Green฀Bei t฀ Unspecified฀Us e฀ Open฀Storag e฀ Average฀succes s฀rat e฀(% )฀ 70฀ 60฀ 56฀ 0฀ Unspecified฀Us e฀Zones฀ 111฀ Table฀8. 5฀Averag e฀succes s฀rate s฀o f฀s .฀17(1 )฀application s฀b y฀zon e฀ Rank฀ 1฀ 2฀ 3฀ Zoning฀ Unspecified฀Use฀ Green฀Bel t฀ Govern฀rnent/lnstitution/Cornnn฀unit y฀ Average฀succes s฀rat e฀(% )฀ 54฀ 17...