RASK Secures Supreme Court Victory in Dispute Over Residential Detailed Spatial Plan Invalidation

Sandra Kaas, co-head of RASK's environmental law and spatial planning practice and partner Annika Vait successfully represented a real estate developer in the Supreme Court in a dispute with Viimsi Municipality over the invalidation of a detailed spatial plan.

The dispute concerned a 1.2-hectare plot of land located in Randvere Village, Viimsi Municipality, for which a detailed spatial plan was adopted in 2007, granting the developer the right to build six single-family homes with outbuildings. In 2021, the developer wanted to change the plan so that two row houses would be built instead of six single-family homes, but the municipality did not support the change. In 2023, the municipal council declared the detailed spatial plan invalid on the grounds that it had not been implemented within 15 years.

RASK represented the developer in challenging the municipal council’s decision. The Administrative Court and the Circuit Court ruled in favor of the municipality, but the Supreme Court overturned the lower courts’ decisions, upheld the appeal in its entirety, and ordered the municipality to bear all of the developer’s legal costs.

The Supreme Court explained that there must be a compelling and specific reason for declaring a detailed spatial plan invalid, and that the landowner’s rights must be taken into account when declaring a plan invalid against the owner’s will. The Supreme Court agreed with RASK’s arguments that the basis for invalidating the detailed spatial plan was solely political sentiment, and that the municipality’s justifications were vague and did not outweigh the significant violation of the developer’s rights as a landowner.

In conclusion, the Supreme Court overturned the municipal council’s decision, and the detailed spatial plan for the developer’s property was reinstated. This is a landmark ruling for both landowners and local governments.