The PLU explained

What is a PLU for?

For residents: The PLU (plan local d’urbanisme, the commune’s local planning framework) determines the building rules against which permis de construire (building permits) and works declarations are assessed. It fixes the location of future roads and major public facilities, and establishes protections (natural environment, built heritage).

For the commune: The PLU sets out the intended prospects for the commune’s development through the Projet d’Aménagement et Développement Durable (the planning and sustainable development project).

In this respect, it ensures:

• The balance between development and the protection of natural spaces, in keeping with the objectives of sustainable development.
• The diversity of urban functions (working, living, relaxing, moving about, shopping…) and social mix in housing.
• The economical use of space and the control of transport needs, the preservation of the quality of the air, the water, the soil and the subsoil, as well as the prevention of natural hazards
• The PLU also takes into account and gives detail to the major policies of the State and of the larger authorities (Région, Département…).

It is a tool that allows each commune to have its own identity, by requiring or forbidding certain architectural styles, façade colours, roof pitches, a given density of buildable area. From the architecture of a house we can tell where it stands: a half-timbered Alsatian house, for example, or a house typical of the Landes and the Arcachon basin, each has its own identity. The PLU regulations make it possible to maintain and preserve these heritage values, which make for the richness and the diversity of our country.

How do I establish the situation my property is in?

To know the development rights attaching to a property, you must first establish which PLU zone it lies in. To that end, the PLU includes a plan of the commune showing the cadastral parcels of each plot and divided into zones (UA, UB, UC, UD, UE, N, A…). It also indicates protected areas such as espaces boisés classés (classified woodland), protected sectors and protected built heritage, as well as the emplacements réservés set aside for works to public spaces (road works).

Each zone has its own planning rules, set out in 14 articles, which establish what may be built on the land. For information, all the U zones correspond to urban zones, zone A to agricultural land and zone N to natural spaces. The last two are relatively restrictive in terms of development rights, since they are protected zones. A certificat d’urbanisme (planning certificate) issued by the commune can help you identify the applicable rules.

Am I obliged to call on the services of a professional (an architect) to submit a permis de construire?

That depends on the case! Is it a private individual? An extension? A new build? A legal entity?

For a private individual in their own name:

• New build: recourse to an architect is compulsory if the floor area is greater than or equal to 150m².

• Extension of an existing building: recourse to an architect is compulsory if the floor area or the ground footprint is greater than or equal to 150m².

For a legal entity: recourse to an architect is compulsory whatever the project and its size.

I would draw attention, however, to the fact that putting together a permis de construire application is today a relatively laborious business. The file must comply with the rules of the PLU but must also meet the requirements of the code de l’urbanisme (the planning code), which imposes a certain presentation as to both the substance and the form of the application, and also compliance with thermal regulations. The commune forwards the order approving the permis de construire application to the Préfecture. The administration has three months in which to withdraw the application should it be unlawful. Furthermore, once the permis de construire has been posted on the site, there is a two-month period during which third parties may bring a challenge. If the application file contains weaknesses because one of the points mentioned above has not been respected, there will be a risk of challenge and of seeing the permit withdrawn if the grounds are justified. The architect has an advisory role in developing the project, but also assists the client through all the administrative and legal steps of the application.

What are the consequences of failing to comply with the permis de construire obtained?

When the applicant carries out works subject to authorisation (permis de construire, déclaration préalable, the prior declaration required for minor works), a site visit by the planning department is arranged after the declaration of completion of works has been lodged at the mairie, in order to verify that the works carried out conform to the authorisation granted.

If the works conform, an attestation de non-contestation de la conformité (a certificate that conformity is not contested) will be issued by the commune. Where the works do not conform, the mairie will issue a refusal of conformity, indicating the points that do not respect the planning authorisation, and a fresh permis de construire application will have to be lodged at the mairie, provided that those works comply with the planning rules of the commune of Saint-⁠Tropez. Failing that, the works cannot be regularised.

Works carried out in breach of the planning regulations and recorded by the commune will be the subject of a procès-verbal d’infraction (formal notice of offence) sent to the Procureur de la République, who will conduct the proceedings. The penalty may range from a simple fine to the demolition of the structure, in addition to the fine. What is more, the irregularity of the works may have the effect of freezing the building; a failure to regularise works carried out without authorisation will reduce the scope for altering it thereafter.

Moreover, on the sale of a property, notaires, estate agents and buyers ask for the certificat de conformité in order to have a guarantee on the property and thereby to be sure that no risk of litigation can be established against the building. The absence of this document carries a risk of devaluing the property.

What is the decision-making process for the PLU? What recourse do owners have?

The procedure for drawing up a PLU, in a few lines:

1. The initial act formally opening the procedure is the “délibération de prescription” (the resolution ordering the plan). The authority (commune or communauté de communes) must set out, in broad terms, the objectives governing the drawing up of the PLU, and must determine the arrangements for consultation with the public.

2. Consultation with the public throughout the studies makes it possible to arrive at the broad orientations of the PLU, shared with the public.

3. The association of the public bodies are associated with the drawing up of the PLU. These are the State, the Conseil Général, the Conseil Régional…, the Architecte des Bâtiments de France (the state architect responsible for protected heritage). These bodies support the elected representatives by bringing to the PLU a view specific to their own areas of competence. This association makes it possible to arrive at the broad orientations of the PLU, shared with the authority’s institutional partners.

4. On the basis of the definition of these broad orientations, the authority draws up the draft PLU. It consists essentially of a plan identifying different zones within the town that present the same characteristics, and of the regulations setting out the rules applicable to each of those zones.

5. The arrêt of the draft PLU, formalised by a decision of the authority’s deliberative body, marks the end of the studies.

6. At the close of the consultation of the public bodies, the draft PLU, as formally arrested, is submitted to an enquête publique (public inquiry). This stage serves to inform the public and to gather its views and suggestions on the draft PLU before its definitive adoption. Anyone may come and present observations, make suggestions or counter-proposals. The public is informed of the conduct of the inquiry by legal notices in the local newspaper (compulsory) and by the posting of the inquiry order at the mairie (compulsory).

From the close of the public inquiry, the commissaire enquêteur (the appointed inquiry commissioner) has one month in which to submit his report and reasoned conclusions. These documents must be made available to the public as soon as they are received. It is, however, an advisory opinion only, which does not bind the authority.

7. The report and the conclusions of the commissaire enquêteur are examined with a view to making final amendments to the file. The opinions of the associated public bodies are also taken into account.

8. The PLU is approved and becomes enforceable. The préfet carries out a review of legality on the approved PLU within the two months following receipt of the file.

Owners may, within the framework of the public inquiry, lodge a request seeking amendments to the draft PLU on various matters, namely development rights (changes to the ground footprint, to height…), changes of zoning and so on. The commissaire enquêteur and the authority reserve the right to take these requests into account or not, giving reasons for their decision in the conclusions delivered by the commissaire enquêteur, which will in particular restate the authority’s responses.

Why are the PLU regulations of Saint-⁠Tropez regularly challenged?

The commune of Saint-⁠Tropez is an emblematic and highly sought-after place. The economic stakes are very considerable, and the role of the PLU has a bearing on the principal activities of the Golfe de Saint-⁠Tropez, namely construction, property and tourism. The difficulty is to reconcile the expectations and needs of the commune with those of owners and of the principal parties mentioned above.

by François Vieillecroze, architecte D.E.S.A. and Charles Vieillecroze, MSc. architecte E.P.F.L.