A Taipei City councilor yesterday accused the Taipei City Government of collaborating with a construction company and skipping the review process for the construction of a 31-story building on Bo-ai Road despite the Presidential Office’s security concerns.
The city government skipped the urban design review necessary for the construction of the Yang Sheng Chun Lin (揚昇君臨) apartment complex on Bo-ai Road, which is located 300m from the Presidential Office, and failed to answer the National Security Bureau’s demand for a security assessment, New Party Taipei City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元) said.
“Even the controversial I Pin Building [一品苑] underwent a review process. The Yang Sheng Chun Lin building is clearly a result of collaboration between the city government and the construction company,” he said at a press conference in front of the construction site.
The I Pin Building, a high-rise apartment complex close to the presidential residence, became the center of controversy as residents of the 23-story building will have a clear view of the president’s official residence.
To ensure the president’s safety, the Presidential Office had asked the city government to impose stricter regulations on the height of new buildings in the vicinity of the Bo-ai Special District (博愛特區).
Lee said the city government not only ignored demands from the Presidential Office and National Security Bureau, but also agreed to let the company increase the number of parking spaces in the building.
In response, Liu Mei-yu (劉美玉), a division chief at the city’s Urban Development Department, said the company applied for a construction license last year, which was before the Presidential Office had raised security concerns about building height.
Liu said the department did not complete an urban design review because the project had passed an environmental impact assessment by the city’s Environmental Protection Department.
The environmental impact assessment reviewed the same items as the urban review, including the building’s impact on traffic and the environment, and so the urban design review was omitted, she said.
Liu said the department organized a public hearing in August after the Presidential Office raised security concerns, and the National Security Bureau representatives who attended the hearing did not ask for the project to be halted.
Wang Yu-jung (王瑜容), a representative from the company, dismissed Lee’s accusations and said the company would proceed with construction according to schedule.
“We did everything, from purchasing the land to applying for the construction license, in accordance with the law, and the NSB did not express any concerns about the building. This is a legal construction project,” she said.
In response to Lee’s demand for the department to conduct an urban design review for the project, Liu said the department would hold a meeting to discuss the possibility.
RSS