The long-stalled Taipei Dome project passed the final review process yesterday, obtaining approval from Taipei City’s Urban Design Review Committee, with construction scheduled to start in October.
The approval was the final step for the project after the city’s Environmental Impact Assessment Review Committee granted conditional approval on May 26. The urban design committee said the contractor should make adjustments to the plans in accordance with the requirements of the environmental impact committee before beginning construction.
The environmental impact committee required the developer of the project — Farglory Group — to reduce the size of the complex’s commercial facilities, including a shopping mall, movie theater, hotel and office space by 17 percent to 202,610m2, and increase parking space to 187,965m2.
The conditions also included adding another lane to Zhong-xiao E Road, presenting a traffic plan that avoids congestion in nearby residential areas and acquiring environmentally friendly building certification.
Ting Yu-chun (丁育群), urban design committee chair and commissioner of Taipei City’s Urban Development Department, said the developer must revise its plans to meet the conditions before applying for a construction license.
Janus Lee (李柏熹), manager of Farglory’s operation administration department, said the company would make the adjustments immediately and apply for a construction license by July 2, with preliminary plans for construction to begin in October.
The urban design committee’s decision was met with protests from environmentalists and local residents, who said the project would have a negative impact on traffic flow and the environment.
Taiwan Green Party spokesman Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said various committee members had expressed concerns about the project in previous review meetings, but the city government insisted on approving the project. Pan urged Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) to hold a public debate with environmentalists on whether the city needs another commercial complex in downtown Xinyi District (信義).
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
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