The Taipei City Government yesterday announced that it will rezone part of Xinyi Road in Beitou District (北投), making it a special-use district to legalize hot spring businesses in the area.
The area has been declared a heritage zone, and the 16 hot spring businesses along the road currently contravene the Hot Spring Act (溫泉法), which took effect in July.
The Ministry of the Interior approved the city government’s proposal before the act took effect to allow the city to rezone the area to legalize its hot spring businesses.
Taipei City Department of Urban Development Commissioner Ben Tai-ming (邊泰明) yesterday said that a total of 5.5 hectares along Xinyi Road will be rezoned as hot spring special-use district, and the operation of hot spring businesses within the area will be legal.
Hot spring establishments in the area must present a business plan to the department within the next three years to obtain permits to operate in the district. During the application period, the businesses’ operations will not be affected as long as they follow city regulations, he said.
“The rezoning of the area will resolve the issue of the status of local hot spring businesses and promote economic development,” he said.
In response to concerns about the environmental impact of hot spring development in the area, he said the department has issued temporary regulations and promised that the city government will instruct the businesses to maintain sustainable hot spring resources.
Shamao Mountain Hot Spring Association director Kao Cheng-chung (高振鐘) said that local businesses welcomed the rezoning.
Local businesses have paid taxes over the years and have been cooperative with the government’s fire and hygiene inspections, and their operations should not be misconstrued as illegal because of confusing regulations and zoning laws, he said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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