The Kaohsiung High Administrative Court on Thursday ordered the Taitung County Government to revoke its approval of Miramar Resort Hotel Co’s application to resume construction of a hotel at Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣).
The court said that the county government based its approval on an environmental impact assessment (EIA) review made in 2012, which it said was a different case from the original hotel project and should not have been used as the basis for the county’s judgement.
The construction project dates back to 2004, when the county government signed a build-operate-transfer contract with the developer to construct a six-hectare hotel complex on the beach.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
The county government approved the project’s EIA review in 2008, but it was overruled by the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court in 2009. The ruling was upheld by the Supreme Administrative Court in January 2012, after which construction of the hotel was halted.
The county started a second EIA review in December 2012 after the company incorporated the Golden Coast Development Plan in its original construction project and submitted the new development plan for review, which was passed conditionally.
The county government gave the green light for the company to resume construction after the 2012 EIA review.
Local residents filed two lawsuits with the Kaohsiung Administrative Court in 2013: one alleging that the 2012 EIA review was illegal and the other demanding that the approval to resume construction of the hotel be revoked.
Last year, the administrative court ordered that the second EIA approval be revoked, saying that out of the eight EIA committee members who were present at the meeting during which the development plan was passed, only five were qualified to review the case, which is not enough to form a quorum.
The court ruled that the passing of the development plan was in violation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法) and should therefore be invalidated.
The administrative court on Thursday said that the county’s approval of the company’s application to resume construction should be revoked as the court had overruled the second EIA approval. It added that the county should not have accepted the company’s resubmission of the construction project as another development plan at all.
Taitung County Deputy Commissioner Chen Chin-hu (陳金虎) said that the county would appeal the ruling, adding that the judges should see for themselves whether the local environment has been damaged by the hotel construction.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
RSS