An upscale apartment complex in Shilin District (士林) has reneged on an agreement with the Taipei City Government to open its parking lot for use by tour buses, which helped the complex gain bonus floor space worth NT$1.4 billion (US$44.3 million) on the real-estate market, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Wang Wei-chung (王威中) said yesterday.
In 2011, Hsin Han Development Co told the Taipei Urban Design Review Committee that it would be willing to open an underground garage at its Hsin Han Shilin Official Residence condominium to tour buses to alleviate the parking and traffic problems in the area, which is near the Shilin Night Market, Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) Shilin Residence (士林官邸) and the National Palace Museum, Wang said.
The committee granted Hsin Han 3,666m2 of bonus floor space at the condominium in exchange, he said.
“However, nearly two years after the condominiums went on sale, the complex’s managers have failed to honor the promise and the garage is restricted to private use,” he said.
Nearby residents have complained about the refusal to open the garage, saying a shortage of parking spaces in the area encourages tour bus drivers to park illegally on roadsides, aggravating traffic congestion, Wang said.
The condominiums have proven popular with Taipei’s wealthy elite, including Yulon Group chairman Kenneth Yen (嚴凱泰), who purchased an apartment reportedly worth NT$200 million, the city councilor said.
The city has spent NT$44.6 million convert three nearby plots of land into parking lots, “tying up the loose ends” associated with the parking problem on behalf of the elite who live in the condominiums, even though the complex was built in a designated commercial zone, where the sale of homes is prohibited, Wang said.
Taipei Department of Urban Development section head Chang Shu-wei (張書維) said that Hsin Han filed a request to build “office buildings” when it applied for a construction license for the site in 2011, but later sold the “offices” as homes, contravening the rules on land use.
“The Construction Management Office will launch an inspection next week to determine if the garage has been opened to the public, and it would also investigate the builder’s home sales and mete out punishments, if necessary,” Chang said.
Taipei Land Development Agency division chief Lai Wen-chi (賴玟錡) said the three new parking lots were erected temporarily on land reclaimed by the city after a road construction project and the city government has yet to formulate plans on their land’s final use.
Lai denied Wang’s allegation that there might have been collusion between the condo complex’s residents and city officials over the parking lot issue.
Three plots of land that house the temporary parking lots are located in a Type B residential area where tour bus parking is prohibited, she said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard