The Taipei City Government yesterday said that it would not change its decision to impose fines on people living illegally in a commercial zone in the city’s Neihu District (內湖), despite hundreds of the area’s residents staging a protest outside a public hearing.
An area covering about 105 hectares near Miramar Entertainment Park (美麗華百樂園) was designated as a commercial and recreational zone by the city in 2003, but many residents still moved into the rapidly growing residential units that were built in the area.
The city found 1,678 illegal residential units in the area and informed their residents between March and August that they would face fines between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000 starting from the end of the year, in accordance with the Urban Planning Act (都市計畫法).
Photo: Kuo An-chia, Taipei Times
The Taipei Department of Urban Development in October announced the fines for the residential units, dividing the units into five categories according to size and imposing different fines for each group, with the maximum penalty being a NT$300,000 fine and the cutting of water and electricity supplies in three stages.
At the public hearing on Monday, several residents held banners that read “Stop imposing fines and make an overall review,” “Why should residents be punished when the city government neglected its duty?” and “How can there be housing justice when there is no procedural justice?”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) city councilors Chen Yi-chou (陳義洲), Chen Ping-fu (陳炳甫), Lin Ting-chun (林亭君), and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) City Councilor Huang Hsiang-chun (黃向群) also attended the meeting to support the residents.
Some residents at the hearing said that they did not know it was illegal to live in the area, adding that they have paid residential tax for many years.
Several residents, along with Chen Ping-fu, urged the city to legalize the residential units.
However, after the Urban Planning Commission held a review meetings to discuss the case, it came to the conclusion that the area would remain a commercial and recreational zone, unsuitable for residential units, Taipei Department of Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民) said.
He added that Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) also supported the commission’s decision to impose fines on the residential units.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基) said the city government has heard the opinions and suggestions of the residents, and would ask the related departments to respond with written replies.
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