The Taipei Department of Urban Development said it is mulling how to implement Ministry of National Defense plans to repurpose some of its vacant bases in Taipei as “fourth-category commercial zones.”
According to the Rules on Regulating the Separate Zones for Taipei City Land (台北市土地使用分區管制規則), fourth-category commercial zones are to be used for residences, social welfare facilities, retail businesses and hotels.
The department said it would not place restrictions on how the land is used because there are already hotels in the area, adding that it was highly possible that Chinese tourists might check into rooms at the Taipei Friends of Armed Forces Association.
Chief of the department’s division of urban planning Yeh Chia-yuan (葉家源) said the city government is glad that the ministry is looking to repurpose vacant property and is also looking to obtain more government-owned land from the changes.
However, Yeh said that nothing was certain, as security issues are still being considered.
One of the places slotted for repurposing to be used by “fourth-category commercial zones” hotels is the Taipei Military Police Headquarters, but the department said the plans might present a security liability for the Presidential Office Building.
The department said that it was not considering placing a special restriction on the plans, but any buildings that are rebuilt on that particular piece of land could not exceed 44m, as no building in the area is supposed to exceed the facade of the Presidential Office Building.
Meanwhile, the city government’s urban design committee said it hoped the air vent for Taipei’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system could be moved into the building during the planned modifications to the Military Police Headquarters, thereby eliminating any obstruction to the Presidential Office Building.
Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems Secretary-General Wang Wei (王偉) said that if the modifications are approved, the construction would commence before the vent is torn down.
Wang said that only after the plans were approved would the department be able to know the precise location to which the vent will be moved and the distance involved.
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