Parking at the Schönegg car park still possible – at least for now

For years, a legal dispute has been raging as to whether the Schönegg forest car park may be used as such or not. The story has now gained yet another chapter.
 

Last autumn, you would have thought that the legal dispute over the Schönegg forest car park on the Zugerberg, which has been going on for almost eight years, was finally coming to an end. At its core is a simple question: May the area, which is owned by the Zug Corporation, continue to be used as a car park or not? In a ruling published at the end of August, the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgericht) decided: the car park is part of the forest and may not be considered separately.

As a consequence, the Zug Office for Forest and Wildlife (Amt für Wald und Wild) issued an order at the beginning of December, which is available to the Zuger Zeitung newspaper. It states that the use of the area as a car park is unlawful and will be discontinued. Instead, a no-entry sign for motor vehicles is to be installed on the narrow access road, the Untere Mülibachstrasse. The Office for Forest and Wildlife will take care of the implementation once the order becomes legally binding.

Also popular in snowy conditions: the Schönegg forest car park         Photo: Jakob Ineichen
 

Many people seeking recreation would feel the effects of this: for many, the forest car park is a welcome addition to the parking spaces at the Zugerberg cable car. On the one hand because it is free of charge, and on the other because the other car parks are often full in good weather. Accordingly, the car park is often very popular, which repeatedly leads to chaotic scenes on the narrow access road.

Appeal delays closure
However, despite the Federal Supreme Court ruling and the order issued by the Office for Forest and Wildlife, it is still possible to park one’s car at the site. The Zug Corporation has lodged an appeal against the order, as it states in response to an inquiry and as also confirmed by the Office for Forest and Wildlife. “The appeal has a suspensive effect,” explains Martin Ziegler, head of the office. “This means that the previous situation will remain in place for the time being until the appeal proceedings are concluded with legal force.”

The competent appeals authority will decide on the further course of action. Whether the ban on motor vehicles will come into effect can only be stated definitively after the proceedings have been completed. Martin Ziegler nevertheless emphasizes: “The determination of the affected area as forest is legally binding and has been confirmed by the Federal Supreme Court. This means that the area is legally considered forest.” And under federal law, there is in principle a ban on motor vehicles in forests, which the cantons are required to enforce. “The Office for Forest and Wildlife has implemented these legal requirements with the order.”

At the end of October, the Zug Corporation told the Zuger Zeitung newspaper that it would no longer continue to fight for the preservation of the car park. How did this change of course come about? And why is the corporation opposing the removal of the area as a car park so persistently? Unfortunately, the Zug Corporation did not answer these and other questions within the given deadline.