Construction is to take place in the southern Unterfeld area

Voters in Baar will decide on two development plans on Sunday, 22^nd September. The next wave of renewal is set to begin in the town centre.

So-called ‘affordable housing’ is a powerful argument for votes in the canton of Zug - even if only indirectly. The Baar municipal council (Gemeinderat) thereby emphasises this aspect when it reveals its proposals for two development plans to be put to the vote on Sunday, 22^nd September. One concerns Unterfeld Süd on the border with the city of Zug. A large green area there is to make way for 400 apartments and 1,000 workplaces. This is to take place in three stages, which voters can decide on separately.

A 19-storey residential building and a commercial building are planned in this first stage. This will be in the immediate vicinity of the Lindenpark light railway station. According to a recent press release from the municipality of Baar, a square ‘with open and green spaces’ is planned between the two buildings. An attempt is also being made to create a ‘promenade zone’ by creating a boulevard.

But what about the relatively affordable apartments? Although the press release often mentions these, not a single one is planned for the first stage. This is only planned for the following sections, which will be put to the electorate at a later date. A ‘Yes’ to the first development plan should also be understood as a ‘Yes’ to affordable housing, however, as Baar's head of construction Zari Dzaferi mentions in the above-mentioned press release.

A residential and a commercial building are planned in the immediate vicinity of the Lindenpark light railway station                 Photo: Maria Schmid

Contracts have already been signed with the Baar Family Housing Cooperative (Wohnbaugenossenschaft Familie Baar) and the Baar Liberal Building Cooperative (Liberalen Baugenossenschaft Baar) for 92 apartments with lower rents. These could be jeopardised by a ‘No’ vote on 22 September: ‘If the first stage is rejected at the ballot box, the landowners could build on the affected area in accordance with the building regulations.’

Old houses in the centre to disappear
The Marktgasse-Rigistrasse development plan will also be on the agenda that Sunday. Following the major wave of renovations on the north side of the Marktgasse, the old residential and outbuildings in the south are now to be demolished and replaced by new buildings. For the time being, this concerns the properties at Marktgasse 18 and 20 and Rigistrasse 4 and 6.

The development plan also includes the houses at Marktgasse 12, 14, 16 and 16a, where the Baarbürgli restaurant, among others, is located. ‘There are, however, currently no building plans for these,’ states the press release. An eight-storey corner building on the Büelplatz is to form ‘the prelude to the town centre’. Commercial space is planned on the ground floor, while apartments are to be built on the upper floors - five of them in the relatively affordable segment. Pure residential use is planned for the building at Rigistrasse 4 and 6, but no affordable flats are planned here.

This has been criticised by the local SP (Socialist Party) - to which construction manager Zari Dzaferi also belongs - in its statement on the proposals, and the party has therefore decided to abstain from voting. They say that the municipal council had ‘negotiated poorly’.

The majority of the other parties support the municipal council's plans: the FDP (Liberal party), the ALG (Alternative Green party), the GLP (Green Liberals) and the Mitte (Centre party) are in favour. The SVP (Swiss People’s party) supports the development plan in the town centre, but criticises the ‘excessive growth’ of the municipality. As a consequence, they have given no voting recommendations regarding the Unterfeld Süd development plan.