An extraordinary session of the Belo Horizonte City Council (CMBH), this Friday (24), approved changes to the city’s Master Plan. Even with a request from the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (MPMG) for the project not to be put on the agenda, the House table opened a vote and the Bill (PL) 508/2023 was approved in the first round.
The MPMG requested that the processing of the PL be suspended until the Municipal Secretariat of Urban Policies and the Federation of Industries of Minas Gerais (Fiemg) presented data and studies that justified the alteration of the law. The municipality defends that the concession prices were reduced, to encourage the market to build.
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The MP’s request, made to councilor Gabriel Azevedo (without party), president of the CMBH, was not met. The vote took place just three weeks after the PL was sent to the Chamber.
Among the councillors, 33 were in favor of changing the Master Plan and seven voted against it. They are: Bruno Pedralva (PT), Cida Falabella (PSOL), Dr. Célio Fróis (PSC), Iza Lourença (PSOL), Miltinho (PDT), Pedro Patrus (PT) and Wagner Ferreira (PDT).
Opposition parliamentarians had the support of an auditorium packed with members of popular movements, who demonstrated against the change.
“The onerous grant is an instrument that exists recommended by the Commission of the European Union, it exists in several countries in Europe, do you know why? To decentralize the city”, defended councilor Bruno Pedralva. “We do think that the center has to be revitalized, but we also want the periphery to be alive and revitalized. And to bleed the Housing Fund is to keep the periphery with less resources than the city center”.
What changes
In practice, the alterations proposed by the Municipality of BH distort the Onerous Grant for the Right to Build. The Master Plan establishes maximum coefficients for land use, for example, the number of floors that can be built, which vary according to the region of the city. If the entrepreneur wants to extrapolate this coefficient, he must pay a fee for the grant.
The proceeds from this payment are part of the Housing Fund, which has as one of its objectives the construction of social housing, aimed at low-income families.
The PL authored by the Municipality of Belo Horizonte replaces the onerous grant with the adoption of “urban kindness” projects, such as flowerbeds. It also allows the payment of the amount in up to 36 installments and a 30% discount for cash settlement.
The project must be approved in the second round of voting to enter into force.
Source: BdF Minas Gerais
Editing: Ana Carolina Vasconcelos
