New procedures for the concession of public land, more uniform rules for dehors, chairs and tables of premises, “smart” controls and automatic sanctions. Above all, there is this in the new regulation of the single patrimonial fee, or at least in the proposal that the Basile administration, through councilor Roberto Cicala, sent again to the city council, after the classroom debacle of last March 1st. That day the resolution was rejected by the Council, after Cicala himself had pointed out that the time required by the law for it to come into force this year had already expired.
Now we are playing in advance and in the last few days Cicala illustrated the main innovations to the third commission (where the new resolution will be discussed next Tuesday). In the first instance, it was explained, the aim will be to eliminate any misunderstanding or discretion: all passages with phrases such as “can be foreseen” or “can be authorized” will be replaced with “is foreseen” or “is authorized”. No middle ground.
But going into the substance of the regulation, in the meantime the possibility of submitting a request for land concession for chairs and tables in a simplified mode will be eliminated, i.e. that method born in the times of Covid, when the use of outdoor spaces was favored to reduce the risks of contagion, and which allowed the possibility of occupying the land simply by communicating it via certified e-mail.
The emergency is largely over, public spaces can only be used if authorized. Another important innovation is the application of a QR code to public land concessions, which will allow the municipal police (not the individual citizen) to verify the expiry and regularity of the concession, through the deposited plans. The agent will only need to scan the QR code displayed to ascertain whether the spaces occupied are those for which the owner of the premises actually paid (and whether he paid).
And again: the minimum surface width that can be granted on a sidewalk must be 60 centimetres. The reason is easily explained: by law, a minimum space of 2 meters must be left free for passage on every sidewalk. It happened that some shopkeepers asked for just 20 centimeters of soil on pavements 2 meters and 20 centimeters wide, but obviously unable to fit anything into those 20 centimeters, they went further, “encroaching” on the 2 meter space. (rather bizarre) ploys that the Municipality now wants to eliminate at the source.
The regulation proposed by the Administration also provides that in the event that sufficient and adequate space for the positioning of trolleys for separate waste collection is identified within the area granted for dehors, this surface will not be taxed up to the size of 5 square metres. Among the new provisions there is also one for driveways, whose duration of the concession goes from an “indefinite” period to one set at 29 years.
In any case, returning to the cancellation of all discretion, the same will also apply to sanctions: the 5-day closure for illegal land occupation for commercial purposes, in fact, will become automatic for cases of repeated infringements within six months. The objective is also to avoid closure in the event of minimal infringements, but also to punish “repeat offenders”.
Precisely on this point, however, from an initial discussion the idea emerged of extending the foreseen time and, therefore, of providing for the automatic closure of 5 days for those who repeat the illegal occupation within a year. Once the law has been made, in fact, the deception has been found: the risk could be that someone takes advantage of it, “slipping” into illegal activity in strategic periods such as summer or Christmas.