Due to Poor Communication, Part of the Citizens of Zagreb Were Misled

An interesting story was shared with me by an entrepreneur who opened a hair salon for his daughter on land near Zagreb. He built it a few years ago, received all the necessary papers for it, and then he received a cold shower – he subsequently received a decision on the conversion of agricultural land to construction land. He connected me with other citizens who told the same story.

A very polite gentleman from Zagreb called me to ask what to do. I wasn’t sure what to tell him, but I promised to inquire with experts. However, before I state what he should do, it is necessary to describe the situation. Namely, as told to me by the entrepreneur and his fellow citizens, in a part of Zagreb (known to the editorial office) that is entirely a construction zone (this is how citizens understood the employees in the relevant services), building and usage permits were issued to citizens for the structures they built.

However, they later received decisions regarding the payment for the conversion from agricultural land to construction land, which means that their building and usage permits were issued without the prior procedures for converting agricultural land to construction land being conducted. For example, in the case of the entrepreneur I first spoke with, the building permit was issued in mid-2020, the usage permit at the beginning of 2021, and the decision on the conversion of agricultural land to construction land only in March 2023.

To repeat, citizens and entrepreneurs understood the relevant city authorities when applying for building permits that it was a construction zone, which was practically confirmed by the issuance of the aforementioned building and usage permits without the requested application for land conversion.

Bad News

Well, it is undisputed that the land conversion procedure needs to be conducted, but are the owners of those structures obliged to pay for the not-so-cheap conversion if they received building and usage permits beforehand? And why wasn’t this communicated to them immediately as they were misled?! The answer is such that I do not have good news for the entrepreneur and his fellow citizens. Namely, the legal expert from Lider, Stjepan Lović, states that, regardless of the fact that the citizens were issued the aforementioned permits before the land conversion, they are not exempt from paying the fee for it.

On the contrary, he emphasizes, ‘only with the issuance of permits that approve construction are the prerequisites created for the change of agricultural land to construction land, and then the relevant authority ex officio issues a decision on the fee. The fee is also paid for structures that were illegally built after January 1, 1985.’.

So, that is the catch. The Zagreb City Office for Economy, Environmental Sustainability, and Strategic Planning did not violate the procedure (I note that even after fifteen days, no response has been received from them although we were told they would respond), but I must criticize the work of the employees there because they should know that ordinary people are not familiar with various procedures. For example, even the entrepreneur who called me did not know the procedure, and he is a highly educated man.

So if he didn’t know, how will others know! After all, why should he even know, as procedures are always tied to specific actions, and that is why there are people who work in city bodies to guide us through them.

Incomplete Information

People have evidently believed that the entire zone is construction, although employees in city bodies most likely told them that the entire zone is intended to be construction. Uninformed people can hardly understand the difference because the word ‘intended’ can mean that the entire zone has long since become construction, and it can also mean that it can be converted to construction.

However, the situation would be much clearer to them if it was simply stated that if they build a structure (after obtaining all necessary permits), they will have to additionally pay a fee for the land conversion. And that was the duty of the employees in the city office because, as I mentioned, people do not know the procedures, and the city administration is a service for citizens that those same citizens pay to provide necessary services.

I hope that in the City Administration they will pay more attention to this in the future because timely and complete information is one of the most important factors in deciding on an investment.

POST SCRIPTUM

Here is another piece of information. Unofficially, we learn that employees in the City Office experience uncomfortable situations as people approach them after receiving decisions on land conversion. To facilitate the payment of the fee, it is possible, as I was unofficially told, to arrange for installment payments.