PORTUGAL LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: João Gonçalo Galvão, Carolina Cardoso Alves and Miguel Paquete, CS’Associados
plans. These plans are binding on private par - ties and public entities in the context of a pro - ject development and are issued in accordance with the Legal Framework for Land Management Instruments, approved by Decree-Law 80/2015 of 14 May. The municipal master plan must be approved and applied in all municipalities and sets the general zoning rules applicable to its different areas. The urbanisation plan and the detailed plan are applicable to specific areas of a municipality. The first enhances the municipal master plan land use rules for part of the municipal area, whereas the latter details any proposals for occupation of land, namely by establishing construction areas and volume, specific construction rules, location of infrastructure or public spaces. The drafting of all such plans is subject to a pub - lic consultation stage. 4.4 Obtaining Entitlements to Develop a New Project The right to develop a new project or complete a major refurbishment is obtained through a prior control procedure (namely, through a permitting procedure or the submission of a prior commu - nication – depending on the type of works or location thereof). The permitting procedure for the development of a project (and major refurbishments) entails: (i) preliminary assessment of the application; (ii) consultation of external entities; (iii) approval of the architectural project; (iv) presentation of engineering projects; (v) issuance of a receipt for the payment of the applicable fees, which, for all legal purpos -
es, is deemed as the construction permit; and (vi) issuance of the permit. It is common practice in some municipalities to deem necessary a public consultation stage for specific works. It is possible to develop a new project in empty land through an allotment operation. In this case, the permitting procedure is slightly different, as the municipality is bound to issue an overall decision on the application (but stages (i), (ii) and (v) above still apply). The public consultation stage is carried out prior to such decision and is mandatory provided that the allotment opera - tion exceeds certain thresholds relating to area, number of units or population density. As for the prior communication, this is a more streamlined procedure entailing (i) preliminary assessment of the request and (ii) payment of municipal fees. 4.5 Right of Appeal Against an Authority’s Decision The right of appeal of any authority’s decision in respect of an application for permission for development or the carrying on of a designated use shall be exercised within the municipality or judicially with competent administrative courts. The affected party is entitled to request that the author of the decision or their highest superior re-evaluate the initial ruling. These re-evaluation requests shall be deemed tacitly approved if no decision is issued within 30 business days. Judicially, any affected party – eg, the devel - oper – or the state prosecution may challenge the municipality’s position through an action or
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