Ruling to cancel development restrictions around Suseongmot Lake in Daegu... Local government “concerns over development”

As the court ruled that the designation of a restricted development area to prevent reckless development around Suseongmot Lake in Daegu was illegal, conflicts surrounding landscape conservation and development in the area are expected to grow.

According to the legal community and Daegu Suseong-gu on the 13th, the Daegu District Court Administrative Division 2 (Chief Judge Joo Gyeong-tae) ruled in favor of the plaintiff on the 12th in a lawsuit filed by 10 people, including land owners around Suseong Lake, against the head of Suseong-gu to cancel the designation of a restricted area for development activities.

The court ruled that Suseong-gu Office should cancel its decision on July 9 last year to designate 60,140㎡ of area around San 21-10, Doosan-dong, Suseong-gu as a development permit restricted area.

The area is comprised of three areas, including the Sangdong area to the north of Suseongmot Lake and the southern area of ​​Beopisan Mountain.

The court ruled, “In order to restrict development activities, the process of establishing an urban management plan must be in progress in detail, but Suseong-gu Office did not sufficiently prove that it had begun a basic survey at the time of disposal,” and concluded, “Even if Suseong-gu Office establishes a new urban plan in the future, it has not sufficiently proven the legal basis for restricting land development at the current stage.”

He said, “The disposition in this case is illegal because there is no reason for the disposition.”

Previously, the area around Suseongmot Lake was designated as a Suseong amusement park in 1969, but in July 2020, the amusement park designation of some areas was lifted in accordance with the long-term unimplemented urban planning facility sunset system.

Of the Suseong Resort, which was originally 1,072,999㎡, 681,531㎡ was removed from urban planning facilities, and Daegu City was concerned about reckless development due to a management gap.

In February of last year, the city established a maintenance plan to preserve the landscape of Suseong Recreation Area and secure space for citizens to rest and leisure, and requested the Suseong-gu Office to designate a development permit restricted area.

Accordingly, Suseong-gu decided to restrict the construction of new buildings, changes in land characteristics, and land division for three years from July 9 of last year to July 8, 2028.

This was a measure to prevent reckless development due to individual development activities while establishing an urban management plan for the Suseongmot Lake area.

Landowners filed a lawsuit, claiming that it was illegal to restrict property rights without a specific urban management plan in place.

With this ruling putting a brake on restrictions on development activities around Suseongmot Lake, conflicts over landscape preservation and landowners' exercise of development rights are expected to continue in the future.

Suseong-gu is reviewing the appeal, maintaining the position that it is a public interest measure to preserve the scenery of Suseong Lake and prevent reckless development.

Kim Ki-won, head of the urban planning team at Daegu Suseong-gu Office, said, "Restricting development activities around Suseongmot Lake is a public interest measure to preserve the landscape and protect citizens' rest and leisure spaces," and added, "The trial result is regrettable, but we are considering an appeal to receive another court decision."

He continued, “As soon as the judgment is officially delivered, we will closely analyze the basis for the legal judgment and prepare a specific response plan.”