The municipality of Assen has no interest in allowing other types of shops – let alone a supermarket – in the building on Weverstraat, where a hardware store was previously located.
“If we allow shops there, we can throw our entire retail policy overboard,” a spokesperson for the municipality of Assen said today during a lawsuit in The Hague.
There, the lawyer for the owner of the building, which once housed the Formido hardware store, asked for a significant relaxation of the Asser store policy. There is now an outlet store in the building.
Because Assen in principle does not want any regular shops and therefore no supermarkets in the City Business Park, it limited the shopping destination of the building to the outlet store that is now there. The municipality does not want more retail in that location.
But according to the owner’s lawyer, this restriction is contrary to European competition policy and the Services Directive. “It is a serious industry restriction that must be removed.”
However, the Council of State doubted whether Assen acted contrary to European guidelines. The owner nevertheless hopes that the highest administrative court will remove the restrictive rule from the zoning plan. “Because my client wants maximum rentability of the property and to be able to charge as much rent as possible. This is much better with a shop or supermarket.”
The municipality of Assen does not like this and fears the worst if the Council of State were to remove the retail restrictions from the zoning plan of the City Business Park.
The ruling will follow within a few weeks.