The municipality of Amsterdam may ban new shops aimed at tourists from buildings in the city center decided the Council of State (RvS) Wednesday. When shop owners of, for example, Nutella shops, souvenir shops and mini-supermarkets terminate their rent, the municipality may prohibit the owners of the buildings from allowing such a type of business in the building again.
The municipality of Amsterdam included this rule in its zoning plan in 2017 in order to make the range of shops in the city center more diverse, and thus serve its own residents more than tourists. But she encountered a lot of resistance from property owners. The owners of buildings on Leidsestraat, Kalverstraat, Gravenstraat, Molensteeg and Oudezijds Achterburgwal, among others, eventually approached the Council of State with a wide range of objections.
High rental prices
One of the objections is that the Amsterdam intervention “limits the possible uses” of the buildings. From a financial point of view, this is an understandable objection: in the Oude Doelenstraat, for example, near Dam Square, rents between 5,000 and 10,000 euros per month are common. The question remains whether other types of stores can also absorb such costs.
The council believes that the interests of the municipality and its residents outweigh those of property owners and has stated that property owners cannot derive “any lasting rights” from a valid zoning plan. The municipality may make changes “on the basis of changed planning insights and after weighing all interests involved.” Almost all objections from property owners have been declared unfounded.
Correction (October 29, 2023): An earlier version of this article stated that Doelenstraat is next to Dam Square. That had to be the Oude Doelenstraat, which is not directly next to, but close to, Dam Square. The error has now been corrected.
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