The Central Municipal Council (CMC) has recommended a set of conditions and standards for permitting the construction of a second floor in the external annexes of residential villas. This comes as a clarification of its previous recommendations to the authority concerned in this regard.
The council had earlier issued a number of recommendations asking the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) to allow the construction of an additional floor in the external annexes of residential villas instead of the existing standard of the ground floor only.
The move was meant to allow Qataris to make the maximum use of the space available in their homes without undermining the privacy of others or the urban planning scheme for the targeted residential areas.
When the CMC Services and Utilities Committee received the MME's response to its recommendations, it noted that the reply was not complete and did not fully address the concerns of the council. Accordingly, the CMC recommended that the entities concerned at the ministry should be addressed again with modifications of the planning conditions and by adding new specifications and standards that would allow the construction of a second floor in such buildings.
The new conditions put forward by the council include the following: the second floor should be accessed through an internal staircase within the building itself, and the new addition should comply with the approved height as set by the Urban Planning Department.
The issue was first addressed by the CMC during its previous rounds based on the demands of citizens who wanted to make better use of the available space in their houses to accommodate their families.
The council convenes an open regular session every two weeks to discuss key issues and topics pertaining to the different municipal services offered across the country, the demands of people to improve these and other important public services.
During the latest session, the council discussed a statement of its Services and Utilities Committee on the MME's response to the recommendations on the standards for licensing mobile cafes and restaurants, issued in the previous CMC round.
Similarly, it discussed a statement on the response to the recommendation issued regarding the provision of adequate quantity of water to camels kept in the Al Nakhsh area, as well as suggestions on the risks posed by placing the external units of air-conditioners outside shops.
The council noted that the MME's responses on these issues and topics were comprehensive and addressed all relevant concerns.
Meanwhile, the CMC reviewed the responses of the entities concerned, such as the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Ministry of Transport & Communications and the MME, regarding the specific demands of some council members on related issues.
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