Uetikon wants to develop industrial site on Lake Zurich
According to a report in the "Tages Anzeiger", the municipal assembly of Uetikon am See has approved the purchase of part of a site owned by CPH Chemie+Papier Holding AG. The lakeside municipality, along with the canton of Zurich, will thus become the owner of a 65,499-square-meter site on Lake Zurich. The purchase price amounts to CHF 26 million.
While the canton of Zurich wants to build a high school for 1,000 students on its half of the site by 2028, the municipality has no concrete plans for its half yet. However, part of the purchase agreement is a joint, partnership-based site development under the project name "Chance Uetikon," according to a media release from the municipality.
For the municipality of Uetikon am See, the acquisition of the building land means a historic opportunity to obtain a public access on Lake Zurich of almost one kilometer in length. The factory site is to be converted to open, mixed use by the public. The area, which is currently inaccessible to the public, is to be opened up to the population through the school, a lakeside path and other public facilities that have not yet been precisely defined.
According to a report by the daily advertiser the municipality and the canton are not completely free to decide on the development of the site, because the former chemical site is listed in the Federal Office of Swiss Heritage Sites (ISOS). The industrial buildings as well as the factory owners' villas and employee residences must therefore be preserved. (ah)
