Residents of Nalchik are demanding an end to infill development in the Mei microdistrict.

The developer appealed the revocation of the permit for a multi-story building to replace the planned kindergarten and began construction. Residents stated that the new high-rise in a densely populated area would create access problems to courtyards and deprive neighboring houses of sunlight.

As reported by "Kavkazsky Uzel," in June 2024, residents of the "Mey" microdistrict in Nalchik protested the construction of a new high-rise building due to a shortage of kindergarten spaces and a lack of clinics. The land where, according to the Nalchik administration, the new kindergarten was planned, is in fact privately owned and has a building permit "for the placement of multi-story buildings." Residents demanded that the prosecutor's office compel the authorities to construct social facilities.

The construction company "A-Stroy" has begun construction of a multi-story building on a small plot of land on Tamazov Street, which is already densely populated with high-rise buildings. The arbitration court plans to hear the developer's claim against the Nalchik administration on November 25, and officials are refusing to take any measures to halt the work while "the matter is in the litigation stage." Residents of the neighborhood, in turn, insist that construction must be frozen during the trial, since the court has not yet invalidated the local administration's existing decision to revoke the building permit, as the developer is demanding.

"Construction is underway right under our windows." "Our house will be surrounded on all sides by stone blocks, ten steps away, not even meters. Every morning we wake up to the roar of construction equipment, which begins work at 7 a.m., as if it were the construction site of the century. The children at the nearby kindergarten can't get to sleep during nap time. And this will continue for at least four years. The facility will completely block out sunlight, not to mention such "trifles" as the load on the sewer networks, which are already unable to cope," Marita Pacheva, a resident of the microdistrict, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

With the construction of the new building, residents will have problems accessing their homes for fire trucks, ambulances, and other emergency services, Beslan Kardanov fears.

"This project will completely block sunlight for those of us living in already built buildings, who invested our hard-earned money and mortgages in purchasing our homes. If construction is not stopped, this project will block sunlight for children in the nearby kindergarten. We will be forced to live in noise, dust, and dirt for four years. The load on utilities, which are already unable to cope, will increase. There is already a shortage of parking spaces, and there is a complete lack of any greenery," he said.

Local residents noted that the project included a kindergarten in the area where the high-rise building is being built. "Before buying an apartment in this area, I reviewed the plans and trusted them, but now they're changing them so much that even access to our homes will be difficult. And what will happen to the children in the nearby kindergarten? Construction will take place over the heads of small children, which is unsafe. Couldn't they find another place to build this house? I think the situation could be rectified by providing the developer with a building plot elsewhere," says Ruslan Tliashinov.

The authorities informed residents of the neighborhood about the change in the development plan after construction had already begun. According to officials, when the local administration designated the land plot for the new kindergarten, the seven-hectare area, formerly owned by the North Caucasus Research Institute of Mountain and Foothill Horticulture, had already been auctioned off and registered as the buyer's property. Subsequently, "the land plot repeatedly changed hands as a result of purchase and sale," the administration's letter on this matter states.

The same message explains that the developer planned to build the building in a different location, on Tarchokova Street, but was forced to abandon this idea due to complaints from residents of the adjacent building. The developer proposed to the city administration to move the kindergarten to Tarchokova Street and build the multi-story building on Tamazova Street, where the kindergarten was planned for.

"The local administration has decided to amend the land planning project, providing for the relocation of the kindergarten to the land plot at 21 Tarchokova Street, Building 2," the officials' letter summarizes.

In 2021, the microdistrict's development plan included 9-12-story residential buildings, two 390-child kindergartens, a clinic, a sports and fitness center, a children's play area, and a skate park, as well as bike paths and parking. Currently, only apartment buildings, a school, and one kindergarten have been built.

Municipal authorities must prioritize the rights and public interests of residents who demand a kindergarten be built in this location; the interests of the landowner are secondary in this case, noted lawyer Oleg Sergeev. "The task of municipal authorities is not to prioritize the rights of landowners to the detriment of other interests, but to harmonize these rights and interests," he explained.

According to urban planning regulations, distances between buildings are established taking into account insolation, illumination, and fire safety requirements. The lawyer noted that the distance between two buildings ten stories or higher must be at least twice the height of the tallest building, taking seismicity into account.

Furthermore, there are so-called fire distances. "And if, in fact, a multi-apartment building is being constructed, then at least one longitudinal side must have a fire passage at least 3.6 meters wide and at least 5 meters from the building," Sergeev added.

The lawyer called the construction of a multi-story building in close proximity to a kindergarten a "special situation." "In accordance with the Design Rules, the distance from the boundaries of the land plots of free-standing preschool educational institutions to neighboring buildings must be at least 12 meters. But in this case, it's not about how far away the house will be—it's about the fact that while it's being built, a tower crane loaded with building materials will be spinning over the children's heads, which is extremely unsafe. Furthermore, the children will be breathing in cement dust, which is very harmful to their health," he concluded.