Hardscape elements come back. Three green zones in Uzhgorod have been allocated for the construction of retail outlets

During the election campaign of the current Mayor Victor Pogorelov one of his main "messages" was the preservation of green zones and clearing them from numerous outlets put throughout the city by the then municipality.

It took only two years for the current mayor to forget his promises and start doing exactly the opposite. The "Zamok" has already written on the scandal about the construction of a hardscape element on the green belt between houses number 29 and 31 on Svoboda Avenue in Uzhgorod. Then the locals had literally to fight for the green zone under their windows with the builders that one day cut down all the bushes and trees, and built a low foundation on it. People were so outraged by these works and cutting of perfectly healthy trees that one evening they took sledgehammers and smashed the foundation.
October 13 civic activists and opposition deputies, who claim that the real owner of the land is the city deputy Taras Rumyantsev (supposedly he received it from the mayor as a reward for the recent shift to the pro-government faction), conducted on the site of the construction a symbolic action to rescue the green zone – on the place of the felled trees they planted 6 birches and installed benches. Since then the builders have not appeared on Svoboda Avenue, and residents have hope that they showed the seriousness of their intentions in defending the territory.
Interestingly, the businessman had the government permission for the erection of a retail "booth" in the green zone of always crowded Svoboda Avenue. At the request of the "Zamok" the Department of municipal economy replied that during 2012 they have granted three permits for installation of temporary structures for business purposes in public green zones. 
The one on Svoboda Ave. by the decision of the city council dd. September 27 was given to a citizen H. Kokolnyk, and the contract with this entrepreneur was concluded for a year – until September 20, 2013. The city council did not inform what was to be sold under the windows of the residents of the neighboring houses, they said that it is up to a business entity that has been granted the permission. So it turns out that the retail outlet could sell pies as well as vodka. And it does not matter that there are a lot of shopping stalls set opposite the regional hospital, as well as a supermarket and a market where you can buy both. 
 
In the response to the request it was not reported where the second and the third hardscape elements in the green zone are. But the residents of Hrushevsky street told the "Zamok" that one of them is being erected at the intersection of Hrushevsky and 8 Bereznya streets. There they also cast a low foundation, but stopped further work, apparently fearing people’s "court". In this neighbourhood there are also a lot of shops, outlets, a market, so people do not see the need for another stall. At least in this green zone nobody has cut any trees and the green zone is not right under the windows of the local residents. 
The city Department of Architecture and Urban Planning explained to the "Zamok": entrepreneurs indeed have permits for installation of temporary structures on the green belt, but they were not allowed to build a foundation – at most, they could set the basis for a hardscape element, which is easy to dismantle without harming the environment.