Panaji: The town and country planning department has rewritten the land use and building regulations by eliminating the separate category of “uses permitted with certain restrictions” and moving those conditions into the specific negative list. At the same time, it has expressly declared that uses not specifically prohibited will be permitted, potentially giving greater certainty to developers and applicants seeking uses that are not expressly prohibited.The changes cover residential, commercial, industrial, public and agricultural zones, with restrictions often linked to the size of a plot, its road frontage, access-road width, setbacks, permissible FAR and whether a proposed use is auxiliary to the principal use.In the residential zones and special residential zones, the prohibited uses include wholesale trade, warehousing, industries, gas works, fabrication and assembly workshops, scrap yards, transport agencies, godowns and automobile workshops. Several other activities, including cement godowns, tyre vulcanisation units, flour and masala mills, heavy carpentry workshops and battery-reconditioning shops, are also specifically prohibited.In settlement and residential zones, shops, professional and IT offices, banks, salons and similar activities face restrictions based on their covered area and road width. Restaurants with bars operating beyond 11pm, along with scrap yards, auto garages, warehouses, cement godowns and fabrication workshops, are prohibited in these zones.But the amendment also brings a range of smaller commercial and professional activities within a detailed set of restrictions.Retail shops, banks, post offices, administrative offices, tailoring shops, laundries, salons, IT/ITES establishments, kindergartens and crèches, and professional offices cannot be used as auxiliary activities where they occupy more than 50% of the proposed covered area or where the property is accessed by a road having a right of way of 8m or less.The change is significant less because the 50% and 8m thresholds are new than because they have been shifted from the earlier “permitted with restrictions” framework into the prohibited-use regulation.The amendment also retains restrictions on using residences as professional offices, including IT/ITES establishments. More than 10% of the residential carpet area cannot be used for such purposes on premises fronting roads less than 10m wide.Hospitals, clinics and educational institutions will require a minimum 300sqm plot, 15m frontage and 8m access road, while hotels, theatres, gymnasiums and sports complexes require at least 500sqm plots and 20m frontage. In agricultural zones, agro-research, educational and biotech establishments require at least 20 hectares, while yoga and meditation centres need 50,000sqm, with FAR and coverage capped at 5%.
