The City of Cape Town has approved amendments to its Municipal Planning By-law (MPBL).
The amendments are part of an annual review process done by the City of Cape Town and give effect to the policies and strategies that have been adopted by its council over the past few years.
As these amendments have not been promulgated in the provincial gazette they are not in effect as yet.
The city’s Marian Nieuwoudt said they used all available resources to alert residents to the proposed amendments, and to encourage all concerned to submit their comments.
131 submissions were received from residents, ratepayers’ associations, organisations, and other interested parties.
A new provision allows for short-term letting from a house or flat for a period not exceeding 30 consecutive days.
The city said this is in response to the increase in short-term letting via online platforms such as Airbnb.
The City of Cape Town has approved new provisions that allows for the installation of minor freestanding cell masts on properties zoned as community use, transport use or agricultural use.
This includes buildings such as churches, schools, clinics and hospitals
These buildings will be allowed to install minor freestanding cell masts of less than 12 metres in height or minor rooftop masts of less than 1.5 metres in height without prior land use approval from the city or adjacent landowners, the city said.
Please note that building plan approvals may still be required.
Buildings which have been zoned for residential use may also a minor rooftop cell mast of less than 1.5 metres, this still requires planning permission.
A new provision allows for a third dwelling as an additional use right for properties zoned as single residential.
This means that a property owner is allowed to add a third dwelling on the property without prior approval from the city, subject to the normal development rules of the property and specified additional conditions.
The construction of a third dwelling is also subject to the city directors’ confirmation that there is sufficient service capacity in the area such as water, sanitation, and electricity services to support the dwelling.
The property owner is still required to submit a building plan to the city which must be approved before construction can commence.
More: BusinessTech