Consent for hall expansion after 7 months of impasse
The case got stuck due to conflicting opinions from two offices. We organized a substantive meeting that clarified design doubts.
Euro-Sklad Gdańsk planned to expand its base at Ku Ujściu St. with a new hall of 1850 m². The investment stood still for 214 days because two offices could not agree on a common position regarding site drainage.
The challenge
The expansion project hit an official wall in September 2023. The City Office required the use of a specific type of separators, while Wody Polskie (State Water Holding) issued a negative opinion, suggesting a completely different infiltration retention system. The investor sent 14 official letters, but each response was just a duplication of earlier arguments. The monthly cost of maintaining a frozen construction site and penalties from the contracted contractor were close to PLN 14,600. For 7 months the case did not move an inch, and the delivery schedule for key contractors was threatened.
Our approach
We resigned from further letter correspondence, which only deepened the conflict. Our team, including one specialist in water law, conducted an audit of the project documentation in 4 days. We found an error in the interpretation of a 2012 elevation map that was the basis of the dispute. We organized a technical working meeting in our office at Podwale Staromiejskie 62. We invited the hall designer and two middle-level officials responsible for issuing decisions. We prepared an alternative water law report that combined the requirements of both sides without drastically raising investment costs.
The solution
We proposed a hybrid solution: installing two smaller retention tanks with a capacity of 45 m³ each instead of one large installation. This solution was within environmental standards and simultaneously met the technical requirements of the city's sewage network. Kapituła Strategiczna personally carried out the process of updating the building permit application. Instead of waiting for the mail, we delivered the corrected documentation directly to the hands of decision-makers in 6 business days from the meeting. We speak plainly: officials needed substantive arguments to be able to sign off on the decision without fear of inspection.
Results
The impasse was broken in less than three weeks from our first intervention. Construction of the hall started 12 days after obtaining the final stamp, which allowed avoiding the termination of logistics contracts.
Timeline
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August 2023Case file analysis and identification of conflicting office opinions
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September 2023Consultations with a hydrotechnical engineer and report correction
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October 2023Tripartite mediation meeting at Kapituła's office
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November 2023Submission of corrected application and obtaining permit
"We were convinced that the case would go to court and the hall would not be built for years. Kapituła Strategiczna was able to bring officials to a common table and talk about technical specifics instead of paragraphs."