Penza, 9 September 2014. PenzaNews. About Penza 10 residents participated in a public rally against infill development. The protest took place on Marshal Zhukov Square in front of the city administration on Monday, September 8. As reported by the citizens, they were forced to come out by the problem of the planned construction of a shopping center in front of the windows of their house in Furmanova Street, 19.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

According to the protesters, the situation may be similar to that near the apartment buildings along 8 Marta Street, 7, and Prospekt Stroitelei, 50.

“Under the pretext of construction of storm water drains, they begin the construction of a shopping center on the site of a forested area. [...] All vital pipelines are located on the construction site, and they are being removed for three years as of now. As a result, we are often left without electricity, hot and cold water. This construction is a direct threat to the condition of our houses, because it is located in close proximity (5-10 meters) to them. There is no doubt that, given the existing geophysical basis, our house will end up in critical condition. It should be noted that the construction conditions are in obvious violation of safety, fire, environmental and other standards. This threatens the health and the lives of the inhabitants of our houses that are located close to the construction site. Moreover, the road in Furmanova Street are not designed for the passage of construction equipment,” reads the resolution adopted by the participants of the protest.

The document also specifies three requirements: the prosecutor’s office, according to the picketers, should check the legality of the facility construction, and the mayor’s office, in turn, must stop infill construction and construction in recreational areas of the city, and set up sports and pedestrian areas in parks and forestland of recreation territories.

The picket participants decided to send a resolution to Natalia Kantserova, prosecutor of the Penza region, and Yuri Krivov, head of Penza administration.