PANAJI
In a major policy shift that could significantly alter land-use permissions across the State, the Department of Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department has amended the State's building regulations to allow every land use that is not expressly prohibited, replacing the earlier framework that specified only permitted activities.
The move, notified through amendments to the Goa Land Development and Building Construction Regulations, 2010, is expected to widen the scope of permissible development across various land-use zones while retaining a list of prohibited activities. The amendment substitutes Regulation 6A.3, which now states: "All uses which are not specifically prohibited and exceptions therein as per regulation 6A.2.1 shall be permitted." The revised regulations comprehensively redefine prohibited activities across various zoning categories, including Settlement (SPR, S1 to S4), Commercial (SPC, C1 to C4), Industrial (I-1 to I-3), Public and Semi-Public (P), Transport (T), Recreational (R), Agricultural (A1 and A2) and Forest (F) zones. For settlement zones, activities such as wholesale trade, warehouses, industries, scrap yards, automobile workshops, fabrication units, noisy engineering activities, slaughter-based meat stalls and restaurants with bars operating beyond 11 pm have been expressly prohibited. Restrictions have also been imposed on commercial establishments, hospitals, educational institutions and hotels on small plots or those lacking adequate road width and setbacks. “The use of personal residence greater than 10% of the carpet area of residence to be used as professional office including IT/ITES on all plots/premises and fronting on roads having width less than 10 meters is prohibited,” the amendment stated. It has also prohibited bakeries located on upper floors and/or occupying an area exceeding 75 sq. m., employing more than nine persons, where the power requirement exceeds 4 kW, only electrical equipment is used, and the additional heating load exceeds 12 kW. The prohibition also extends to group housing projects with commercial use in one or more upper-floor buildings where the commercial component exceeds 50 per cent of the proposed covered area and the development does not abut a public road. Further, nursing homes, hospitals or doctors' clinics with in-patient wards, as well as cultural, educational and religious institutions along with their administrative offices, are prohibited where the plot area is less than 300 sq. m., the frontage is below 15 metres, access is by a road narrower than 8 metres, or the front setback is less than 5 metres.
The amendment also bars heavy and hazardous industries from commercial zones, while industrial zones continue to prohibit industries beyond the category permitted in each industrial classification. Agricultural zones remain protected from non-agricultural uses, with limited exceptions for farm-related infrastructure and specified educational or research institutions subject to strict land area and development norms. The notification further clarifies that in planning areas, development charges will be levied based on either the applicable zone or the proposed use, whichever is higher, and that mezzanine floors will also attract development charges.
