Second Master plan: largesse in the offing? - The Hindu

The new development regulations have raised the anticipation level, writes Suresh Kuppuswami

Photo: N. Sridharan.

For a quality city: Much is expected from the proposed changes in the Development regulations of the Second Master Plan for Chennai. The last few months have seen much expectations build up regarding Second Master plan for Chennai Metropolitan Area prepared by CMDA.

What created this anticipation is the relaxed development regulations it proposes. What major changes in the Development Regulations are in the offing? How will it help?

As per existing development control rules of CMDA, buildings are classified as ordinary buildings, special buildings and multi-storied buildings based on the intensity of development and the planning norms vary for each category.

What is expected is that set regulations for ordinary buildings, with floor area not exceeding 300 M2 and number of floors not exceeding 2 will be relaxed. The maximum number of dwelling units is restricted to 6 in an ordinary building plot. Now this will be changed.

The number of dwelling units permissible is to be increased to at least 8 and the number of floors permitted may be increased to three (G+2).

Though there is not going to be much change in the front and side setbacks, the rear set back required will be a maximum of 1.5 M and the same will no longer be based on the depth of the plot. The current permissible FSI is 1.5 and the same is likely to be retained. The CMDA has already excluded certain areas from the calculation of FSI and this is likely to fetch a maximum of additional 0.2 FSI.

Demand for concessions

In the case of Special buildings which are the predominant built form comprising mostly of apartment and commercial buildings in Chennai, the developers have been demanding concessions in FSI, set back spaces, parking standards, number of floors and the minimum road width eligibility.

The revised norms will now allow special buildings in 9M, against the earlier 10M requirement, provided the number of floors is restricted to ground plus 2. The front set back requirement is likely to be retained and the rear set back henceforth will be not dependent on the depth of the plot and will be a maximum of 3.5 M. The side setbacks are likely to be reduced thus allowing more plot coverage.

As per the draft SMP, the maximum permissible FSI for this category of buildings is retained at 1.5 and parking standards have been made more stringent. There has been demand from various quarters for increase in the FSI of special buildings to as high as 2.50 on a par with Multi-storeyed Buildings and less stringent parking norms. It is quite unlikely CMDA will offer any big concession in FSI or parking norms. By excluding certain areas from FSI calculations and increase in size of unsupported balconies to 1.2 M will yield an additional 0.3 FSI.

However it is likely that the expectation of the developers with regard to reduction of road width criterion for special buildings from 10 M to 9M may be met by CMDA. If this comes through taller buildings may start appearing on narrower roads.

Multi-storied buildings by definition are buildings exceeding 15 M in height. As per the present norms they are eligible for FSI ranging from 2.0 to 2.5 depending on the extent to which the plot is covered by the building. The eligibility criteria are the minimum plot extent of 1500 sq.m and road width not less than 18 M. These conditions have excluded many plots in Chennai City under consideration for multi-storeyed buildings.

Much of these norms will remain, but the parking norms will be a little more stringent. One significant change is that multi-storied buildings will now be permitted in the entire Metropolitan area.

Changes unlikely

There has been a demand from some of the developers for relaxing the eligibility criterion with regard to the plot size and the road width with the hope that if MSBs are permissible on narrower roads and in smaller plots they would qualify for additional FSI.

It appears unlikely that there will be changes in this. Buildings with G+5 or G+6 floors may be permitted on 15 M roads. The setback requirement of 7M may not be altered since it is meant for movement of snorkel around the buildings.

In larger plots meant for housing corporate offices, commercial complexes and high-end apartments, the developers have been expecting a big concession in terms of FSI to the tune of 5.0 citing rules of other metropolitan cities. Since IT buildings have already been considered for a FSI as high as 3.25, there is an expectation that the FSI will be raised for non-IT buildings too.

Prospective effect

Much of the changes are proposed on the premise that it will increase the buildability in a given site and the city at large. The developers argue that enhanced buildability will reduce the price of the apartment and make housing more affordable.

With the phenomenal increase in cost of land in recent years, this argument has gained ground. On the other hand, a section of the professional architects and planners and citizen groups have been challenging this reasoning. Will the master plan improve the quality of the city, bring the cost or will it crowd the city will be shortly known. One really hopes that the changes proposed will have prospective effect only and whether the rules will be strictly followed is a different story.

The author is Professor, School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University.

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