Landowners in Cavtat whose plots were not purchased by the investor claim they will lose their land due to the project. The development has grown from a private business venture into a strategic interest for the entire country, and following that decision, owners fear their land may be expropriated.
Above the promenade and the site where the most expensive villas with views of Dubrovnik are planned lies the land of the Vidak family. Luka sees state and county failures in the entire situation. A prerequisite for expropriation in a strategic project is a location permit, which was issued for the resort on 15 September.
Owners will receive compensation based on the assessment of an authorised appraiser. The state will issue the expropriation decision and simultaneously approve the compensation. However, some owners are proceeding to challenge the location permit before the administrative court.
Owners claim that the location permit includes a road and a gallery tunnel that are not part of the Municipal Spatial Plan. They also highlight that the process is favouring private interests. One owner stated: "They want to expropriate me to give parking to someone else. We will go to the Administrative Court and try to overturn the location permit."
The Ministry of Construction, which issued the location permit, stated that the traffic solution is in accordance with the valid spatial plans. It also noted that all parts of the designed traffic route are located within the planning corridor.
The news team asked Branko Bačić, Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction and State Property, about the matter. Bačić said that the court will determine whether the Ministry correctly interpreted the regulations when making the decision. Božo Lasić, the Mayor of the Konavle Municipality, stated that the route is marked in the Detailed Urban Plan and that he does not know the details.
One of the landowners within the resort area is Vido Bogdanović, the former mayor of Dubrovnik. Bogdanović says that this project has nothing to do with the state interest.
