Government Council Approves Cable Car Corridor And Rezoning Of Rigi Kaltbad Mountain Station

Several administrative complaints were lodged against the resolution of Weggis voters on November 27, 2022 to create a cable car corridor and to rezone the Rigi Kaltbad mountain station. The government council of the canton of Lucerne has now approved the partial revision of Weggis' local planning decided by voters and has rejected the administrative complaints in their entirety.

At the ballot box on November 27, 2022, voters in the municipality of Weggis decided with 1,259 yes votes and 381 no votes on the partial revision of the local planning to identify an overlying “cable car corridor” zone as the spatial planning basis for a renewal of the Weggis – Rigi Kaltbad cable car. They also decided to rezone the mountain station area from the Rigi Kaltbad core zone to the spa and hotel zone.

Government council rejects administrative complaints

Two private individuals and three associations filed an administrative complaint against the voters' decision. With a resolution of February 2, 2024, the Government Council of the Canton of Lucerne approved the change to the zoning plan and the associated change to the building and zoning regulations. The administrative complaints, which, among other things, criticized the coordination of land use planning, plan approval procedures and clearing approval procedures, were dismissed in their entirety.

First, the municipal land use planning...

With the elimination of the overlying “cable car corridor” zone in the municipal usage planning, the Weggis voters determined the corridor in which the buildings and systems required for a cable car should be permitted. In its considerations, the government council states that the Federal Office of Transport, after internal federal coordination with the Federal Office for the Environment and the Federal Office for Spatial Development, made the following statement in its letter to the municipality of Weggis: “This comes in connection with the planning of cable car projects Usage planning has a different function than within the framework of plans that are to be implemented through decisions by cantonal and/or municipal authorities. For cable cars, the comprehensive determination and consideration of all relevant environmental interests takes place as part of the plan approval process. The community, which has the right to use planning, should only - but at least - decide whether and in which corridor or area a railway should be built, provided that it can later be approved by the federal government.

... then the federal plan approval process

The government council also writes. “All additional features of the new railway (including the cable car system, location of the supports, environmental impact assessment) will be decided in the subsequent plan approval process in accordance with Article 9 SebG. The comprehensive weighing of interests only takes place during the plan approval process.”

The municipality of Weggis now hopes that no administrative court complaint will be filed with the Lucerne Cantonal Court and that the decision of the Weggis voters and the government council of the Canton of Lucerne will also be accepted by those objecting.