Nantou Landowners Urge Rezoning of Unused School Sites Returned by Court

(CNA reporter Hsiao Po-yang, Nantou County, 21st) In Nantou County, some land designated for schools has remained unbuilt for years. Although landowners have reclaimed the land, it lies idle due to its unresolved status as public facility reserved land, which restricts its use. The county government stated that a comprehensive review of 15 public facility sites across the county has been submitted to the Ministry of the Interior for deliberation, with some already completed. During the Nantou County Council's regular session for general interpellation today, independent County Councilor Chien Chien-Hsiang pointed out that land expropriated 30 years ago for the relocation of Dexing, Fugong, and Qiaoguang elementary schools was never used. Landowners won lawsuits to get their land back, and the county government lost the case and returned the land. After a 15-year delay, the land use zoning is still for school purposes, meaning the owners have reclaimed their land but cannot use it, leading to overgrown areas that harbor snakes and rats and have become unsanitary dead spots. Chien said that 30 years ago, with a high birth rate, it was reasonable for the county to expropriate land for school relocation. However, with the current trend of declining birth rates, elementary schools struggle to enroll students, and the reserved school land is no longer needed. He argued the county government should have proactively de-listed the school land and returned it to the people, instead of forcing landowners to spend money on lawyers to reclaim it, only to find it unusable for building houses. He stated this government inaction harms the landowners' rights. Nantou County Magistrate Hsu Shu-Hua said the county government completed a comprehensive review of 15 public facility sites in 2022 and submitted it to the Ministry of the Interior for review. Some have been completed, while 7 cases are still in the central government's review process. She noted that de-listing public facility reserved land is not just a problem for Nantou but a common issue for all cities and counties nationwide. If the central government could speed up the review process, it would help protect the rights of more citizens. Hsu Shu-Hua added that the review and project-specific changes for public facility reserved land involve complex procedures with local and central urban planning committees. Due to the lengthy review timeline, the county government will continue to track the progress with the Ministry of the Interior and will ask local legislators to help appeal to the central government, hoping to accelerate detailed planning discussions and special committee reviews to shorten the administrative process as much as possible. (Editor: Lee Hsi-chang) 1150521