Due to Administrative Error, 15 Years of Overlapping Regulations... Residents and City Solved It Together

Expected Lifting of Waterfront Zone in Pogok and Mohyeon-eup, Yongin in Early Next Year
Residents Express Hope: "Can't Even Enter Bathhouses... Looking Forward to Better Living"

"For 15 years, due to incorrect regulations, we couldn't properly build even a single bathhouse, let alone restaurants. Now, life should get a bit better."

Residents in the Pogok and Mohyeon-eup areas of Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do are excited with expectations for the lifting of dual regulations. This is because the possibility of lifting the 'waterfront zone' designation around Gyeangancheon, which has been restricted due to a government error since 2008, has increased.

The Pogok and Mohyeon-eup areas were designated as a 'waterfront zone' under the "Act on the Improvement of Water Quality and Support for Residents in the Han River Basin (Han River Basin Act)" in 2008. Since then, the construction of basic convenience facilities such as apartments, restaurants, and bathhouses has been strictly limited in this area.

Han (47), who runs a cafe in Pogok-eup, said, "Last year, there was a crackdown due to complaints about selling coffee in the waterfront zone," adding, "I almost had to close the cafe, which I started by investing all my assets, and was about to be driven out onto the street."

A panoramic view of the area around Gyeongancheon in Pogok-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, which is subject to overlapping regulations as both a waterfront zone and a military facility protection zone.
[Photo provided by Yongin-si]

However, during the crackdown, Han learned that this area was subject to dual regulations due to an error. In addition to the waterfront zone under the Han River Basin Act, the area was also subject to overlapping regulations as a military facility protection zone under the "Military Bases and Military Facilities Protection Act (Military Facilities Act)." This conflicts with the Han River Basin Act, which excludes military facility protection zones from waterfront area designation and notification.

Residents including Han filed complaints with the city hall but saw no clear solution. Kim Yong-ju (63), who farms in the area, said, "We have filed countless complaints over the years, but none were accepted."

However, since last year, a breakthrough has appeared. Yongin City began to actively respond to the residents' repeated complaints.

Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin formed a 'Regulation Relief Task Force (TF) Team' immediately after taking office in July last year and ordered the identification and removal of unreasonable regulations. The dual regulations unfairly imposed around Gyeangancheon were included in this. The mayor had been interested in local environmental regulations such as waterfront zone restrictions since his candidacy, and when a complaint about the wrongful designation of the waterfront zone was received in August last year, he reportedly immediately instructed the relevant departments to verify the matter.

The city confirmed that the regulations in the area were due to administrative errors and allocated a budget of 22 million KRW through a supplementary budget in April this year to conduct a field survey. Based on this, the city finalized the area subject to lifting and officially requested the government last month to lift the overlapping regulations. The area designated for lifting, as confirmed by the city, is 3.9 square kilometers (approximately 1.18 million pyeong), equivalent to the size of 500 soccer fields. The Han River Basin Environmental Office is expected to begin on-site surveys next month and start reviewing whether to lift the waterfront zone designation.

The city plans to actively cooperate with the Ministry of Environment and the Han River Basin Environmental Office to shorten the usual one-year lifting procedure to about six months. This is in line with the mayor’s order to promptly restore residents' property rights since the regulations were incorrect.

Han said, "When I filed complaints with city hall in the past, I felt so discouraged that I thought I might have to give up, but now that the city is actively working to lift the waterfront zone, I have hope that good results will come this time."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.