Roc.No.4367/2019-TCP2, Grant of Planning Permission, Power Delegation to District Officers

What the circular does

Circular Roc.No.4367/2019-TCP2 of the Office of the Director of Town and Country Planning expands the powers of district officers to grant planning permission for buildings and approve layouts and land subdivisions. District officers must apply the Master Plan, Detailed Development Plan, Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019, and other rules and regulations in force.

The delegation does not apply in notified hill stations where the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Hill Station Building Rules, 1993 are in force.

Building permissions

The modified delegation permits district officers to deal with:

• Residential, commercial and institutional non-high-rise buildings with a combined total FSI area not exceeding 2,500 square metres and a maximum height of 18.3 metres for each building.
• Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board and Tamil Nadu Housing Board proposals without an FSI area limit, except high-rise proposals exceeding 18.3 metres.
• Ground-floor manufacturing sheds in approved State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited or Small Industries Development Corporation layouts, up to 10,000 square metres of floor area. Incidental buildings may be included if their combined FSI area does not exceed 15 per cent of the main sheds' total FSI area. Each building must remain within 18.3 metres.
• Industrial buildings outside those layouts where the combined FSI area does not exceed 2,500 square metres and each building does not exceed 18.3 metres.
• Accessory uses allowed for the relevant Master Plan or Detailed Development Plan land use zone, subject to the applicable floor area limits.

Proposals exceeding these limits must be forwarded to the Commissioner or Director of Town and Country Planning for concurrence.

Layouts, subdivision and land use

The delegation allows district officers to approve layouts and subdivisions up to five acres in corporations, municipalities and town panchayats, and up to ten acres in village panchayats. Larger proposals must be forwarded to the Commissioner or Director of Town and Country Planning. Splitting land belonging to the same applicant, or to a family member of that applicant, to obtain phased district-level approvals is prohibited.

District officers may also permit payment based on guideline value instead of allocating 10 per cent open space reservation where the site is between 3,000 and 10,000 square metres.

Conversion of an undeveloped saleable public-purpose site to another allowable use may be approved if it has remained vacant for at least five years from planning permission and the same facility is available within two to three kilometres.

Important restriction

Any additional development beyond an already approved plan must be sent to the head office for scrutiny and approval, even when it falls within the delegated limits. Composite local planning authorities and new town development authorities must adopt the delegation by resolution.