JEDDAH: The Jeddah Municipal Council has blocked a move by the Jeddah municipality to convert Al-Hamra, Bani Malik and some other residential neighborhoods into business districts.
An official told Arab News on Friday the Jeddah Municipal Council members insisted on retaining the residential status of the districts at a meeting of the council on Thursday.
“Majority of council members voted against changing the existing status of the districts designating them as business or residential areas,” the official said. The council meeting was presided over by Chairman Hussein Baaqeel and attended by Deputy Chairman Hassan Al-Zahrani and Deputy Mayor of Jeddah, Khaled Oqail.
The municipality had demanded that the council take a decision in favor of converting several residential neighborhoods into business districts so that it can go ahead with its development plans. Several businessmen particularly those residing in Al-Hamra district have been piling pressure on the municipality and the council to convert the neighborhood into a business district so that they could continue their business activities in a better way.
“There are several municipal regulations that restrict business activities in a residential neighborhood. For instance, a residential district cannot use more than 25 percent of its total space for business activities,” the official added. There are also restrictions on the number of floors in a building in a residential district.
The source added that 30 buildings in Al-Hamra have already been converted into business offices and furnished apartments. The Ruwais district, which is close to Al-Hamra, will soon become residential-cum-commercial district under a new development plan.
