Building land designated as a habitat (FIS-Nature vs. Land Use Plan)

A pleasant good evening,

I have been diligently reading here for several weeks and have already been able to gather a lot of information. :)
About 6 weeks ago, we submitted a preliminary building inquiry for a plot of land belonging to my parents-in-law, which was rejected last Friday.

Before the inquiry, we dealt accordingly with maps from the BayernAtlas, FIS-Natur & Co., hoping to consider everything.
According to the land value report, the plot is residential building land. Development status: B (building-ready land).

Briefly about the plot itself: it is currently a green meadow with 5 old apple trees, some of which are rotten and hardly bear any apples anymore.

Now we have the response from the city building authority, where we were informed, among other things, of the following:

"Moreover, the land use plan maps part of the building area as a biotope."

"The intervention in the biotope must be compensated by adequate offset measures. For this purpose, an open space development plan must be prepared,
which provides information about the planned plantings, preserved tree locations, as well as impact and compensation balances."

Here I have a section from FIS-Natur Online, the two red arrows show the two affected plots:



We also checked carefully beforehand in the Environmental Atlas:



There is also no designation as a biotope, etc. in the BayernAtlas.

After some searching, I found the open space land use plan online, which shows the following:
(I was unfortunately not aware of this before)



Legend:


Now it is noted here that the majority of the two plots is marked as a biotope. (My parents-in-law were not aware of this.)
So far, we have not yet inquired by phone or in writing, as I would like to inform myself beforehand.

I have the following specific questions:

1. Where can I get more detailed information about this “biotope”?
- What type of biotope is it? Are there online options for this?
- Who is responsible or who is the most sensible contact person?
2. Can the city simply designate it as a biotope on its own and other authorities do not? Or has that not been digitized since 2006 :rolleyes:
3. Can the aforementioned open space development plan be created by oneself, or is it advisable to engage a professional here?
4. What is the most sensible further procedure? (We just wanted to politely inquire at the building authority now and get information)

Thank you very much & have a nice evening.

Best regards,
Andreas

Orchard meadows are often classified as biotopes.

The corresponding law was revised in Bavaria in 2020, so that many of these meadows would no longer be protected. I do not know what the current status on this is.

We had something like this here before:

(We just wanted to kindly inquire at the building authority and have them provide us with information)

That is exactly the right approach. Often they don't mean any harm... It can often be resolved with a fruit meadow with replacement plantings or compensation payments.

Pick up the phone and call.

1. Where can I get more detailed information about this "Biotope"?

From the lower nature conservation authority

Are there online options for this?

Unlikely

Who is responsible for this / or who is the most appropriate contact person?

District administration office, department 42

2. Can the city simply designate this as a biotope and other authorities cannot?

Yes

3. Can the aforementioned open space design plan be created by oneself?

Yes, if you have the necessary expertise

Is it advisable to hire a professional here?

Yes

4. What is the most sensible further course of action?

To get more specific help here in the forum, more detailed information is necessary, e.g. the scope of the preliminary building inquiry and the authority’s complete response.