Windthrow

In the textual provisions of the development plan, the following passage can be found:

At the forest edge in the west of the planning area, structural facilities in the residential area and on the green spaces designated as home gardens are not protected against windthrow.

The property of our interest borders a forest for about 20 meters on one side. In the rear part of the property, a home garden is "prescribed." After 25 meters comes the buildable part.

How should I understand that structural facilities are not protected against windthrow? It is logical that a tree can fall there in the event of corresponding wind.

Is the quoted passage merely a note on this, and could it possibly be related to insurance-relevant aspects?
Can the municipality/city as the owner of the green space already protect itself through the development plan in such a way as to be exempt from liability in case of damage? Hardly imaginable, but who knows...

I will contact a trusted insurance company tomorrow to also inquire about this.

Best regards,
Sebastian

Hello Sebastian,

Is the quoted passage merely the indication of this and is this possibly about insurance-relevant aspects?
Can the municipality / city already secure itself as the owner of the green area through the development plan in such a way as to be exempt from liability in case of an incident? Hard to imagine, but who knows ...

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has established control steps in ongoing case law, which the owner of the forest must comply with. These inspections should take place twice a year.

So it is the mandatory note from the seller that damage – for example, as a result of breaking trees at your property boundary – "can" occur.

By the way, private individuals are also liable if they fail to regularly inspect their trees and, as a result, damage arises on the neighboring property ;)

Rhine greetings

For me, this means that the owner of the adjacent forest area - I believe it is the city / municipality - like everyone else, must fulfill their duty to inspect the stock twice a year and take measures if necessary. If windthrow still occurs and my building is damaged, who pays? An "exemption from liability" through the development plan does not work? Perhaps I then have to "increase" my building insurance?

Now something practical: what kind of trees are standing there? And how tall are they? Most trees in Germany won’t reach 25m before being felled, unless it is a poplar forest or a stand of redwoods.

I guess... spruce monoculture...

Can reach up to 50m...

And windthrow cannot be avoided in managed forest areas despite tree inspections.

Hello Seb,

I think this will be a clause with which the municipality protects itself regarding its forest liability insurance. For example, it is possible to build garden houses, etc., up to a certain size without a permit, i.e., there is no building permit and therefore no inspection.

If then spruce meets a garden house, the garden house usually has poor chances. But if it is stated in the development plan that one has been informed about this risk, then one cannot later say that the city should have planted its trees better or that one did not know all this.

Interesting in this context is whether the garden house would still be replaced. It could also just be a notice that one should not stay in the corresponding areas during storms, etc., and therefore also not in the aforementioned buildings, and that one naturally must tolerate cleanup work. But you can certainly find out about this from the municipality or via the insurer.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

Hello everyone and thank you for your assessments.

Most of it is, as I said, logical.

But especially the last paragraph by Dirk Grafe addresses exactly what I wanted to get at. So whether liability applies despite the clause in the [Bebauungsplan], should damage occur.

But actually, it is obvious to just ask the creator of the [B-Plans], the municipality.

Regards,
Sebastian