Northern District Appeals Committee Approves Student Dormitory Project in Safed
The long-standing dispute over the establishment of student dormitories in Safed has been resolved. Last week, the Northern District Appeals Committee for Planning and Building, chaired by Attorney Nili Ben Moshe-Yedgar, reviewed appeals filed by the Safed Academic College against the local planning committee's refusal to issue a building permit. The committee ruled to advance the permit for constructing student dormitories, an academic building, and commercial spaces at the entrance to Safed's Old City.
The conflict began after the local committee declined the permit, citing concerns that the dormitory project could hinder the city's transportation plan and did not comply with the approved zoning. The dormitory plan was initially approved for deposit in August 2021. The college, affiliated with Bar-Ilan University and operating in Safed for about 40 years, has been promoting the project on its land near Jerusalem and Palmach streets for over a decade. Despite serving thousands of students annually, the college has no dormitories of its own.
The project had a dedicated budget of approximately 42 million shekels from the Council for Higher Education's planning and budgeting committee, contingent on meeting deadlines. The Israel Land Authority had earlier offered an alternative plot to the college without a tender, but the college declined after the municipality withheld the necessary recommendation and proceeded with its own land.
In its appeal, the college argued the local committee's decisions lacked sufficient planning justification and that delays jeopardized state funds allocated for the dormitories and higher education in the Galilee. The college also claimed the transportation concerns were a pretext to block the project, motivated by opposition to mixed-gender dormitories and demographic changes in the Old City. The local committee rejected these claims, citing professional reasons related to traffic congestion.
After extensive hearings and expert traffic consultation, the appeals committee found the project could proceed with specific adjustments without obstructing future transportation planning. It dismissed most local committee objections, including building height and dormitory unit counts, but accepted some technical points requiring modifications. The committee criticized the municipality for resisting the district committee's prior approval and delaying the project, emphasizing the college's public importance.
The appeals committee ordered the local committee to issue the building permit within 15 days of receiving a corrected application or allow the college to seek a permit from the National Licensing Authority. The municipality of Safed responded that no corrected application has yet been submitted but pledged to advance any compliant requests promptly.
