The liberal Yabloko party filed a lawsuit Monday against the general plan for Moscow's development through 2025, saying the document violated multiple regulations and served commercial developers, not Muscovites.
The plan was passed by the City Duma in a first reading in December, despite the fact that the results of the mandatory state expertise were not delivered at the time, Yabloko head Sergei Mitrokhin said.
"No one has seen these results yet," he told The Moscow Times.
Mitrokhin said this violation alone was enough to make the plan void, Interfax reported.
Mitrokhin said he hoped that the lawsuit would not be rejected by the Moscow City Court, which has five days to decide whether to accept it or throw it out.
The document, known by its Soviet-era acronym Genplan, was not approved by the federal authorities and the Moscow region government, Mitrokhin said.
Regional Development Minister Sergei Basargin said last month that he had not seen the final version of the plan, which should have been approved by the ministry.
Mitrokhin also cited practical flaws of the Genplan, saying it will increase social tension since it will not affect sky-high real estate prices and purchasing newly built apartments will remain impossible for most Moscow residents.
The Genplan says more than 100 million square meters of housing will be built in Moscow over the next 15 years.
The document would also worsen the city's traffic problems, ruin green zones and destroy historic buildings, Mitrokhin said.
More than 30 nongovernmental organizations united in May to protest the Genplan, which was also criticized by the Public Chamber and architects.
But the public outcry did not prevent the City Duma from passing the Genplan in a third and final reading in May.
Genplan was signed by Mayor Yury Luzhkov on May 27 and published in City Hall's official journal Monday. It goes into effect June 17.
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