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NEWS
11,000 Apartments in Beit Shemesh Dalet Enter Detailed Planning Stage
By Yechiel Sever
With the completion of the frame plans, 11,000 apartment units slated for construction in Ramat Beit Shemesh Dalet have now entered the detailed planning stage, after tens of millions of shekels were allocated for detailed master plans for the neighborhood with the assistance of government ministries and the Beit Shemesh Municipality's Engineering Department, headed by Rabbi Moshe Montag.
The advanced planning phase got under way when a special meeting was held at the Housing Ministry, where Rabbi Montag discussed the chareidi neighborhood in a presentation to Ministry planning teams.
In contrast to past cases in the Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef and Beit neighborhoods, Dalet will be planned in advance to be settled by the chareidi public. In order to realize this goal, the Housing Ministry replicated the positive elements of Charish, the first city specially planned for the chareidi sector. Dalet will be the city's largest neighborhood, including both existing and planned areas, and is expected to be the central neighborhood as well.
A meeting held at the Housing Ministry was attended by the neighborhood's six planning team leaders, who were selected by Ministry professionals. Rabbi Montag, chairman of the planning and construction committee in Beit Shemesh and a member of the Jerusalem district committee, addressed the architects and special planning consultants, explaining to them the unique needs that must be kept in mind when planning apartments and environs for chareidi residents.
"A larger number of public communal areas are required, and will eventually be occupied by botei knesses and educational institutions and open areas must be planned in accordance with the size of typical chareidi families," Rabbi Montag said. "Indoor shopping areas should be avoided. Commercial facilities should be distributed throughout the neighborhood without being too far from any given residence, so that people who do not own cars are able to reach the grocery store easily. Also, building height must be limited and homes should be far away from noisy streets."
The Housing Ministry divided the neighborhood into six subsections, assigning each one a separate Ministry architect to prepare a detailed plan. The Ministry says this approach has proven itself in the past and due to latent competition among architects, it enables the planning process to advance more quickly and with better results.
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