In Les Lilas, the building “without architectural interest” will be topped with the “false chimneys” of the relay antennas

The Board of state rejected the appeal of the town of Lilas (Seine-Saint-Denis), which opposed the installation ofFree relay antennas 3.35 meters high on the roof of a building on avenue du Maréchal-Juin.

A “limited” height overrun

The relay antennas would in fact have been hidden in “false chimneys” on this building next to the Clinique des Lilas, which already measures 16 meters high. Under these conditions, the mayor (PS), Lionel Benharous, vetoed in July 2021 the prior declaration of works filed by the mobile telephone operator.

On the legal front, the Montreuil administrative court ruled in his favor in October 2022 and ordered Free to pay 2,000 euros in legal costs to the community. But the Paris administrative court of appeal ruled in the opposite direction in July 2023 and ordered the city to pay 1,500 euros for the same reason.

“Regarding the works described as ‘false chimneys’, they have no other purpose than that of concealing the relay antennas, which are technical works linked to the operation of equipment of collective interest,” the court ruled. . “Given the choice made (…) to treat said devices in a color identical to that of the buildingthe limited nature of their excess and the lack of architectural interest in this building, the project does not disregard the condition of satisfactory integration. »

The town of Lilas had therefore lodged an appeal before the Council of State to censor “error of law” and the “legal qualification” error made by the Parisian judges: they had “distorted the documents in the file” submitted to them by judging that the “false chimneys” were an essential “accessory” to a piece of equipment of collective interest.

“None of these means is likely to allow the appeal to be admitted,” replied the highest French administrative court in a judgment of May 10, 2024, which has just been made public.

/GF (PressPepper)

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