On November 16, 2018, a new term of local government began. Many remember that the end of the previous term was full of interesting events. How are the landscape resolutions doing a quarter later? It's time to present how the resolutions or work on them look in Łódź, Gdańsk, Szczecin, Krakow, Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław, and Katowice.

Łódź
On November 16, 2016, Łódź adopted one of the first landscape resolutions in the country. Its basic provisions are:

• zones – 3;
• maximum freestanding advertisement format – 18m²;
• advertisement on the facade during renovations – maximum 30% of the surface, the remaining part must be a reconstruction of the facade, the advertisement cannot be displayed for longer than 8 months;
• advertisement on the facade – only in zone II on gable walls, no more than 25% of the facade;
• signs – the number and size of signs are very limited and vary depending on the zone, purpose of the building, and its height; the preferred form of signs are spatial letters;
• prohibition of placing advertisements on banners, freestanding advertisements without permanent ground fixing, and mobile advertisements;
• digital advertising – heavily restricted;
• murals – prohibited;
• adaptation periods – from 3 to 5 years depending on the zone;
• adaptation conditions – unspecified;
• acquired rights – not included;
• resolution update – 1.

Because the resolution introduced unequal treatment of entities, exceeded statutory authorization in many matters, and contained many other errors, on August 11, 2017, the Provincial Administrative Court (WSA) in Łódź declared the resolution null and void in its entirety. Among many objections, the most significant substantively is that the landscape resolution of Łódź does not specify the conditions for adapting existing advertising signs and devices to the provisions of the resolution, and that matters related to the distances of advertisements from the road are specified in the Public Roads Act.
In mid-October, Łódź filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA). The date of the hearing in the NSA, despite almost two years of waiting, has not yet been set. The judgment that will be issued will affect actions in other cities.

Since the City Office did not want to risk having to pay compensation in the event of an unfavorable judgment, the Council voted to amend the landscape resolution, changing the adaptation period to three years in the zone where it was originally set for one year.

In February 2018, Łódź announced that it was starting work on a new advertising code. On March 7, 2018, an intent resolution was adopted. The currently binding resolution is to be repealed, and a new law regarding advertisements will be established in its place. For now, design work is underway; in April 2019, consultations on the assumptions should take place, but the project is to be shown publicly only at the exhibition stage.

The City Office has made available a website where the current landscape resolution can be clearly viewed:
https://uml.lodz.pl/dla-biznesu/kodeks-reklamowy/

The text of the resolution can be found at:
https://bip.uml.lodz.pl/files/bip/public/user_upload/uchwalal_-30112017104058.pdf

Gdańsk
Adopted its advertising code at the City Council session on February 22, 2018.
Basic provisions of the resolution:

• zones – 8;
• maximum freestanding advertisement format – 18m²;
• advertisement on the facade during renovations – allowed only in some zones, can constitute from 30% to 100% of the surface depending on the type of building, the advertisement can be displayed for a maximum of 12 months, once every 5 years;
• advertisement on the facade, excluding signs, is practically prohibited;
• signs – the number and size of signs are very limited and vary depending on the zone, purpose of the building, and its height; the preferred form of signs are spatial letters;
• prohibition of placing advertisements on banners and advertising nets outside of renovations;
• digital advertising – heavily restricted outside of city-owned "areas with entertainment and sports functions, whose character requires unconventional forms of promotion";
• murals – allowed in some zones;
• adaptation periods – 2 years;
• adaptation conditions – partially specified;
• acquired rights – not included.

On March 30, 2018, the Pomeranian Voivode issued a supervisory decision repealing provisions regarding election advertising, the distance of advertisements from certain infrastructure elements, and the method of maintaining advertising signs and devices as regulations that exceed statutory authorization. The city appealed the voivode's decision to the Provincial Administrative Court, citing errors in the justification of the decision.

On August 14 this year, the WSA in Gdańsk completely overturned the voivode's supervisory decision, who did not file a cassation appeal with the NSA.

19 complaints against the landscape resolution were submitted to the WSA in Gdańsk. They came from both residents and entrepreneurs operating in Gdańsk. On February 6, 2019, the WSA announced a judgment dismissing 9 of them. The remaining 10 are awaiting a hearing date. We should know the written justification of the judgment in 30 days.

Gdańsk does not have a separate page dedicated to the landscape resolution. This is incomprehensible, as the resolution is written in such an extensive (53 pages) and complicated way that understanding it by an entrepreneur will in most cases require legal consultation.
The resolution can be found on the BIP pages:
https://bip.gdansk.pl/subpages/akty_prawne/pliki/2018/URM_2018_7_1465.PDF

Łódź and Gdańsk are cities where the landscape resolution is in force, meaning all new investments must comply with the provisions contained in these legal acts. The adaptation period applies only to those locations that existed at the time the resolution came into force.

Szczecin
Before starting work on the resolution, a detailed inventory was carried out in Szczecin, which showed that only 19% of advertisements in the city were legally placed. As the only city in Poland, Szczecin constructed its code based on existing local plans (other cities, when introducing advertising resolutions, will change local spatial development plans).

Such a structure divides the city into as many zones as local plans have been adopted, plus 1 – for the zone where there is no local plan.
On the one hand, this is the most complicated and extensive draft resolution (if printed in its entirety, it would be over 1000 pages), but if we choose a specific location, the resolution for that place will be very clear and fit on 5 pages.

Basic provisions of the draft resolution in areas where local plans have not been adopted:

• maximum freestanding advertisement format – 48m²;
• advertisement on the facade during renovations – allowed on the entire scaffolding surface for a period of 3 months, once every 5 years;
• advertisement on the facade – up to 10% of the facade surface (with reservations)
  signs – one sign of 0.3 m² is allowed per business activity;
• prohibition of placing advertisements on fences, green areas, road traffic safety devices, water areas, advertisements at bus stops exceeding 30% of the shelter area;
• digital advertising – allowed, with the exception of low-resolution advertisements;
• murals – treated as facade advertising;
• adaptation periods – 2 years;
• adaptation conditions – partially specified;
• acquired rights – included.

The deadline for exhibiting and submitting comments on the project expired in March 2017. The project team completed its work and submitted the ready document to the City Council, which did not make a decision on voting on the draft resolution until the end of its term. A decision regarding the further fate of the project should be made soon.
The project can be viewed at:
http://krajobraz.szczecin.pl/chapter_139000.asp

Krakow
Presented its advertising code three times – first in spring 2016, second in August 2017, and the last exhibition took place in April 2018. The basic provisions of the last presented draft resolution:

• zones – 5; additionally, the resolution specifies other conditions for communication routes and areas of large-format stores and gas stations;
• maximum freestanding advertisement format – 18m²;
• advertisement on the facade during renovations – allowed only in some zones, can constitute up to 50% of the decoration surface, the advertisement can be displayed for a maximum of 12 months once every 7 years;
• advertisement on the facade – maximum 25% of the front facade area of the ground floor;
  signs – the number and size of signs are very limited and vary depending on the zone, height and purpose of the building, placement, the preferred form of signs are spatial letters;
• prohibition of placing advertisements on fences;
• digital advertising – practically prohibited, with the exception of some small forms and a screen of over 5,000 m2 mounted on Tauron Arena in Krakow, where advertising is possible during outdoor events;
• murals – prohibited;
• adaptation periods – 2 years;
• adaptation conditions – partially specified;
• acquired rights – not included.

After the project was exhibited, several hundred comments were submitted to the Spatial Planning Office, some of which were partially or fully taken into account. The document describing how these comments were handled is 175 pages long.
The authors of the project predicted that the resolution would be a gift for the next term of local government – the effective date of the resolution was set for January 1, 2019. The project appeared on the agenda of the City Council session twice: in June and September 2018, but each time it was withdrawn. The project received a negative opinion from the Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection Committee.

In January 2019, the Deputy Mayor of Krakow, Jerzy Muzyk, initiated actions to answer the question of what impact the provisions of the resolution will have on the advertising market. It was decided to conduct a detailed analysis, which unfortunately was not carried out before starting work on the resolution. 10 main streets in Krakow are to be analyzed. We should know the results of the analysis at the beginning of June. Further decisions will be made after its completion. If the changes to the resolution are significant, a second exhibition should be expected.
All documents are available on the BIP website:
https://www.bip.krakow.pl/?dok_id=71173&metka=1&vReg=1

Warsaw
Repeatedly postponed the presentation date of the landscape resolution project. The project was published at the beginning of June 2017. The underlying assumption for the creators of the resolution was a general prohibition of placing advertising carriers in the city, with certain exceptions for carriers mostly located in urban areas: citylights at bus stops and advertising pillars.
After the project presentation, over 1,000 comments were collected. On October 19, 2018, two days before the first round of local elections, the exhibition of the project was announced, which differed little from the original version.
The basic provisions of the draft resolution are as follows:

• zones – 3, additionally the resolution distinguishes communication routes;
• maximum freestanding advertisement format – 18m²;
• advertisement on the facade during renovations – can be displayed for a maximum of 9 months, once every 5 years;
• advertisement on the facade – only on facades without windows (with reservations);
• signs - the number and size of signs are limited, the preferred form of signs are spatial letters;
• prohibitions – placing advertisements on windows, building roofs, in front of public buildings, in close proximity to each other, in conservation and nature protection areas, and many others;
• digital advertising – largely limited by technical capabilities;
• adaptation period – 2 years;
• adaptation conditions – practically unspecified;
• acquired rights – not included.

After the draft resolution was exhibited, approximately 3,000 comments were submitted to the office, two-thirds of which were repetitive from a template published on social media. Their analysis is currently underway. It will probably take about another month and will end with the publication of a report.
A detailed consultation report can be found at:

http://konsultacje.um.warszawa.pl/sites/konsultacje.um.warszawa.pl/files/krajobrazowa_raport_final.pdf

The project description can be found at:

http://www.um.warszawa.pl/aktualnosci/adnie-z-uchwa-krajobrazow

The project itself can be viewed on the website:

http://konsultacje.um.warszawa.pl/jaka_uchwala_krajobrazowa_dla_warszawy_drugi_etap_konsultacji_spolecznych

Poznań
The intent resolution was signed the latest of all G8 cities: in March 2017, but work on the project had been ongoing since the beginning of 2017. The full version of the project was not presented. In November 2017, proposals for only some provisions of the draft resolutions were presented. They are as follows:

• zones – 4;
• maximum freestanding advertisement format – 18m²;
• advertisement on the facade during renovations – can be displayed for a maximum of 1 year, can be placed again after 5 years;
• advertisement on the facade – only small forms
  signs – maximum 2 pieces, size depends on the type of carrier and zone;
• digital advertising – allowed only on CLPs;
• murals – from 5% of the facade area depending on the zone;
• adaptation periods – from 1 year for the city center to 5 years outside the city center;
• adaptation conditions – not specified;
• acquired rights – not specified.

In February 2018, the city published comments submitted on the assumptions of the resolution. Although the project was not presented anywhere, in the spring its authors announced a very quick processing of the resolution. In the second half of the year, Poznań transferred advertising pillars and bus shelters to the management of a municipal company – Międzynarodowe Targi Poznańskie.

Internal agreement on the project is currently underway, consultations are planned for March and April, followed by the exhibition of the project.

The Department of Urban Planning and Architecture has made available a page with information on the work on the resolution:
http://www.poznan.pl/mim/main/-,p,40312.html

Wrocław
Is a city that is not in a hurry to introduce a landscape resolution, probably because in 2014, even before the landscape resolution was created, a cultural park was established in Wrocław, which organized the historic city center. The people preparing the project believe that the landscape code is a serious legal regulation and should not be rushed, because it must be a reliable and legally compliant document. The first consultation meeting, and so far the only one, took place in September 2017. Work is currently underway to prepare the project. It is known that the city plans to introduce an advertising fee. Probably in the second half of March, the work schedule for introducing the landscape resolution will be announced.

Information on public consultations can be found at:
https://www.wroclaw.pl/rozmawia/uchwala-krajobrazowa-wroclawia-o-konsultacjach

The completed cultural park project can be viewed at:
https://www.wroclaw.pl/rozmawia/uchwala-krajobrazowa-wroclawia-park-kulturowy

Katowice
In Katowice, a slightly different approach to the topic was proposed, and a tender was announced for the inventory of selected places and areas of the city, defining the division of the city into zones, and preparing initial assumptions for rules and conditions for the purpose of developing the draft resolution. The tender was won by PwC Polska Sp. z o.o., which, after completing the work, presented its conclusions at a meeting with all interested parties. The meeting took place in September 2017; the conclusions presented were imprecise and showed little in-depth understanding of the topic by PwC.

The last consultation meeting took place on October 30, 2017. By the end of March 2018, a financial analysis of the effects of introducing the landscape resolution was supposed to be presented – it was not. At the end of last year, the city published the results of public consultations and the position of the Mayor of Katowice on the submitted proposals. Currently, design work is underway in the Department of Architecture and Construction. After their completion and publication of the project, consultation meetings are planned.

The city has made available a website about the advertising code, but the last entry is from October 2017 (as of the publication date of the text):
https://www.katowice.eu/Konsultacje/Strony/uchwa%C5%82a-krajobrazowa.aspx