Bullying tactics in the leafy lanes

Once again the infamous “Pot House” (Erf 2071) on the corner of Doordrift and Spaanschemat River Roads, adjacent to Constantia Village Shopping Centre, is in the news. The owner is applying (again!) to have his property rezoned from “Residential 1” to “Local Business Zone 2”. This would give him carte blanche to set up any manner of unacceptable and disruptive changes to this peaceful and pretty corner of Cape Town including allowing the “sale of alcoholic beverages”, “service station’’, “supermarket” and “place of entertainment”. And if he won and was granted such a departure, the whole row of houses along Spaanschemat River Road and Doordrift Road would start falling to commercialism. 

For almost a decade the owner of Plaisir du Jardin has been trying to set up his garden pot business there ever since he bought the property, which was not, then or now, zoned for commercial land-use but for residential land-use. He was hoping to bulldoze the cottage and set up business – a strategy that would enable him to glean customers coming in and out of Constantia Village Shopping Centre without having to pay the exorbitantly high rentals for a business space within the commercially zoned Constantia Triangle Local Structure Plan.

He almost succeeded but for the vigilance of some local property owner’s and resident’s groups that objected to his bullying tactics and managed to alert the authorities to what was going on. Even though his plans were halted, he did not stop his illegal activities and he has been openly flouting the law ever since by trading from this property.

If you to to his website or Facebook page, he gives the address of Cnr Spaanschemat River &

Doordrift Road, Constantia, Western Cape as his Cape Town store. This is ILLEGAL! Yet nothing is done to stop this flagrant flouting of the law despite many petitions and efforts by resident's groups to close it down. 

He is now trying again to bully the City of Cape Town into re-zoning his property (just for his benefit) having already built his showrooms (ostensibly as extensions to a residential house!) and furnished them with his garden pots and rusty statuary. His latest application to have the house rezoned for commercial land-use is starting the whole saga up again. The scary thing is that this man seems to have the tacit approval of the City of Cape Town. Half hearted attempts to stop his illegal behaviour only happen when local residents, at great expense and effort, draw attention to his flagrant flouting of the law.

This man is breaking the law. His property is zoned “Single Residential 1”. If he wants to sell his pots in Constantia, he must rent space in Constantia Village – there is often space up for grabs there.

Why is this man seemingly above the law? As a resident of Constantia I strongly object to his illegal and bullying behaviour, and I strongly criticize the City of Cape Town for its pathetic response to his criminal behaviour.

These are the reasons why we cannot allow Erf 2071 to be rezoned:

•  Erf 2071 is not on an activity route, nor on a development route, nor at a development node. The City is at pains to cluster development around the Main Road corridor.
•  This application is against the detailed guidelines of the City of Cape Town’s Spatial Development Framework “Southern District Plan”. This Plan clearly states that Constantia should not be a growth area and that no expansion in commercial centres should be allowed. In all, it expresses a vision statement of Constantia as “A distinctive area of rural and low-density suburban ‘Capeness’, that celebrates unique valley landscapes, productive lands, living environment and local recreational and tourism experiences …”
• This application is against the provisos and spirit of the Constantia Triangle Local Structure Plan* (CTLSP) – which envisaged no rezoning. The express purpose of the CTLSP (worked out at great length and expense by local residents groups and the City of Cape Town) is stated as follows: “The primary object of this Structure Plan is to … prevent the spread of commercialism into the residential fabric of the area”
•  Traffic would increase, and deliveries by large vehicles and customers turning into the erf at that point are dangerous.
•  Just six on-site parking bays instead of the 16 required by the Council is unacceptable. The applicant cannot use the surrounding streets, nor the rugby parking (which is not zoned commercial), nor appeal that there is parking at Constantia Village. Regulations demand that all his parking should be on-site.
• There is no proper commitment to a permanent residential presence and the applicant has a record of years of unlawful behaviour.

I sincerely hope that the spirit of democracy that the new South Africa espouses is upheld by our DA-led City of Cape Town and that, in the interests of all rate-paying and law abiding residents of Constantia and surrounding areas of Plumstead, Meadowridge, Bergvliet and Tokai, the “Pot House property” remain Single Residential 1.