- Elected since June 28, the environmental mayor of Valbonne wishes to modify the Open Sky project.
- Intended to be a large commercial area, Open Sky is not unanimous.
- Consultations between the city and the Compagnie de Phalsbourg, the promoter of the project, should take place soon.
"I want to stop the shopping center itself," announces the new environmental mayor of Valbonne (Alpes-Maritimes) Joseph Cesario, about the Open Sky project. This large-scale commercial area, run by the Compagnie de Phalsbourg provides 59,900 m2 of shops "specializing in personal and household equipment". And also a hotel (10,000 m2), offices (20,000 m2) and spaces dedicated to culture and leisure. All in the town of Valbonne, along the A8 motorway and at the edge of the Valmasque departmental park.
Since the announcement of its installation, the project has been far from unanimous. At the end of 2019, the promoter was facing the challenge of environmental associations and some of the inhabitants. An online petition had been launched even though the Company already had the building permits. In parallel, the site is put on hold after the discovery of "1,000 tonnes of asbestos", according to Philippe Journo, boss of Phalsbourg, last December.
"75% of the population is against the project"
This parenthesis in the progress of the project opens the way to consultations on its future, according to Joseph Cesario. Elected on June 28, the new mayor wrote to President Emmanuel Macron so that the moratorium on commercial areas, decided during the Citizens' Convention of June 29, also includes the Open Sky project.
"I would like to develop alternative projects," he says. "I have already met the Casa (Community of agglomeration of Sophia-Antipolis) and the prefecture, it only remains for me to meet Philippe Journo quickly", underlines the one who insists on his will to collaborate on the future of this zoned. “I want to defend the interests of my town. I don't want shops there or an operation that brings a lot of traffic. I will express it to the promoter because it is open. He understood that 75% of the population was against the project, ”considers Joseph Cesario.
For his part, Philippe Journo announces that he is awaiting a meeting with the elected officials but considers that the moratorium cannot concern Open Sky since it cannot apply, according to him, "to authorized files". "If the city wishes to stop [the project], the cost will exceed 90 million euros", considers the official. It is an assessment of the company's expenses already incurred, of the "parameters" that could be the subject of "negotiations" between the city and the promoter.
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