Nicole and Michael Nökel are desperate, and that's no wonder, because the entrepreneurial couple from Walluf in the Rheingau are threatened with ruin.

The business of Fahrzeugtechnik Nökel GmbH is actually flourishing, but the purchase of a plot of land in the new commercial area Kressboden in Walluf gets the company into trouble - it could mean the end of the business.

The couple raises serious allegations against the Rheingau community, which, in their opinion, is delaying the building permit and not sticking to agreements.

Mayor Nikolaos Stavridis (independent), on the other hand, is “stunned” by the allegations: “We did everything we could to help.

What else should we do?”

The fiasco began with Nökel's decision to move her car workshop to the new commercial area, to buy a piece of land and to build a new hall there.

Because the couple rejected the green roof planned in the development plan for a number of reasons, they contacted the municipal building authority on July 27, 2021 and asked whether it would be possible to install a photovoltaic system on the roof and a cistern for rainwater instead to green the outdoor area.

Three days later, the municipality replied that the only compromise that could be made was to green part of the facade to take the climate aspect into account.

"In the case of intensive greenery, we suggest a ratio of one square meter for the facade to two square meters for the roof.

To take the water balance into account, this would have to be combined with a cistern."

An official odyssey

That was enough for the couple, and Nicole Nökel signed the purchase contract for the approximately 1,500 square meter property on September 30th and did not extend the old contract.

The price was 250 euros per square meter.

At the end of October of that year, the Nökels submitted the building application to the Rheingau-Taunus district.

"Because of this email, we aligned the planning with the hall builder to the facade greening," says Nicole Nökel.

But then an official odyssey began that could cost both banks of the Wall their existence.

On November 5, 2021, the construction supervision of the district contacted the municipality and asked for documents to be sent on the status of the "Kressboden extension" process, which showed that "at least planning maturity or final legal force" existed.

"The lower building supervision does not have this data," wrote the responsible engineer and pointed out that the building application would have to be rejected if a decision had to be made according to the old "Grohenstück-Klingenweg" development plan.

Nökels received a copy of the letter, but they continued to assume that everything would go smoothly and paid the purchase price due to the municipality in December.

They did not extend their lease, which expired on June 30, 2022, for the old hall where the cars are currently being repaired.

Two green stripes are missing

"We actually wanted to start construction in February of this year," says Michael Nökel, explaining the plans.

The entrepreneurs expected that the municipality would give their necessary agreement on the compromise in the e-mail and the planning application would be approved.

That was a fallacy, because on March 10 of this year, the district contacted Nicole Nökel and informed them that the building application would not be approved.

"The construction project you have planned does not correspond to the stipulations of the aforementioned development plan," says the letter from the building inspector, who further said: "The municipality of Walluf has not given the necessary consent for the requested exemption." With exemption, the compromise mentioned is meant .

There were also disagreements about the parking space statute.