Although Kochani’s urban design plans and zoning regulations did not allow repurposing an industrial building into an entertainment venue, the Pulse owner turned the facility into a nightclub in 2012. This was a clear violation of the law, according to Dushica Trpchevska Angjelkovikj, urban planner and expert witness in land use and urban development, testifying at the Idrizovo courtroom Wednesday in the Pulse fire trial.
The expert witness told prosecutor Darko Jakimovski that Kochani’s G10 zone, where the nightclub was operating, had always been a zone of light industry and small business, from the first urban plan in 1998 through the latest one approved in 2013. According to Trpchevska Angjelkovikj, building codes provide rules and standards for the design, construction, alteration, materials, maintenance and performance of a building, depending on its intended purpose.
Under the Law on Construction, she said, all facilities have to be used in line with their initial building permits.
She said the Pulse nightclub was located in a facility consisting of two buildings. The first one was built in 1998 with a light industry and retail business construction permit. The second one was built without official approval and subsequently granted legal status under a light and non-polluting industry permit issued in 2011.
In 2012, the investor started using part of the facility as a nightclub, which is against the detailed urban plan and urban planning and construction laws, the expert witness said.
