Chapter 145 What the Mayor Says
Luo Sihai said: "My town was originally planned to build some restaurants in the second phase. Now we eat out by ordering food from the town."
"The person who ordered the food delivered it?" Feng Qiang was curious.
"If the quantity is large enough, some restaurants will cook it for you. You just need to order it a day in advance, and they'll provide lunch. We're both living in town right now, so we take care of our own breakfast and dinner. People who run companies here sometimes cook their own noodles or something like that in electric cookers."
"I checked the electricity meter in the building. If it's full of companies, using high-powered electric cookers might not be feasible. We'll need to expand the capacity," Lao Jiao muttered. "Also, this building doesn't have sprinklers. It was probably originally approved as a factory building, capable of being used as a studio. If we have a large office space, we'll probably need to upgrade the fire protection."
Luo Sihai nodded: "Yes, in fact, this is industrial land. Even the outlying suburban districts and counties need to develop industries."
Lin Ruoyan's mind fluttered, but she didn't voice her doubts at this moment. The land use planning of each township and the nature of each piece of land were not determined by the township alone. They had to be approved by higher authorities, or the higher authorities would issue a master plan and then implement it to specific plots.
According to the information she had previously obtained, since issues with land boundaries and properties had already occurred in the first phase of Luo Sihai, and if they were fined, they must have accurate land use and zoning maps. She looked at the current drawings for Luo Sihai and saw no larger-scale land use maps, thinking that perhaps there was room for improvement in the land use.
If a major developer only wants to develop residential properties, they won't touch certain plots of land. If a town has already planned and approved large tracts of industrial land, converting it to residential use will be difficult, and it won't happen in three to five years.
Perhaps the people handling these matters are not professional enough. The mayor, Luo Sihai, and the big developers who came to discuss the land situation may not have paid attention to such details. So perhaps if we go to the mayor and carefully look at the drawings of the relevant land use nature, we can see some clues.
At noon that day, Luo Sihai treated Lin Ruoyan and the others to a meal at the town's finest restaurant. During the meal, Feng Qiang and Lu Gan introduced the Lin Real Estate projects to Luo Sihai and his wife. These included luxury homes and international schools, as well as antique furniture, B&Bs, and various websites—naturally, there were products that would interest the Luos.
Because they had an appointment to meet with the mayor that afternoon and there was a limit on the number of people, Lin Ruoyan only brought Qin Shuang and Feng Qiang. The other three directors would return to the project to at least ensure that there were no problems with the venue used for the film festival. If there were any problems, there would still be time to correct them.
After entering the town’s office building, Lin Ruoyan felt the strong atmosphere of the times.
The building still resembled the 1970s style, but the main entrance had been remodeled to four metal-framed doors, with only two normally open. Entering the building, there was a lobby in the middle, and to one side of it was a reception desk with sliding glass. Visitors had to register at the reception desk before entering.
Opposite the main entrance is a grand, wide staircase that splits in two about halfway up to the second floor. The building, consisting of only two floors, appears to have been renovated in the 1990s, with some period fixtures and decorative accents. The floor still retains its terrazzo texture, and the staircase features a thick, red-painted wooden handrail, the paint worn off in places, reminiscent of many older school buildings.
The mayor has an office suite at the end of the second floor. Outside is the reception room. There are simple sofa chairs, not leather sofas, but cloth sofas, and they look like they have been used for a long time.
Most of the furnishings in the room are old, as if they were left by the previous mayor. The current mayor has not bothered to buy new things, and has not even installed an air conditioner.
These old-fashioned office buildings don't have central air conditioning systems. If they want to install air conditioners in each office, they use a household unit with independent control. However, if every office were to have air conditioners, the building's electrical load wouldn't be sufficient, so from the outside, it didn't appear to be installed.
The presence of a standing electric fan in the mayor's office is awe-inspiring. The austere office environment suggests the town's limited revenues are a key factor in its focus on boosting the economy and attracting investment.
The mayor looked to be about fifty years old, short and stocky, and dressed in a Zhongshan suit. If he were not sitting in this office, his attire would be no different from the middle-aged farmers often seen in the countryside. I heard that he often went to the countryside to check on farm affairs and was not arrogant.
After a few people sat down, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then got down to business.
Lin Ruoyan had been looking at the map of the town hanging on the wall of this office, but this was not the kind of land use division map she wanted to know.
When the mayor learned about Lin Ruoyan's projects in the CY District and the X District of Beijing City, his previous cold attitude dissipated a little, and he took the initiative to take out a new blueprint.
This blueprint seemed to have been recently approved, with the title stating it was a five-year town planning map. Lin Ruoyan, knowledgeable, carefully examined the relevant information on the blueprint and confirmed that the content was legally binding and not a draft in progress. It should have been approved by the higher authorities and was ready for implementation.
On this blueprint, we can see that the first phase of the film and television base, which has already been built, is located on industrial land, and the surrounding area is also industrial land. After all, this area is close to the highway and is separated from the town's originally densely populated residential area by a distance, so there is no interference.
Lin Ruoyan then raised her doubts about the nature of the land use and asked whether if they wanted to develop real estate, they could only choose the plots that were currently labeled as residential land.
The mayor nodded, and then said, "Actually, a major developer has already set their sights on this large area and wants to build a large project with villas, garden houses, and high-rise buildings. This will definitely have a significant impact on the overall appearance of the town and its urbanization process."
"But the residential land on this map is all on the other side, not close to the existing film and television base." Lin Ruoyan asked again.
The mayor was stunned for a moment, then hesitated, "That major developer didn't question the nature of the land. I guess they have a way. Maybe land of this nature can be exchanged. After all, there are many demolition issues with residential land, and it's not easy to solve."
After a period of practice, Luo Sihai was able to hear some of the hidden meaning and asked, "What if the land use is not so easy to change? I see that this blueprint is very new, even my project is written on it, so it must be the newly approved version."
The mayor immediately realized the problem and called the planning department to verify it.
Indeed, this approval, received just a month ago, is legally binding and not a casually revised draft. Any changes to the land use require sufficient justification. According to the town's definition, industrial development is still a priority. Therefore, converting residential land to industrial use is likely easy, but the reverse adjustment is more difficult.
Luo Sihai gave Lin Ruoyan a grateful smile.
Luo Sihai's wife quickly mentioned it to the mayor, or else asked the people from the big developer to find time to talk to them.
Lin Ruoyan continued, "It's definitely a good thing that they want to invest in the town, build houses, and improve the living conditions of the townspeople. However, if the nature of the industrial land cannot be adjusted, they may not need the land around the film and television base. Letting the film and television base continue to develop will also increase its visibility. Wouldn't it be easier to sell the newly built houses around it?"
Regardless of whether the mayor really didn't understand or was pretending not to understand these inside stories, he could only follow the topic and agree to find an opportunity to invite the representative of the big developer to come over so that everyone could sit down and discuss it together.
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