Fixed order
The interpretation of the plan rules, based on case law, follows a fixed order, namely:
1. According to established case law of the Division, it appears that the zoning as indicated on the map and the accompanying plan rules, taken together, are decisive for the answer to the question of whether a building plan conflicts with the zoning plan. For the sake of legal certainty, plan rules(ECLI:NL:RVS:2019:439; ECLI:NL:RVS:2020:211) should be interpreted as literally as possible. The destination indicated on the map and the literal text of the plan rules are leading(ECLI:NL:RVS:2019:4006).
2. A non-binding explanation to a zoning plan only has significance if the plan rules are neither clear in themselves nor in context (the plan system). In such a case, the explanatory memorandum can provide more insight into the intention of the municipal council (ECLI:NL:RVS:2024:3201). Furthermore, the note of views can also be involved if a plan rule is unclear(ECLI:NL:RVS:2016:3264). After all, the intention of the council may also be apparent from the note of views, even though this - like the explanatory memorandum - is not a legally binding part of a zoning plan.
3. If a term is not defined in the planning regulations and (the explanation to) the
zoning plan does not offer any points of reference for the interpretation of the specific term, the interpretation of the term may be based on general speech. In that case, the Division uses the Van Dale Groot woordenboek van de Nederlandse taal(ECLI:NL:RVS:2022:2307).
Based on these rules of explanation, it must be assessed whether a building plan, or a specific use on a certain parcel, is permitted. It is important to use the correct order of these interpretation rules to avoid incorrect conclusions. Here it is important that the Division looks first at the imagination and the corresponding plan rule and then includes what is necessary. What complicates this is that in some decisions of the Division, in the absence of a definition of a term in the plan rules, the first step is already to look at the meaning of a term using the Van Dale Groot woordenboek van de Nederlandse taal(ECLI:NL:RVS:2024:2121 and ECLI:NL:RVS:2015:1582).
Moreover, the aforementioned ruling of August 7 makes it very clear that even with a fixed step-by-step plan - which is therefore sometimes deviated from - to interpret the plan rules, the specific characteristics and the systematics of a particular zoning or environmental plan can have a great influence on the ultimate permissibility of specific activities.
