Yongin City will shorten the occupancy permit period for the river site used by the Korean Folk Village for decades as a parking lot for visitors to one year and promote a public use plan in the future.

According to Yongin City on the 14th, seven lots including 280-3 Bora-dong, Giheung-gu are national river sites owned by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and managed by the city. When the Korean Folk Village (hereinafter referred to as the Folk Village) was established in 1989, it was used free of charge for 20 years in return for covering the river. Since then, the parking lot and entrance road, totaling 13,509㎡, have been used by paying only about 30 million won in occupancy fees annually and extending the occupancy permit every five years.

However, as development accelerated in Bora-dong and Jigok-dong around the Folk Village, severe traffic congestion occurred, and the parking lot was left empty on weekday nights, leading to complaints from residents. A resident Jeong (51, Bora-dong) said, "Residents suffer from traffic congestion and often wage parking wars, but it's frustrating to see the dark and empty Folk Village parking lot in the evening."

Accordingly, the city decided to shorten the river occupancy permit period with the Folk Village from the current five years to one year, and to flexibly respond to the need for public development.

The city previously conducted a 'Demand Survey for Public Interest Project Utilization Plan Following Extension of River Occupancy Permit' twice, and plans to prepare plans to utilize it as a bus garage (turning point) for new metropolitan buses and airport buses passing through Bora-dong.

In this regard, Yongin City Council member Park Hee-jeong said in a five-minute speech at the second plenary session of the 290th extraordinary meeting on the 14th, "It is meaningful that the city shortened the contract period with preemptive administration, but this alone is not enough, and a new utilization plan that can simultaneously serve the public interest and efficiency must be sought."

In particular, Councilor Park said, "The voices of local residents should be reflected first when developing the river site for public use, and suggested that it can be used for creating ecological parks, expanding citizen convenience facilities, and preparing spaces for local festivals and events, and requested that a reasonable operating model be established through cooperation between the public and private sectors."

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