Vietnam National Petroleum Group proposed Article 1, Decree 35/2023/ND-CP dated June 20, 2023 stipulating:
Areas within the scope of urban development that are subject to detailed planning when implementing construction investment according to the provisions of the Law on Urban Planning must be detailed planning to specify general planning, zoning planning (for cases where zoning planning is required), as a basis for establishing construction investment projects, granting construction permits and implementing other related work according to the provisions of law.
For small-scale plots of land specified in Clause 4 of this Article, detailed planning shall be established according to a shortened process (called the general planning process) as prescribed from Clause 4a to Clause 4d of this Article".
In fact, when establishing general planning and construction/urban planning, almost all localities do not pay attention/updated existing gas stations in the area to the general planning/ subdivision project, leading to inadequacies in land use planning and annual land use plans.
As a result, existing gas stations are not updated with the planning, which is commercial service land (TMD), gas stations are not/not included in the construction planning project.
Therefore, when investing in new, repairing/renovating, it is necessary to carry out the following procedures: Adjusting land use planning for the period 2021-2030, annual use plan; applying for adjustment of general planning or local adjustment (1.000.000), and making detailed planning 1/500. These two procedures are very complicated and take a lot of time (in years).
In reality, when businesses need to build new/renovate toilets at gas stations to ensure aesthetics and cleanliness to serve customers, they still have to make a 1/500 Plan before asking for construction permits.
Regarding the above content, the Ministry of Construction has the following opinion:
The Law on Urban and Rural Planning takes effect from July 1, 2025; the Law on Urban Planning in 2009 and Chapter II of the Law on Construction in 2014 on construction planning take effect from July 1, 2025.
Currently, the Government has issued Decree No. 178/2025/ND-CP dated July 1, 2025, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Urban and Rural Planning, accordingly, Clause 3, Article 29 has abolished Articles 1 and 2 regulating detailed planning according to the shortened process in Decree No. 35/2023/ND-CP dated June 20, 2023 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decrees under the state management of the Ministry of Construction; the establishment, appraisal and approval of master plan is stipulated in Article 10 of Decree No. 178/2025/ND-CP.
Regarding the arrangement of fixed construction gas stations in new development areas, it has been stipulated in Section 2.6.11 of the National Technical Regulation on construction planning QCVN 01:2021/BXD.
Accordingly, it has stipulated that "it is necessary to plan and arrange land funds for gas stations to build fixed gas stations according to the needs of the city. The minimum land area of a gas station built according to the new planning must comply with the provisions of Article 5, QCVN 01:2020/BCT".
For existing urban areas, Section 2.7.1 QCVN 01:2021/BXD stipulates that " Parameters on land plot area, construction density, elevation, distance between works, land use coefficient and conversion of land use functions must be determined in detailed planning and urban design projects".
Section 2.7.2 stipulates that Areas identified in the higher planning are areas that are only renovated and renovated to improve landscape, architecture, and environmental quality but do not increase population size and do not change land use functions, the determination of planning and architectural indicators is based on detailed planning and urban design approved according to the characteristics of each urban area and must ensure fire prevention and fighting and ATMT requirements.
Section 2.7.3 stipulates that "Land use planning must prioritize land funds for the arrangement of public service works, green park land and urban technical infrastructure to ensure gradual access to the targets of new urban areas".
Based on the above regulations, the determination of the scale and planning land use indicators of gas stations in the existing area must be expressed in the detailed planning content.
