The new Rīga Development Plan took several years to produce, but during the previous government its announcement was suspended by the then Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development Plešs, which caused a split in the party faction in Rīga.
The main reason Plešs indicated for the suspension the plan was that, when the new Rīga spatial plan came into force, a situation would be created in Riga that the historic center would actually remain without a legitimate territory plan. Two mutually non-harmonized spatial plans would be in force at the same time in the territory of Rīga, which is in contradiction with the statutory requirement that large cities should not have more than one spatial plan in force.
The opposite view is a suspicion that Plešs was reluctant to limit gambling, was envisaged in the new Rīga plan.
In Sprindžuks' view, such a step by his predecessor was disproportionate. Sprindžuks proposed to re-establish the plan as soon as possible so that Rīga could return to a “normal development environment” within a few months.
In parallel, the Constitutional Court has initiated a case in which the Rīga City Council disputes the decision of the former Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development to suspend the Riga Development Plan.
