Residents of the Split Old Town, especially those who live inside Diocletian's Palace and the narrow area around it, will be granted free parking.

The proposal was unanimously adopted on Monday, and residents of the Old Town will soon have free parking in the first zone. Thus, instead of the parking lot in Stari Plac, they will use the parking lot at Trg Hrvatske bratske zajednice. The amendment also introduced a measure that would not allow cars to be left for more than 24 hours in one place, reports Splitski Dnevnik on July 29, 2019.

Community leader Damir Ordulj stated that about 1000 permanent residents are living in the Old Town, and that their lives should be made more accessible. The project amounts to around 600,000 kuna per 200 vehicles and 1.5 million kuna per 500.

“The residents of the Old Town, especially those who live within Diocletian's Palace and the narrow area around it, cannot access their cars at their doorstep because of the great pressure from other residents, especially tourists. Because of this, they are forced to leave their vehicles far away or pay daily for parking lots and are at a disadvantage compared to other citizens,” Damir Ordulj said.

According to official data from 2001, 3235 residents lived in the historic city center, with about 1000 remaining. Thus, this measure should keep tenants inside the historic core.

"Given the many aggravating circumstances that have affected their quality of life in the old town, an initiative has been launched to grant these tenants free parking," Ordulj said.

Thus, the privileged conditions and parking would apply to tenants within the conservation "Zone A" bounded by the streets of Trumbićeva obala – Šperun – Ban Mladenova – Bana Jelačića – Matošićeva – Teutina – Sinjska – Zagrebačka – Poljana Kneza Trpimira.

However, the housing unit mustn't be registered to provide business services. A lengthy debate ensued, as part of the councilors believed that owners living in expensive squares should not have free parking, while others wanted to keep tenants within the old town who live there and don’t perform business activities within their home.

“I support measures that will make the lives easier for residents in the city center, including this enactment of privileged parking conditions. The city derives an enormous financial benefit from activities located in the city center. A lot of it destroys the quality of life of the citizens who live there, and this is a way to make it a little easier for them,” said Josko Markic, SDP councilor. 

Tomislav Prljević, however, does not agree with this decision.

“You say free parking? It's not free because someone has to pay for it. We are talking as if something bad happened in the Old Town with tourists. Real estate prices are up, not down. The content that happens in the center is by no means negative but positive, and if there are a lot of cars on the road, it is not negative but positive, because obviously, people can drive their cars. I do not want to make a decision that will pay for parking for someone who owns a square meter worth two or three thousand kuna,” the HDZ councilor said.

In the end, Ante Zoričić, one of the proponents of this initiative, said that it is indisputable that they are by far the most disadvantaged compared to all tenants in the city. He added that this is a temporary measure until a garage is built.

"This will be the most beautiful gift to the residents of the Old Town to celebrate 40 years on the UNESCO list,” Zoričić added.

Martin Mladen Pauk pointed out that this would be an excellent sociological experiment and would reveal how others would respond to giving free parking to one part of the public.

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If you don’t already feel like somebody’s watching you in Split (cue Rockwell song here), you will now. 

Namely, Slobodna Dalmacija reports on June 5, 2019, that the city has announced a tender to purchase video surveillance systems for 13 public areas, and the estimated value of the equipment and its installation is 1.87 million kuna. The areas to be carefully watched include Trumbićeva obala (West Coast), Matejuška, Sv. Frane Church, Marmontova, towards Tončićeva, and Trg Gaje Bulata in front of the theater.

Ulica kralja Tomislava will be supervised at three locations - in front of the pharmacy, at the "Semafor" cafe and in front of the Art Gallery. The Golden Gate of Diocletian’s Palace will be monitored, as will the monument to Grgur Ninski, and there will be a camera at Hrvojeva to overlook Đardin. Peristyle, as expected, will also be filmed.

But that’s not all.

On the Riva, there will be video surveillance at the entrance to the Podrum, and next to the monument to Dr. Franjo Tudjman. The cameras will not escape Pjaca, either.

The surveillance equipment will be located in sensitive areas featuring precious cultural heritage, especially at the Golden Gate of Diocletian's Palace and Meštrović's prized work of Grgur Ninski. In this area, the tender calls for a pillar six meters high to fit the camera, so it will be interesting to see exactly where it would be placed.

The tender also requires columns for Ulica kralja Tomislava, Hrvojeva, and the Dr. Franjo Tudjman monument. In the tender from the City, the equipment and supporting works are said to have conservatory approval.

However, video surveillance around Split’s center is no new idea. Recall, it first came to the table in 2014 by Ivo Baldasar. The first attempt was at Peristyle, where in July 2016, cameras were placed at the Šegvić house, when it was the branch office of Splitska banka.

The Elaborate Safety Survey of Public Road Areas was also developed, and the entry and exit at Ulica Domovinskog rata and Poljička have also been approved for the video surveillance system. The main system will be located in Banovina (City Administration), and the remote monitoring that will be possible from the city administration will be performed by the selected security company, but also by the police.

As one of the conditions, it is stipulated that "the provided cameras must have the ability to mask certain parts of the cadres, to prevent the surveillance of individuals and objects."

Namely, public authorities may collect data for security when the law allows them, but they must ensure that the data they collect is protected. The person in charge of access to information should be named, the data must be kept locked, they must determine who has the entry codes in this area, and the act prescribes how the recordings are processed. Technical and organizational measures for the protection of personal data must be taken, as this video is personal information. It can be kept for six months, unless a special regulation imposes a longer deadline, said lawyer Dijanu Kladar, a legal consultant for personal data protection.

Kladar claims that you can record the public areas and the people in them, but cannot exclude certain people.

“The Personal Data Protection Agency's opinion is that they can be filmed in public surfaces, but one person cannot be picked out of the mass and put it in a newspaper without their consent,” explains Kladar.

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