A company from Poznań is pushing ahead with plans to build a large-format retail store directly next to a single-family housing estate in Warsaw. In order to obtain the necessary permits, it has even decided to finance the reconstruction of the local road network. Residents strongly oppose the project, arguing that it will make their lives unbearable, yet their protests appear to have little effect on the city authorities. Moreover, the procedure is being conducted under the special road investment act, a legal framework intended for public-purpose projects. The final decision will rest with the voivode.
“It Will Be a Disaster”
Near Pułkowa, Papirusów, and Farysa streets in Warsaw’s Młociny district, an investor from Poznań intends to build a large retail store, most likely for the Lidl supermarket chain. A zoning decision (known in Poland as a WZ decision) was issued by the Bielany District Office in 2012. However, because there was no access road to the planned site, the investor could not apply for a building permit. The company therefore decided to build the road at its own expense.
The problem is that the planned discount store would be located near a large single-family housing estate. Residents are firmly opposed not only to the construction of the supermarket and its extensive parking lot but also to the road reconstruction that would inevitably accompany the investment.
Life is already difficult for local residents because the estate borders Pułkowa Street, one of Warsaw’s busiest exit routes toward Gdańsk. A supermarket attracting thousands of customers every day, along with supply trucks, would add even more traffic, congestion, noise, and accidents to an area already heavily burdened by road traffic.
“This is a tiny residential street used to access our homes. There are only a few small businesses here—a kindergarten, a small workshop, a bicycle rental shop. They’re small and not disruptive. If this project goes ahead, thousands of cars will be driving past our windows every day. It will be a disaster,” one resident told us.
He recalled that a similar situation occurred during the construction of Galeria Młociny shopping mall, which also required changes to the local road network. As a result, drivers began using residential streets to avoid congestion on Pułkowa Street, increasing traffic, reducing safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and lowering residents’ quality of life.
How to Bend the Rules?
The project includes the construction of a service road alongside Pułkowa Street and a small roundabout at its intersection with Farysa Street. Since this will likely require expropriating land, the procedure is to be carried out under the ZRID process (Authorization for the Implementation of a Road Investment), based on Poland’s special road investment act. This procedure is designed to accelerate the planning, expropriation, and construction of public roads. Decisions issued under this procedure are often granted immediate enforceability, meaning the investor does not have to wait for appeals to be resolved before work begins.
There is, however, one major issue.
This legal framework is intended for public-purpose investments and may only be used by state or local government investors. In this case, a private company is financing the project and wants to build a road that will technically be public because anyone will be able to use it. Nevertheless, it remains a private commercial investment. What residents find particularly disturbing is that it is being carried out against their will and contrary to their interests.
The Mayor Says His Hands Are Tied
Officials in Warsaw’s Bielany district, led by Mayor Grzegorz Pietruczuk, claim they are powerless against decisions made by officials subordinate to the Mayor of Warsaw.
During a July district council meeting with residents, Pietruczuk reportedly said he knew little about the matter and had limited ability to influence it. Residents, however, insist this is not true.
Niezależna.pl obtained a draft opinion on the permanent traffic organization plan concerning the service road along Pułkowa Street between Farysa and Papirusów streets. The document, dated August 22, 2025, and prepared by the Bielany District Office, issued a positive opinion on the planned investment. The comments contained in the document were limited to technical matters concerning road markings and traffic organization.
The newsroom also reviewed a letter sent in March this year by Warsaw’s Municipal Roads Authority (ZDM) to the Director of the Road Traffic Management Office at Warsaw City Hall.
In the document, ZDM reminded officials that in 2025, based on a 2021 road safety audit of National Road No. 7, it had recommended closing the connection between Farysa Street and Pułkowa Street. Instead of being closed, however, a roundabout is now planned at that location.
The City Approved the Agreement
Warsaw’s Municipal Development Authority (SZRM), which signed an agreement with the investor, West-Bud I, in 2024 for the construction of the additional roadway, is a municipal organizational unit acting on behalf of the City of Warsaw as a substitute investor.
Niezależna.pl asked SZRM what public purpose was being served in this particular case.
In its response, SZRM spokesperson Wioleta Rosłoniec explained that the agreement was concluded under Article 16 of Poland’s Public Roads Act of March 21, 1985. The provision obliges developers and other non-road investors to build or reconstruct public roads if necessary for their investment.
“The non-road investor has been obligated to design and construct the road at its own expense and with its own resources. The investor will also bear all compensation costs resulting from land expropriated under the road investment authorization,” the response states.
SZRM added that the road is intended to provide access to several plots lacking a connection to a public road, despite bordering road parcels. The project is also expected to improve pedestrian infrastructure through the construction of sidewalks and enhance road safety.
“It is assumed that the road will reduce traffic on Muzealna and Farysa streets while eliminating residents’ concerns regarding heavy truck traffic on those streets,” SZRM added.
Residents reject these explanations. They stress that the issue is not who pays for the road and reject claims that the project will improve safety or reduce traffic.
A Problem with Warsaw’s Governance
Niezależna.pl sent questions to Bielany Mayor Grzegorz Pietruczuk, but he had already left on vacation.
Instead, Deputy Chairwoman of the Bielany District Council Agnieszka Gola, representing the largest council group, “Razem dla Bielan” (“Together for Bielany”), contacted the newsroom.
She acknowledged that the building permit for Lidl falls within the district’s competence.
“However, the district has not issued that permit since 2012 because there is no road. Without a road, there can be no non-road investment. The investor therefore decided to obtain a road connected to Pułkowa Street, which is a national road carrying extremely heavy traffic,” she said.
She pointed out that local residents have spent years unsuccessfully seeking bicycle paths, noise barriers, and protection from traffic pollution caused by Pułkowa Street.
“Now, suddenly, at the request of a private investor, we have a project being processed under a special act intended to serve the public interest,” she added.
Gola also criticized Warsaw’s administrative system.
“Decisions are made so high up that the officials making them often have no knowledge of the places they are deciding about.”
She noted that although a Warsaw mayoral directive requires district mayors to participate in the project team for this ZRID procedure, their involvement appears to be optional.
Local Authorities Can Do Little
Gola defended Mayor Pietruczuk, saying he had attempted to intervene with the Road Traffic Management Office.
“As district councillors, we can organize meetings, establish joint committees, adopt resolutions opposing the project—but no one is obliged to take them into account. We can only protest. We simply do not have the legal authority to block an investment that will have such a significant impact on residents’ lives.”
She admitted that the district is not even a formal party to the proceedings and has no legal tools to stop them. Even councillors themselves had to use Poland’s public information access laws to determine the status of the proceedings.
“No one even asks the district for an opinion during the permit process,” she added.
She described the situation as another consequence of Warsaw’s highly centralized governance structure, in which competences are scattered across numerous city offices, leaving district authorities with little real influence.
Residents say they see no evidence that district officials are standing up for them.
“We believe they are siding with the investor. They seem to know much more about the case than we do. They learn about everything much earlier, while by the time we are informed, the appeal deadlines have already expired. It feels like a game of cat and mouse.”
“One Can Only Guess How It Happened”
PiS councillor Jacek Jeżewski told Niezależna.pl that Mayor Pietruczuk fully understands Warsaw’s governance system and knows many decisions are made above the district level.
He said the mayor promised to do everything within his power but never guaranteed success.
“In my opinion, there is a high probability this project will go ahead because the city has already done a great deal to make it happen. I believe they intend to build this Lidl despite residents’ opposition.”
Like Gola, Jeżewski blamed Warsaw’s centralized administration.
“The city makes decisions without consulting districts or residents. Officials sitting in one of Warsaw’s 50 municipal offices decide everything, and the district learns about it last.”
He recalled that Galeria Młociny was built in much the same way and noted that SZRM was responsible for signing the agreement with the investor.
“One can only guess how it happened. Someone must have gone to an influential person who simply said, ‘Make it happen.’ SZRM would never have come up with such an idea on its own.”
Residents Do Not Trust the Mayor
One resident whose property is directly affected said that throughout the entire process, neither the city nor district authorities consulted local residents regarding zoning decisions or later road-related procedures.
“We have had—and still have—great difficulty obtaining any information. Many procedural steps were hidden because they were handled not by ZDM but by another office reporting directly to the mayor. I believe this was done deliberately to use the ZRID procedure, which significantly limits the possibilities for appealing administrative decisions.”
Describing meetings between residents, Mayor Pietruczuk, and district councillors, he accused the mayor of speaking with “two voices.”
“On the one hand, official documents and opinions show he has no objections to the road. On the other, when residents protest, he suddenly says he also doesn’t want it here. He’s playing both sides.”
He argued that residents have deliberately been excluded from the process.
“Everything is happening without consultations and without our knowledge so that we have as little opportunity as possible to file petitions or objections. They don’t want us to be parties to the proceedings or have access to the correspondence. And when we make enough noise, they pretend they want to help.”
The Last Hope
The case is now before the voivode, who will decide whether to approve the road investment under the ZRID procedure.
The Młociny Residents’ Association, together with individual residents, has submitted formal protests.
“We turn to you as our last hope. We ask you to examine our situation resulting from a planned road and commercial investment being imposed against residents’ wishes. Approving this project will permanently worsen the lives of us and our children,” one of the protests submitted to the newsroom reads.
Residents emphasize that they voted for the current governing authorities and argue that the decision on the supermarket will serve as a test of whether the government truly respects the interests of local communities.
“We are powerless against an army of officials, lawyers, businessmen, and city authorities who once again ignore us. We therefore ask you to examine our case and refuse to issue the ZRID decision for this road investment.”
A Controversial Procedure
Stanisława Witkowska of the civic association Miasto Jest Nasze (“The City Is Ours”), who also lives in Bielany, told Niezależna.pl that key decisions concerning the investment were made without the participation of the Bielany District Office and that residents learned about the project only at an advanced stage of the proceedings.
She also questioned the use of a procedure intended for public-purpose investments to facilitate what many residents and district officials believe primarily serves a private commercial development.
“Regardless of opinions about the investment itself, the greatest concern is the way the entire process has been conducted. Residents should have been consulted first, the project’s impact analyzed, and alternative solutions presented before administrative decisions were made.”
She stressed that social dialogue cannot be reduced to a mere formality.
“It should form the foundation of the process, especially for investments that may permanently change the character of part of the city.”
According to Witkowska, Bielany also needs “a city that listens to its residents first and makes decisions afterward.”
“A Pathological Local Government System”
Niezależna.pl also spoke with former Łódź and Masovian Voivode, now PiS Member of the European Parliament, Tobiasz Bocheński, who argued during the last local elections that Warsaw’s system of government requires reform.
“Warsaw suffers from a pathological local government system. We have 18 district mayors and 18 district councils elected by residents, yet they have virtually no real influence over the development of their own districts because the system allows the Mayor of Warsaw and the City Council majority to impose virtually any solution, even against the wishes of the local community.”
He argued that this means the interests of politically or economically influential groups can outweigh those of residents.
When asked whether such political and business influence could give rise to suspicions of corruption, he replied:
“Yes. I believe Warsaw’s local government requires very serious treatment. If someone scratched beneath the surface, they would uncover scandals just as shocking as those surrounding the South Hospital. We have seen highly disturbing issues there, and there are many reports in Warsaw about a network of family, business, administrative, and political connections that thrives with the quiet consent of Civic Coalition.”
The local zoning plan for Młociny III, which has been under preparation for more than a decade, does not permit the construction of a large-format retail store at the proposed location. If the plan—currently challenged by residents for unrelated reasons—eventually enters into force, the possibility of building the supermarket there would be eliminated.