Landowners Win Major Metro Depot Compensation Dispute in Rishon LeZion
The Metro Compensation Committee rejected NTA's attempt to value private lands expropriated for the Rishon LeZion depot as cheap agricultural plots, ordering a reassessment.
A Landmark Decision for Private Landowners
In a major development for private landowners in the metro depot complex in southern Rishon LeZion, the Metro Project Compensation Committee has rejected the positions held by the Rishon LeZion Local Planning and Building Committee and NTA (Metropolitan Mass Transit System), the state-owned company responsible for constructing Israel's largest transportation infrastructure project.
NTA and the local committee argued that compensation for landowners within the depot complex should be calculated based on the land's prior status as strictly agricultural, with zero planning potential. However, the committee, chaired by attorney Amit Ofek, ruled that the valuation must account for the impact of the regional master plan, TMM 21/3 (Tm"M 21/3). This plan designated the area as a Metropolitan Recreation Zone (ANM)—an open space of regional significance intended primarily for leisure, sports, tourism, and agriculture.
While the committee has not yet declared that the landowners are automatically entitled to compensation, nor has it set any figures, it has appointed an advisory appraiser. This independent expert will determine the land's value before and after the approval of the metro plan to assess whether a depreciation occurred and to what extent.
The Core Dispute: 358 Million Shekels at Stake
The ruling addresses 31 compensation claims filed under Section 197 of the Planning and Building Law. These claims followed the June 2022 approval of TTL 101/a (Tt"L 101/A), a segment of the Metro Line M1 plan that rezoned the lands into a "railway operations area" designated for expropriation.
The depot complex spans approximately 299 dunams, located west of the Rishonim Mall in Rishon LeZion and north of Route 431. It is designed to serve as a maintenance and operations hub for the metro network. The active claims cover about 186 dunams—roughly 62% of the depot area—with total demands reaching approximately 358.5 million NIS.
Line M1 is the primary north-south artery of the planned Dan Metropolitan Area metro network. It is designed to connect Kfar Saba and Ra'anana in the north, through Tel Aviv, Holon, and Rishon LeZion, to Rehovot, Be'er Ya'akov, Ramle, and Lod in the south.
The central dispute focused on the baseline value of the land prior to the metro plan. Under a local plan dating back to 1970, the land was zoned for agriculture. However, the 2003 regional plan (TMM 21/3) designated it for metropolitan recreation, allowing for sports facilities, hospitality, dining, and public events. It also permitted the regional committee to allocate up to 15% of the area for urban development support.
NTA and the local committee claimed TMM 21/3 did not grant actual development rights, valuing the land at just 80 NIS per square meter (80,000 NIS per dunam). They estimated the total value of the claimed land at 14.9 million NIS—only 4% of the landowners' demands. NTA further argued that the metro designation actually boosted the land's value to 2,200 NIS per square meter, meaning no depreciation occurred under Section 197, and landowners would only be eligible for standard expropriation payouts later.
The committee rejected this argument, stating that TMM 21/3 fundamentally changed the land's characteristics from agriculture to a recreation zone, which must be factored into any depreciation assessment.
Partial Rejections and Next Steps
While the ruling was a major victory for the owners, the committee rejected their demand to factor in the potential of the "ANM Iros" plan. Early drafts of that plan had marked the entire depot area for urban development, but the boundaries were later scaled back when it became clear that building directly over the depot was unfeasible. Since the plan had not been formally deposited before the metro plan's approval, the committee ruled its potential could not be included in the compensation calculations.
The appointed appraiser will now evaluate whether the comparative transactions submitted by both sides reflect genuine market values and determine the land's value under its new metro operations status. Once the appraisal is submitted, both parties will have 45 days to file objections before a final ruling is made.
Attorney Zvi Shob, representing several private landowners in the complex, stated:
"The decision regarding the Rishon LeZion metro depot is a critical victory for private landowners. For years, landowners have been pushed into a corner by aggressive expropriation mechanisms, where the state and NTA repeatedly try to erase the planning potential of the land, ignore previous designations, and offer ridiculous compensation of about 80,000 NIS per dunam, while land in the area trades at 2 to 3 million NIS or more. This ruling sets a dramatic precedent that will affect other major projects, such as the Segula depot."
Attorney Anat Biran, founder of Anat Biran Law Firm, which specializes in planning and real estate law and represents landowners in the complex, added:
"We are highly satisfied that the compensation committee rejected the state's position that the expropriated land should be valued as cheap agricultural land. While we regret that the potential for residential development was not recognized, this remains an incredibly important decision with broad implications for any area where regional master plans have upgraded agricultural land to higher-value designations."
