Key legal question
Whether municipalities are entitled under § 12(1) sentence 2 VRG to appeal a decision of the Baudepartement refusing a building permit.
Extracted holding
No. Municipal standing to appeal exists in the building police context only where the Baudepartement authorizes building against the municipality's position; it does not extend to a refusal of the permit.
Extracted reasoning
If the applicant does not appeal, the refusal is accepted and the project is abandoned. The municipality cannot compel building against the applicant's will and therefore has no legally protected interest in bringing its own appeal against a refusal. At most, it may support the applicant if the applicant himself appeals.