Guidelines for Non-exclusive and Limited Religious Use within Commercial and Hotel Developments

Circular No : URA/PB/2010/07-DCG

Our Ref : DC/ADMIN/CIRCULAR/PB_10

Fax : 6227 4792

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Dear Sir / Madam

1. We are writing to inform you about the guidelines for the non-exclusive and limited religious use within existing auditoriums, function halls, convention centres and cinemas within commercial and hotel developments.

2. From time to time, URA receives requests and enquiries from religious groups asking if hotel function rooms, auditoriums and cinemas/cineplexes in hotels and shopping centres could be used for religious services to be conducted several times a week.

3. Commercial developments zoned "Commercial" in the Master Plan are intended to provide commercial spaces to support our economic activities. They are meant to serve as secular spaces for people from all segments of our society. Exclusive use of commercial developments for religious purposes would constitute a material change of use of such developments into places of worship. Religious activities should thus be conducted at sites that are specially designated for worship. These sites are zoned “Place of Worship” in the Master Plan. Changing the use of commercial premises for exclusive religious uses is therefore not permitted as religious use is not in line with the planning intention for commercial developments.

Guidelines

4. However, URA is prepared to exercise some flexibility and consider allowing commercial premises to be used for religious use on a non-exclusive and limited basis if such use is not likely to cause disturbances such as noise, parking or traffic problems. To ensure that commercial uses remain the predominant use within sites zoned Commercial, the following set of guidelines are put in place to guide the non-exclusive and limited use of commercial spaces for religious purposes:

   • Only existing approved auditorium, function hall, convention hall and cinema/cineplex located within commercial and hotel developments can be considered for non-exclusive and limited religious use, so long as such uses are not likely to cause disamenities and traffic problems;

   • The premises shall not be owned by or leased exclusively to religious organisations. The premises should be available to be rented out for other commercial events such as seminars, conferences and performances, etc;

   • The maximum space within a commercial development that can be considered for non-exclusive and limited religious use shall not exceed a Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 20,000 sqm or 20% of total GFA of the development, whichever is lower. Each religious organisation is limited to use up to 10,000 sqm in any commercial space at any one time. This is to ensure that a single religious organisation does not dominate a particular commercial development by taking up a very large amount of space. The exact quantum of these caps have been determined with reference to existing usage patterns, but taking into consideration the need to ensure that the predominant use of these premises remain “Commercial”, and that different religious organisation have the opportunity to access these large venues for their activities;

   • The use of the commercial space for religious activities shall not exceed two days a week including Saturday and Sunday;

   • There shall be no display of signages¹, advertisements or posters of the religious use at the premises or on the exterior of the building. The premises should not be furnished to resemble a worship hall and there shall be no display of religious symbols, icons or any religious paraphernalia at or within the venue when it is not in use by the religious organisation; and

   • The building owner and the religious organisation shall take appropriate measures to ensure that the activities do not cause disturbances to the public.

5. In addition, owners of convention centres must provide documentary proof to show that the religious use will not compromise the staging of events during weekends.

Submission to URA

6. If a religious organisation intends to use commercial premises for religious activities on a regular and non ad-hoc basis, it will need to provide information regarding the nature and frequency of use, size of the premises etc, using the attached template (Appendix 1 [DOC, 22.5 KB] ↗ (opens in new tab)) to URA for consideration. If the use is allowed, the property owner and the religious organisation will then need to submit a joint Letter of Undertaking (Appendix 2 [DOC, 24.5 KB] ↗ (opens in new tab)) to abide by the conditions.

7. I would appreciate it if you could convey the contents of this circular to the relevant members of your organisation. If you or your members have any queries, please do not hesitate to call URA’s Development Control Enquiry Line at Tel: 6223 4811 or e-mail us at ura_dcd@ura.gov.sg. For your information, the guidelines are available from URA’s website at http://www.ura.gov.sg ↗ (opens in new tab).

8. Thank you.

Thank You.

Yours faithfully
HAN YONG HOE
GROUP DIRECTOR (DEVELOPMENT CONTROL)
URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

NGIAM SHIH CHUN
DIRECTOR (COMMUNITY RELATIONS & ENGAGEMENT DIVISION)
MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS

^{1 Temporary directional signs placed inside the building (e.g. lobby area) can be allowed during the times when the religious use is being carried out.}

DISTRIBUTION LIST

S/No Organisations

1. Archibishop, Archdiocese of Singapore
   Archbishop’s House
   31 Victoria Street, Singapore 187997

2. Chairman
   Hindu Advisory Board
   C/O 397 Serangoon Road, Singapore 218123

3. President
   Inter-Religious Organisation
   No 43 Lorong 17 Geylang, Singapore 388566

4. Mufti
   Majlis Ugama Islam Singapore
   No 273, Braddell Road, Singapore 579702

5. President
   National Council of Churches of Singapore
   B1-27 The Adelphi, 1 Coleman Street, Singapore 179803

6. Chairman
   Sikh Advisory Board
   Blk 114, LengKong Tiga #03-175, Singapore 410114

7. President
   Singapore Buddhist Federation
   59 Lorong 24A Geylang, Singapore 398583

8. President
   Singapore Council of Christian Churches
   202, Pandan Garden, Singapore 609338

9. Chairman
   Taoist Federation, Singapore
   C/O San Qing Gong Taoist Temple
   21 Bedok North Ave 4 Singapore 489948

10. Chairman
    Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society
    1 North Bridge Road #03-33 High Street Centre
    Singapore 179094

11. President
    Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore
    190 Clemenceau Ave #07-01 Singapore Shopping Centre
    Singapore 239924