KKL-JNF emphasizes that it is not opposed to the expansion of Beit Shemesh. On the contrary, the organization believes the city should continue to grow and become a large, strong and independent city. The disagreement centers on how this expansion should take place, particularly the proposal to extend urban development beyond Route 10 into an area of high environmental sensitivity.
The BS/3000 policy document sets a target of more than half a million residents for Beit Shemesh. According to the appendix outlining the planned housing and population capacity, the city could reach 111,474 housing units and approximately 569,669 residents.
The plan includes the development of approximately 980 dunams east of Route 10: approximately 270 dunams in Neighborhood V’2, 320 dunams in Neighborhood V’3, 230 dunams in Neighborhood H, and an approximately 160-dunam development strip along the road. KKL-JNF identifies these areas as high-value green spaces.
The alternative prepared by KKL-JNF together with Urbanix is based on implementing the proposed development program, but without Neighborhoods V’2, V’3 and H east of the road, while retaining Neighborhood V’1 west of Route 10.
At the same time, the development capacity of two other areas has been updated, where more advanced planning indicates a higher capacity than that included in the original plan. These include Area T, where approximately 5,000 housing units are being advanced, and the central district in Area K, where public infrastructure planning is based on approximately 15,000 housing units.
According to the assessment, the difference between the two alternatives is significantly smaller than might be suggested by the proposed development map. While the full development scenario reaches approximately 570,000 residents, the scenario without development east of Route 10 reaches approximately 553,000 residents. In terms of housing, the difference is only about 3,000 housing units, representing approximately 4.8% of all new housing units proposed.
KKL-JNF argues that these figures challenge the assumption that the areas east of Route 10 must be developed in order to meet the population target. According to the organization, Beit Shemesh can exceed 550,000 residents even without these areas, by maximizing existing plans within the urban fabric and in areas already designated for development. This, KKL-JNF says, would remove the threat to these open spaces and allow city residents to continue enjoying the natural areas surrounding Beit Shemesh.
Another issue concerns Route 10 itself. According to the planners' position, the possibility of a future light rail line along the road justifies development on both sides. KKL-JNF rejects this argument, maintaining that an additional 3,000 housing units and a commercial strip do not justify establishing a transportation system along this corridor.
KKL-JNF also argues that light rail should not be viewed as the driving factor behind the city's overall planning without a thorough examination of all components of the proposed plan. According to the organization, the area's topography and the Zanoah Stream valley would prevent the road from being transformed into a conventional urban street. The result, it says, would not be a continuous extension of Beit Shemesh, but rather the creation of a new urban area beyond the road.
The transportation infrastructure underlying the policy document also raises questions. KKL-JNF supports public-transportation-based development in principle, but notes that so far, only a general framework has been presented, without clarifying how the city's transportation system would actually serve the proposed transportation corridor along Route 10.