The situation with illegal construction has gotten so bad in Bet Shemesh, that, according to the local newspapers, the Misrad HaPnim is threatening to take control of the local construction committee.
Mayor Moshe Abutbol and head of the planning and construction committee Moshe Montag recently gave an interview to Chadash in which they tried to make very clear to the public that the hefkeirus of construction without permits is now coming to an end. they can no longer help people who went around the system, and they can no longer allow the situation to continue. The issue is already in the legal system and is out of their hands, and they therefore have to begin cracking down. The purpose of the Iryah is to help the residents and solve their problems. Not to make it difficult. They pleaded with the residents to no longer build without permits, but to request permits and the Iryah is very forthcoming as much as they can be.
One of the interesting points they made when describing how bad the situation in the city has gotten is they said that there are a number of places in the city where people have gone into business building illegal apartments. They said there are apartments built completely without permits that are not registered anywhere, even as existing at all! People build in places that are not safe, not aesthetically pleasing, and worse. if it was just people adding a bit to their apartments it might not be so bad, but they have people who have made business out of illegal construction, such as those building apartments that are not meant to exist.
Today, in the news, is a perfect example of this problem playing out.
A Byzantine monastery from the 6th century had been discovered in Bet Shemesh. After being excavated, the area, including the monastery, was covered for protection. A kablan who wanted to build, went ahead and started to build. he dug out the whole area, destroying everything in the process. The kicker is that he went ahead and did all this without even submitting his plans and filing for an ishur!
Clearly the situation has really gotten out of hand, and people think they can do whatever they want. this kablan was going to be building apartment buildings. he went in, without requesting permits and submitting his plans, and wiped away a piece of ancient history, wasted millions of shekels that had been spent restoring the site and he just destroyed it.
What solutions are they offering to people who want to do reasonable things such as close in an unused mirpeset to make another bedroom? Will it take 5 months? Will it be denied because that apt has no more building rights - whatever that means!
ReplyDeleteThey can talk about how important it is not to do illegal construction, but what are they doing to make it feasible to be legal?
the say they are cutting out the bureaucracy (whatever that means) and trying to make it easy to obtain the ishurim. But usually people dont ask because it used to be difficult.
ReplyDeleteAlso, he says they are working on plans that would allow people to add on to their apartments (with ishurim). Right now it is complicated because of the way meterage is divided up by the kablan in the building, but they are working on a plan to change it.
Does he have a solution - It did not sound like he had any real solutions to your problem, but says you have to ask for the ishur. they are handing out now a lot of tzavei harisa, because it is now out of their hands. They said explicitly that anyone who does construction now without an ishur is throwing away their money as chances are they will be forced to take it down. Now that it is in the legal system they are no longer allowed to trn a blind eye.
Speak to your favorite city councilman and ask him what his solution is and what the city is doing instead of just issuing warnings..
hey RAfi,
ReplyDeleteif one of your readers has a problem, can you speak to your neighbor for them?
LOL
if I had a problem I dont know that I would speak to him to help. We have a very cordial relationship. We say hello to each other when we pass in the stairwell. Our kids even go to gan together...
ReplyDelete