RAMAT GIVAT ZE’EV BUYER BEWARE!

A Guest Post by Michoel Rubinstein of Givat Zeev

RAMAT GIVAT ZE’EV BUYER BEWARE!

The city council, המועצה מקומית גבעת זאב has requested zoning changes, and this has now resulted in a court battle that affects Ramat Givat Ze’ev.  The laws in Israel are very different than the laws in America, and you might not be covered.

Let us start by examining the following map:

If you notice, there is a large brown area in the valley that is set aside for use for public land (“Community Mosdos”).  On the original zoning map, there are no altitudes labeled.  There is a massive “green” area that was shown to every person who signed a contract, and were told it would be a massive area for a massive park.  There is no public park area in Agan HaAyalot, and probably only small ones in Ramat Givat Ze’ev.

Years ago, HaYael Street was pushed even deeper into the valley due to a request from the City Council that happened after the apartments were sold.

The city council requested to change the zoning to add a large area to the “Mosdos” and take away 40% of the park (and to split it into 2 areas), as well as to reduce the area between the houses to the area from 10 meters to 4 meters.  The zoning requests, as well, that that area be higheroff the ground, which means that certain buildings on HaYael Street will now be effectively completely underground.  In addition, they want to build 3-story buildings close to the housing zones.

This was done without notifying the residents.

In order to raise the area, they have to add thousands of trucks of dirt and rocks.

Where did they get all of this dirt?  It was brought from Ramat Givat Ze’ev.  The city council decided reached an agreement with Chish Nofei Yisrael, and Chish agreed to spend “millions of shekels” to make the area “stronger.”  There have been 1000s of trucks that have dumped dirt on this area over the past several months (and they continue to do so, even after we have officially started our protest).  Just remember that to move the dirt to another location out of Givat Ze’ev would cost them many more “millions of shekels,” than what they are doing now.

The dumping is done illegally, and even if they are stopped, it may take years until they agree to remove it.  Much worse, they might actually get the zoning changes and remove your park.  

Suburbia does not need more commercial areas.  It needs more parks.

In other words, nobody is safe from the City Council or from Nofei Yisrael’s quest at monetizing even the smallest area at the expense of the residents.  In order to encourage you to beware, here is what is being fought in court between Givat Ze’ev HaChadasha and the City Council:

1)      The present-day shopping store (makolet) is zoned to be a park.  There is a request to change zoning to be a commercial area (hardware store).  A very large shopping area (supermarket, health clinic, etc.) in the “middle” (see the map – the bottom, towards the right).  There arezero parks near that area of Agan Ayalot, and Nofei Yisrael and the City Council don’t care (Nofei Yisrael has rights to build the commercial areas in both places currently).  The present-day location of the Beis Yaakov is supposed to be a large shopping area – they moved that area to the middle, and are changing zoning to prevent opening another supermarket, closer to Ramat Givat Ze’ev.  Instead, they want offices.  More commercial.

2)      The City council was able to change zoning once despite the laws in Israel.  The have to legally publicize their request in 3 newspapers, and they publicized it in 3 non-religious papers, and never in the local newsletter that goes to every home in the neighborhood.  They were able to almost double the space shopping area at the expense of, you guessed it, a park.

3)      The city council has promised the park for years, (there was a publication from the mayor before the last elections) and has done nothing towards it.  Now we know why.  Promises mean nothing, if they can monetize it.

4)      There are signed agreements between the city council and Nofei Yisrael to dump the dirt in the “new” area of the mosdos, before getting a change in zoning laws, illegally.  They continue to dump despite the start of a legal battle.  They built the supermarket too large before zoning changes were requested.

5)      We were lied to by the building committees in the city council who and where the dirt from coming from.  They told us “The Office of Housing,” then they said, “No, we’re just changing the zoning to take out the Sport Arena to add more mosdos (schools).”  We were lied to multiple times by many people to distract us.

You, the residents of Ramat Givat Ze’ev, do you want your park destroyed?  Do you want the city council to tread on you like grass whenever they want?  Don’t say “they won’t do it to us.”  An ounce of prevention…..  NOW is the time to stand up and speak out!  Contact your lawyers. Nobody is safe.  And there are few checks and balances in place.

For more information, please contact us at agan.ayalot@gmail.com

K’svia v’chasima tovah, and a gut g’betched yor.

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