The battle over the fate of Israel Military Industries Ltd.'s (IMI) 7,500-dunam (1,875-acre) site at Ramat Hasharon has resumed. Mayors of the surrounding cities - Ramat Hasharon, Herzliya, and Hod Hasharon - are calling on the government to withdraw the Israel Land Administration's plan for the construction of 23,000 housing units on the site, and to build a park instead.
The change in the mayors' position began in Herzliya, when Herzliya Mayor Yael German, who supported the housing plan, entered the Knesset. Her successor, Yehonatan Yasur, opposes it. At a joint press conference on Monday, Yasur, Hod Hasharon Mayor Hai Adiv, and Ramat Hasharon Mayor Itzik Rochberger announced that they opposed the housing plan for the IMI site, and demanded that the government finance the construction of a park on it.
The Israel Land Administration says that the mayors have completely reversed their position, the only explanation for which is the upcoming municipal elections. The government, especially the Israel Land Administration, say that the only way to finance the decontamination of the IMI site is to sell the land to real estate developers, who will build apartment blocks on it. The mayors deny the charge, saying that the government was responsible for the land's contamination (IMI is a government company), and it should therefore finance the decontamination.
"The idea that it is impossible to decontaminate the land unless apartments are built on it and the money comes from marketing the land is twisted, and should be buried," said Rochberger. "It's true that the Ramat Hasharon Municipality's official position was to promote the construction, but my personal position has always been that one home should be built, and with the change in mayor at Herzliya, an opportunity has been created, because the new mayor holds that the land should not be developed.
"The position of the three mayors is now united. It isn't a disaster if mayors change their minds. We won't let tens of thousands of cars be added to Herzliya, Ramat Hasharon, and Hod Hasharon, and the Morasha Interchange, which is supposed to handle the traffic cannot do so, especially as the five-year development plan for the interchange is frozen because there is no budget from the Ministry of Finance."
Rochberger added, "IMI, a unit of the Ministry of Defense, contaminated the land over the years, and all of Ramat Hasharon's water well has been closed because of the contamination. We're prepared to forego development fees and taxes in favor of green lungs, and we'll also press the government to pay to decontaminate the land. This site could be green lungs, as it is twice the size of New York's Central Park."
The Israel Land Administration says that the development plan for the IMI site has the support of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Water Authority, the Nature and Parks Authority, and the Government Companies Authority, all of which agreed that the only plan to decontaminate the IMI site was the housing plan. It added that 40% of the site would be green space, and that the planned housing would lower prices.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 6, 2013
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