Dozens of residents of Tel Aviv have filed objections to the Tel Aviv District Committee for Planning and Building through Adv. Noam Kolodny to the building plans on the former Sde Dov airport, sources inform "Globes."
Sde Dov airport in North Tel Aviv was closed at the end of last month after a protracted high profile campaign to keep it operating. On the land vacated by the airport, the Israel Land Authority (ILA) has plans for the construction of 16,000 housing units, thousands of hotel rooms and commercial and office developments.
The residents who are objecting, are from the Lammed neighborhood, New Ramat Aviv, Nofei Yam and Levy Eshkol Street. They write in their objections, "This is unreasonable overcrowding from every point of view."
The residents explain that this is because the landowners are trying to maximize their rights, so that the plan includes values of high overcrowding. The residents demand that the number of housing units be reduced as well as the number of high rise buildings in the plan. They also demand that the 'wall of high-rises' is cancelled altogether so that they will not be prevented from "enjoying the sea breezes." They demand that buildings should be restricted to a height of 5-10 floors.
The tenants claim that the amount of open spaces in the plan falls below the ILA's required 10 square meters per resident. The plan also includes 2,400 affordable housing units, calculated to be part of the public spaces. The objection says, "With all due respect to affordable housing, and the huge importance there is to such housing, there is no way that affordable housing can be calculated to be part of the public spaces, as understood, and this is being done to pull the wool over our eyes."
The residents argue that in the adjacent neighborhoods to the plan, there is already a lack of public spaces and that the plan that has been deposited will only exacerbate this shortfall.
The residents further claim that plans to close the nearby Reading power station next year are not realistic, ridiculous and contradict the government decision last year to continue operating the facility.
The objections also insist that the new plan does not allow enough parking spaces for the residents of the new homes being built, let alone visitors and guests coming to the hotels, offices and commercial centers.
The Tel Aviv District Committee for Planning and Building said, "Since the plan is in the stage of hearing objections, we cannot comment at present. Like all objections filed against the plan, these objections will also be discussed and a decision will be taken by the committee."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 25, 2019
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