(haipo) - Strengthening the opponents of the planned construction in the Stella Maris neighborhood in the French Carmel in Haifa - The designated mayor, Yona Yahav, arrived yesterday (Wednesday 12/3/24) for a discussion on the issue and joined the members of his future coalition, attorney Sharit Golan Steinberg, who will be the chairman of the committee The Local for Planning and Construction, and Moti Blitzblau, a member of the "Greens - Blue and White" faction.
A discussion in the District Committee for Planning and Construction was held last night (Wed) on the subject of the construction plan in the Stella Maris neighborhood, according to which 460 units will be built in the area of the vacated military base.
The plan is promoted by RMI (Israel Land Authority) and covers an area of 50 dunams, north of Tscheranhovski Street. The plan includes buildings with a height of 5-15 stories, a public promenade and four preservation buildings of bunkers from the days of the British Mandate.
Many objections to the plan
The plan was submitted for submission in June 2023 and is causing a lot of opposition among residents, green forums and the municipality. As of this week, the designated mayor Yona Yahav also joined the opponents, who came to the discussion last night and expressed his opposition to the plan. According to the opponents, the area can provide an answer to all the residents of the neighborhood and not only them, if a park for public welfare is established instead of a residential neighborhood intended for only 460 families.
Rami's plan was presented by architect Eli Derman, while presenting the considerations faced by the neighborhood's planners and how they examined the view of the neighborhood from different points of view in the city. The route of the land dictated the diagonal placement of the buildings as well as how they thought of carrying out the preservation of the bunkers and the construction of the cliff path.
"This is an opportunity to promote the city"
The municipality was represented by the chairman of the local committee, Nachshon Tzuk, representatives of the planning department, headed by Ruthie Rapaport and the city engineer, Ariel Weterman. The incoming mayor, Yona Yahav, and the chairman of the sub-committee of the designated local committee, attorney Sharit Golan, also arrived.
The city engineer, Ariel Waterman, presented the municipality's opposition to the plan in light of the opportunity, according to him, that clearing this base allows for the advancement of the city. Wertman referred to the importance of cooperation with the Baha'is and the Carmelites, explained the importance of the area and presented potential alternative planning options.
"return to the planning table"
The city engineer's request was that the district committee bring the issue back to the planners' table, and that the municipality, together with Rami, find alternative answers that would allow the establishment of a public park in Rosh Carmel, while providing alternate areas for Rami.
"Carmel has a unique show"
Yona Yahav, Sharit Golan and Nachshon Tzuk added to the discussion the positions of the city and the importance they see in finding a comprehensive solution that will suit the position of the municipality and the outgoing and incoming mayors. Moti Blitzblau and Abihu Han from the Blue and White Green Movement, together with Shmuel Gelbart, presented their opposition based on the fact that the Mount Carmel show coming down to the sea is a unique show, and just as it was unthinkable to build on the Table Mountain in Cape Town, it is also impossible to build on the top of the Carmel .
"A park instead of buildings"
Haifa's Green faction took an active part in the struggle from the very beginning: "In the discussion at the Haifa district committee, me and my friend from the Green-Blue-White faction, Motti Blitzblau, presented an unequivocal demand to build an amazing park on the Carmel ridge - Stella Maris, while preserving the ridge, instead of the destructive plan of the Israel Land Authority, to build hundreds of housing units there," says the chairman of the Green-Blue-White faction, Avihu Han.
"This is the wish of the residents of Haifa"
"The park we are talking about is expected to bring tourism to the city, is expected to bring young families back to Haifa and improve the quality of life for the residents. We, the faction members, started the fight a long time ago, together with the residents of the neighborhood and other environmental organizations. We were happy to now also harness the designated mayor to the fight, Yona Yahav, who came to the discussion and fought together with us to explain to the Israel Land Authority the desire of the residents of Haifa. This is the change that the residents of Haifa voted for a few days ago. We started working hard, and from here we are only increasing the gear."
Suggest an alternative plan
The activists who were present at the discussion, among them a member of the Carmel Public Forum Committee, Yael Amitai, asked the committee to leave the area as a public area for the benefit of the residents of the Carmel neighborhood, to preserve the bunkers and historic gun emplacements, and to build a park for the benefit of the public. The architect Shmuel Galbhart reminded the RMI of their role, part of which is the encouragement that the RMI activates for the establishment of public parks.
The representatives of the Baha'is presented the promises given to them in the agreements with the Haifa municipality, regarding construction adjacent to their territories, and their intention to transform the area of the nursery into a beautiful area that will be open to the general public, where a prayer building will be erected for every person.
The Carmel Public Forum, represented by attorney Omer Bachman, presented the geographic, religious, scenic and historical importance of the plan's area with the help of expert opinions - Prof. Yossi Ben Artzi and Prof. Uzi Elide. Prof. Nurit Kliot spoke about the lack of consideration for the current residents of the neighborhood and the transportation crisis that will arise due to an addition to the neighborhood. A 3D video of the alternative plan offered by the Carmel Public Forum, designed by landscape architect Hana Yaffe, winner of the Craven Award, was also shown.
"Traffic congestion will worsen"
The residents of the neighborhood, who will be represented by committee representative Yuliana Eliezer Yishai, presented their opposition to the plan due to the worsening problem of traffic jams and traffic congestion that the new neighborhood will create. Eliezer Yishai also spoke about the lack of a park for recreation, leisure and sports on the Carmel Ridge as well as the absence of an active community center.
The residents of the neighborhood requested that if a neighborhood were to be built, it would not be separated from the existing neighborhood but connected to it by a bridge, while expressing concern about a wall that could be created from the placement of the tall buildings planned in the new neighborhood, a wall that would separate the neighborhoods and hide the view and access to the observation deck and promenade. The residents also requested that as many green spaces as possible remain and that the area not be completely filled with residential buildings. The residents also requested that the members of the committee be attentive to the request to establish a friendship park with a spectacular boardwalk that would maintain continuity in the Carmel Ridge.
"Neighborhood for the rich only"
Ella Glakopf-Blais, a representative of the Centers for Social Justice Association, presented the injustice of taking public space from the residents of the existing neighborhood, in order to build a neighborhood for the rich only on this space.
Gila Margolin, the representative of the Conservation Council, emphasized the need to expand the space of the bunkers for conservation, so that a complete story of the defense in World War II could be presented. The opposition of Anat Cohen, a resident of the neighborhood, was read. The committee ignored the Carmelites' objection because it was submitted without an affidavit.
"Mocking Resh"
The city engineer clearly claimed that the green areas presented in the plan are a mockery of Resh. The planners replied that there had been a dialogue for many years with the municipality and the proof of this, according to them, is the addition of the school and the prayer building, as well as that the buildings will be monitored. The planners also said that extensive evacuation-construction operations are planned to be carried out in the neighborhood. According to the association for social justice and the representatives of the neighborhood, according to which the addition of the neighborhood will create traffic congestion, the planners replied that it is not a question of large quantities of vehicles, to the point of being heavy on the traffic.
"Missing the Big Picture"
From the Carmel public forum, it is claimed, in conclusion, that no one claims that the proposed planning was done deliberately or with bad intent, but that there is a huge miss of the big picture here: "We are aware of the housing crisis and respect the efforts to find solutions. We propose that the 460 housing units be built in other areas of Haifa , in reinforcements or in alternative areas and wish to carry out a broader plan, build the Friendship Park and evacuate the navy base as well. From what we have found out, the army is ready (with the exception of the antenna) to build a hotel in the building for this preservation and to integrate the path leading to the Eliyahu Cave. The residents of Haifa who live on the Carmel deserve a park Like the residents of Herzliya or Ra'anana."
As a former Haifai, it is better to evacuate construction in the Hadar neighborhood. Take down the old houses from the fifties/sixties, without an elevator and without parking, and build up to six or eight stories, even ten.
Bring back citrus to citrus.
Instead of crime and filth. It is also possible in another way, not only Carmel Carmel and Carmel...
Today's designation is public?
May the Municipality of Haifa be honored and expropriate the entire area for public needs.
This is the right way to maintain the area.
Of course, the approval of a new plan will increase the value and the cost to the municipality.
An embezzlement and exhaustive article, by the journalist Michal Grover.. You can simply submit it, as it is, as a counter document.
Kudos to our incoming and outgoing public representatives for this work. A park for the general public within the city itself is a rare commodity in this city and so necessary.
From a young family of Chaim who was born here and chose to stay.
All the best to Yona Yahav and her father Han
Completely justified, the green areas in Haifa are a natural gem that is extremely important to the Minister
Yona Ya Eps send your bots here to respond? Don't touch the green, stop destroying, there are many neighborhoods that can be restored instead of building a new one, why are you so stupid? Or is it due to laziness and greed?
You probably didn't understand what was written. Yahav and the coalition he formed opposed building a new neighborhood there and offered alternatives...
The fact that the property tax in Haifa should be lowered is always true, but not related to the article
Why do messages that support those who are trying to prevent the establishment of a small neighborhood in a green and historic nature area look like bots to you?.. I am not a bot, I am a Haifaite who is happy that the new Bon Ton is the name of change in this city and hopes that it will be implemented in other places such as Givat Ha'azit and others. I hope it will also be extended to the preservation of historical buildings and not just nature, and that is for another discussion
Goat Hill should remain green as it is, in my opinion. We don't need a park and we don't need to intervene there. We need nature and green in our eyes. Stella Maris can become a park with as little intervention as possible and leave it as green and wild as possible. People leave Haifa not because there are no buildings and they have nowhere to live. The overcrowding in Haifa is tiring, we don't need to build and burden the city more. It affects the quality of life.
Kudos to the Greens and Yona Yahav - parks and open spaces are much more lacking than residential apartments...
As if there is no parks in Haifa.
Most of them are deserted anyway and if not, Aces are blown up with cans of energy drinks and crackers...
A neighborhood for the rich or a park for clans from the north? In any case, in both cases it will probably refer to the same sector.
Haifa people still prefer a restaurant or a shopping mall.
Wouldn't it be better for the military base to remain there and provide security for the city at the most strategic point?
Instead of building new neighborhoods, there is a need for a hall to restore the old neighborhoods such as Kiryat Eliezer. Most of the buildings have an order in front of a dangerous building because the apartments are crumbling and the situation there is bad. There are no receivers or dimensions. The earthquakes damaged the old apartments that were built without a standard in 1952-1960.
There is no elevator and elderly residents are actually "locked" in their apartment and it is difficult for them to go down and up the stairs to the 2-4 floors.
The real fear is that in the event of an earthquake or a missile attack, many apartments will collapse on their owners.
More than a decade ago, the municipality defined the neighborhood as a candidate for urban renewal, this means that the tenants had to join the project and could not evacuate each building separately as they did in the other neighborhoods in the city (Carmel and Nosh, etc.).
Since the municipality defined the neighborhood for urban renewal, it basically thwarted any attempt by the residents to approve a project. It limited the developers with an unreasonable floor tax, imposed a tax on appreciation, and was strongly opposed to renewal, and all this was in a time of cliché.
Even a project such as the Ada-Partisan complex that came under the auspices of a semi-municipal society failed to progress through the municipality and went to get approval from the district.
This is about human life and the risk is very great. These apartments are in a bad condition and you can't renovate them, it just won't help. The foundations are finished and must be vacated.
If the municipality cares about the lives of the residents, it must roll up its sleeves and promote programs.
Totally right!
It was so right to vote for Yona Yahav
Thank God he was chosen and we succeeded
First of all, it is important to repeat that without the field work of activists who gathered and initiated such an impressive move, while recruiting the members of the coalition and signing them in favor of the establishment of the park (after standing for days at central intersections in Haifa at the signing booths), they spent months in meetings, spent money to finance the continuation of the struggle for Stella Maris - All this would not have happened.
Secondly, the Goat Hill in the Ramat Begin neighborhood should also become a public park instead of another built-up neighborhood, while the space and ecological corridor it offers to the garden and its vegetation is one of a kind. Here, too, an alert, active and mobilized public is needed to save another open area facing the west from massive construction.
Well done to all the residents of the city who never stop fighting for the city and a greener future!
We will check your offer…
There are 300 dunams of land in Goat Hill multiplied by 10 million NIS per dunam divided by 100,000 voters who care giving 30,000 NIS per head. are you ready to pay
A very unique area, important to preserve for the benefit of future generations
There is no gold on Yona Yahav with correct vision and care. We are glad that you are back at the institute.
Well done Yahav and the greens! Already justifying your choice
delusional
Remy will give up 500-600 million
You can combine both things. Build more densely and have a park. It is convenient to say that Binoy Binoy. But that in itself is something wrong that has caused a terrible price increase in certain neighborhoods
It is also a reward for apartment neglectors. When talking about Mihion's discount on a price for a tenant, what exactly is it when you vacate a building??
If we talk about parking lots, we need to create a traffic connection and an elite promenade of Haifa. like in the sea Promenade with a minimum of road crossings for pedestrians and bicycles
I suggest changing the name of Haifa to Necropolis, loosely translated City of the Dead
Hello Mati Tiktinsky
About 10,000 apartments will be built in the southern entrances of Haifa in the coming years, and another 20,000 units have already been approved for construction in the coastal neighborhoods.
There is no need for 460 apartments that will occupy the most beautiful area in Israel in a crude and outdated plan. Don't worry Landlists.
Very true….what a shame….
In Tel Aviv there are two Gindi towers with 30 floors that have 720 apartments. 360 in each tower. So do me a favor delusional planners.
These 460 apartments could be put into two 25-story towers at the end of the complex and the rest could be given to an open park.
It's ridiculous to waste such quality space.
And once again we return to the stalling of the city's development and the departure of residents to the center of the country.
Hello Mati Tiktinsky
About 10,000 apartments will be built in the southern entrances of Haifa in the coming years, and another 20,000 units have already been approved for construction in the coastal neighborhoods.
There is no need for 460 apartments that will occupy the most beautiful area in Israel in a crude and outdated plan. Don't worry about the narcissists.
I would say that the park should be for all residents of Haifa!! And not only for the residents of Carmel...!!
And the tourists who will come., (Ashkelon also has a large and beautiful park for all the residents of the city)..
As a former Haifai, this is one of the most beautiful places in the country and deserves to be a national park. It would be great if the Bahá'ís would help with his upbringing. So that the wonderful view will not be hidden by a row of tall trees or residential buildings built by greedy contractors. The Carmelite monastery can also fit in beautifully. With proper planning, the place will become a gem for the benefit of the residents of Haifa and the country.
Specifically in this case, the objection may be in its place, but it seems that if the mayor intends to go through every planning dispute with the greens, Haifa may remain shabby and outdated.
There are dozens of complexes and perhaps hundreds of large projects of the urban news in the old neighborhoods and there he needs to express himself and exert his influence
is also
how do you say?! The greens will clog the city, there will be no housing for the next generation and we wonder why they are leaving, in short we are left to sleep in peace.
Oish, do me a favor
Stupid green head
What is "only" 460 families? In what imaginary world do you live where there is an equation between a park and "only" 460 families
I did my military service there more than 60 years ago. A stunning view that deserves to be left open to the public.
A plan that suits Kalish and the voter has had his say.
All the best to those involved in the matter and good luck in safeguarding the public interest.