(haipo) - The Council for the Preservation of Heritage Sites in Israel, Western Galilee District, Haifa and Menasha held a public meeting this evening, Tuesday, 10/09/2024, regarding issues related to the built and scenic heritage in Haifa. The meeting dealt with the Ha'itz areas in the city and the plan, which will replace the plan of TAMA 38. The meeting opened with words of blessing from the CEO of the Conservation Council Omri Shalmon.
CEO of the Conservation Council Omri Shalmon: We are fighting for the uniqueness of Haifa
The CEO of the Conservation Council, Omri Shalmon, began the meeting with words of congratulation: "The country has been at war for a long time and it is a difficult time for all of us, especially for the families of the abducted and fallen. It is very impressive that such an evening is held in such a difficult time. I have love for Haifa and Carmel. Haifa pulsates and breathes and has fascinating phenomena. From my point of view, Haifa is special. This is what we are fighting for. We are a small body, which makes a tremendous effort to be in the midst of the struggles.
Haifa is fighting for its image, you don't see that in every city in the country. We are facing a number of significant challenges already these days. There is a lot going on under the radar. To talk about fires and removing buildings from the conservation list, these are the things that stand before us in Haifa. A huge thank you to the Haifa District and the Western Galilee and to those who stand at their head. It's a district with a lot of passion and reading comprehension, it's interesting and important and we are a servant in these matters in your hands."
Architect Guy Shahar: "The Conservation Council is in favor of destroying the existing casino building and rebuilding the swimming pool"
The director of the Western Galilee, Haifa and Menashe district of the Council for the Preservation of Heritage Sites, architect Guy Shahar, moderated the evening.
"What unites everyone who joined us today is the connection to Haifa. Precisely because of the national predation, there is something sane in Haifa. We find sanity in the connection to nature. The trees in Haifa are part of the built landscape.
The goal today is to connect the people to the issues and present the issues at hand. There are several plans regarding Bat Galim, the plans have either been approved or are in the final stages of approval. Many of the things are already finished and affect the neighborhood. We will put the emphasis on the casino complex. As a conservation council we issued a position document regarding the casino. We think that public sharing should be done about this. We are in favor of destroying the existing building, which is not the original building, and rebuilding the swimming pool that was there."
Landscape architect Inbal Yodfat-Naman: "Our struggle is centered on the casino structure"
Inbal Yodfat-Naman, a landscape architect, commented on what is happening in the Bat Galim neighborhood:
"I am a resident of Bat Galim. In 6 years, we went from a single family that goes to kindergarten to one of many, many families that have come to the neighborhood. We learn some of the plans for our neighborhood from the media. We are a group, the Galim Group Forum, which submits objections to projects in the neighborhood. We identified a plan in the casino, which concerns to the hearts of many people in the neighborhood, and therefore it became our flagship struggle.
The owner of the casino, Gil Dankner, submitted his plan to the county commission, and we are fighting it. The land is mostly private land, but with a public designation. The developer demands to get more floors on the seashore, huge discounts, 110 hotel units, in a place that is not sure, that another hotel is needed.
Blasting this neighborhood with hotels alongside high-rises. Opposite the casino there is a hotel, first line to the sea, which the developer abandoned in the middle, because he realized that it was not feasible. Another question is how the municipality makes sure that there really will be a hotel and not, in the end, an apartment building for Hifai only."
Guy Shahar also referred to the creation of the buffer zones in Haifa:
"Haifa experienced a large fire in 2016. Following the fire, there was a national committee on the subject with a long series of recommendations in 2018. I spoke about the urban nature in Haifa and the need to find unique interfaces for the city in dealing with fires. We have been talking about this for years, that Haifa should have a forest department and this is not happening .
What happened since we prepared the recommendations in 2018?
The bottom line is that the municipality promotes buffer zones following a government decision. 12 million NIS were allocated to Haifa to promote the issue. In Kiryat Tivon, barricades were climbed, in order not to cut down trees and not maintain the buffer zones against fire.
The fact that the Haifa municipality has not acted until today is a very big problem, but we need to act holistically.
What should be done now?
This is a strip, which should protect the neighborhoods. In Haifa the wadis inside the city. The buffer strips in Ramat Sapir and Ramat Hen is an exposure of the wadi. We appealed and said that the public should be exposed to the Fire Fighters program. Indeed, in the city council, the overall plan for fire fighters was revealed.
In the document, which the Haifa Municipality commissioned, it is said that all kinds of actions must be taken and if there is no choice - fire arrows. A day after the presentation to the public at the city council, the municipality requested permits for cutting down trees. Is this how you do public sharing?
We are not against firebenders, but it should be done sensitively. There are opportunities here to make travel areas and turn it into something good, but for that you need to increase your head. We demand that professional steps be taken, but we have not received a response from the municipality. That's why we turned to the national forestry representative, who rejects our findings, and we are studying the meaning of the document."
Landscape architect Hana Yaffe commented on the Chaitz Hash plan:
"What appears in the document are recommendations, some of which are completely unrealistic. It makes no sense to cut down trees. We held several meetings on the subject with Deputy Mayor Avihu Han and held Zoom meetings with the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem municipalities.
We spoke with Avihu Han about the sustainability department in the municipality. Regarding the forestry official, we think that we should take two people, who will really go out into the forest and check what they approve. They should be part of a sustainability department and not an engineering department. Hahn said he would submit it to Mayor Yona Yahav. It is also important to understand that Chaitz areas need to be maintained all the time.
The municipality does not refer to any paper. Today we had a meeting with Deputy Mayor Sharit Golan Steinberg regarding the Lincoln Hills. Yahav is talking about 4,000 hotel rooms. This played in our favor at the Mount Carmel Hotel because he doesn't want nursing homes. We will have to put up a tremendous fight here."
Guy Shahar: "The municipality needs to decide what its vision is regarding urban renewal"
Shahar also referred to the green in Carmel and what is happening to it following the urban renewal:
"We feel that we are encountering sealed walls in the municipality. Such a situation cannot continue where there are people who hold senior positions and do not respond professionally. On Disraeli Street there is a huge decrease in the amount of green. The Carmel's DNA is green.
We are not against renewal, not all buildings deserve preservation. The question is how to do it. A pine tree, which is being dug up next to it, is dead. The municipality has to decide whether it wants parking lots or trees. The municipality needs to decide what its vision is. If the municipality does not preserve the unique characteristics of the city of Haifa, no tourist will come here.
We are constantly talking about the subject of textural preservation. This is very, very critical. We also talk about the design of the construction. We are talking about modest construction."
Architect Gila Margolin: "Residents have the option to make changes to the plan, which will replace the TMA"
The architect Gila Margolin from the Haifa District at the Conservation Council presented the plan for building renewal, which is intended to replace TMA 38 after long periods of extensions. According to her, the TMA will end in May 2026, and under it will come a new plan aimed at strengthening the buildings and providing a response to civil defense, which which is very blessed.
Next week the municipality will hold a public meeting to present the plan, and it calls on the residents of Haifa to express their opinion, either before the discussion or during it. The program focuses mainly on the old neighborhoods such as Bat Galim, Hadar, the German colony, parts of Neve Shanan, Kiryat Haim and more. Haifa is considered a city with a very large number of housing units, and the plan covers wide areas. This is an urban outline plan, through which it will be possible to issue building permits and it is under provincial authority.
According to Margolin, the new program does not harm the H.P. program. 2000, but there are conflicts between the two, as in the case of Kiryat Shmuel and Kiryat Haim, where H.P. 2000 designates the area for low-rise construction, while the new plan allows construction up to 7 stories high. She also stated that a conservation survey was not done in Kiryat Haim, and the fear is that the new plan will not sufficiently refer to buildings for conservation. She raised questions about the impact of future surveys on an already approved plan, and expressed concern about the future of conservation buildings, which may not be renewed while the rest of the buildings are.
Margolin emphasized the importance of preserving the buildings in the neighborhoods, and noted that there is only one section that refers to approved conservation complexes, but there are still many unresolved questions surrounding it. The conservation list in Haifa is unique, where conservation complexes include groups of buildings with common characteristics, but it is not always clear how the new plan will handle them.
At the end of her remarks, she called on the public to check the complex where he lives, since the plan has not yet reached a district discussion, and there is a possibility of making changes to it at this stage.
Environmental activist Benny Eitan: "The fight over the Lincoln Hills plan should be nationwide"
Benny Eitan, an environmental activist and member of the Carmel Environmental Committee, presented the fight against the construction plan on the slopes of Lincoln - Tel Aharon. He began by describing the plan's location on the mountain and the height of the planned buildings throughout the neighborhood. Eitan emphasized that in his opinion the struggle should be conducted at the national level, since the program is under the authority of the district committee.
Eitan said that he used to walk in Nahal Azov, but after the establishment of the neighborhood this will no longer be possible, and emphasized that this is a serious damage to the wadi. According to him, the planner Tagit Kalimor stated that she improved the need for interchanges in the neighborhood, and added several additional entrances. Residents of the West Estate neighborhood are worried about the expected load on their neighborhood, while the residents of the new neighborhood may use it as a shortcut. Already today the neighborhood suffers from heavy traffic congestion.
Eitan added that the main concern is that the plan on the slopes of Lincoln will serve as a precedent for extensive construction in Western Carmel, and that this plan could open the door for further construction up to the Dania neighborhood.
Ilan Bornstein, who has owned land on the slopes of Lincoln since 1973 (about a week before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War), responded to Bnei Eitan's words and presented a position opposing the plan's opponents. According to him, the fact that the municipality is the one promoting the plan is incorrect, and he intends to file an objection against the plan. Bornstein added that in his opinion, the program is expected to be rejected in the end.
Hadar has to vacate construction and construction for height.
To restore the splendor and majesty of the lost glory.
Haifa has become a terribly ugly and miserable city. A few decades ago, central streets such as Halutz and Nabiim were streets of quality shops, movie theaters, and a bustling population. Today, drug addicts hang around there.
Haifa is a rotten city full of vile killers, animal killers. A city of scum with negative karma. A city that will rot slowly.
The time has come to demolish the old buildings in all of Hadar and Upper Hadar and build high-rises with entrance lobbies, underground parking and shelters, and this will also raise the level of the area which has become a magnet for crime on any issue, substandard population.
Haifa needs to make sure that the entire road on Route 6, which is dark from Hadera, will be lit
Haifa is not a suburb
Why is there suddenly no lighting on Route 6 heading north?
But only in the central area???
This is the first thing to take care of!!!
And not a word about the disgusting Hadar neighborhood
Experience shows that the influence of the public will increase to the extent that a strong faction in the municipal council promotes the issues that have been raised, to the levels of management, planning and implementation in the municipality. This is how the Greens have been acting all these years, and their many achievements are evident on the ground. This is how you can also promote topics that came up at the conference:
- Urban renewal for a real need of the city and its residents, and not for greedy inflation of dense construction;
- Correct layout of the construction scopes in the city of Haifa and its surroundings, in accordance with goals and limitations;
- Planning the Carmel slopes in an overall view, how much this city wants, needs, and can still grow;
- early prevention of fire disasters, and not "buffer zones" which are themselves a disaster, and will not stop the fire;
- Bat Galim casino as an example of unrealistic demands of the public, instead of examining practical alternatives.
These are just samples, we hope that there will be factions in the city council that will go for it. I was hoping to present the things at the public hearing on 20.9/XNUMX, unfortunately I was informed that the list of lecturers had already been closed.
The Municipality of Tel Aviv ensured that the Dolphinarium would be an urban sports and aquatic activity center with a new bathing beach.
The municipality of Haifa will make sure that the casino will be a wall of two huge buildings that will block the sea along the boardwalk and instead of expanding the bathing beach, earthworks that will create a protective embankment for the building.
This is the difference between the planning and management departments of the Tel Aviv and Haifa municipalities. It has nothing to do with conservation, or demolition. There is a connection between the public interest and the entrepreneurial interest. Dankner can be given alternative land or equivalent rights to build a hotel and apartments in Bat Galim. The Haifa municipality does not transfer rights, the legal department is too lazy to work.
There is nothing new in the fact that Haifa Municipality is a failed municipality, if not the most failed one.
There is not a single honest advisor to say one positive word in favor of the municipality.
New-old "stars" have arrived, pretending to be personal cults in revolutionary actions, so that what was will not be. They spread bombastic promises starting with the mayor's office with a "plan" to build 100,000(!!!) new housing units, and this for the purpose of completely demolishing the city and burying it in a sea of monstrous concrete tombstones.
New management of construction in the city - not by a professional in the field of construction, but by a lawyer who lacks understanding in the field of construction, who is unable to even take care of issuing building permits subject to the law and construction regulations.
Municipal legal advisory systems that are not able to eradicate the undesirable phenomena prevalent among its subordinates in the local planning and construction committee.
Even a perfect conservation survey cannot be promoted in the city.
There is no possibility not to mention the destructive TMA 38 that is spreading in the city like a macabre cancer that continues to cause complete destruction of the Carmel on the basis of construction permits that violate the law in a serial method.
Very few original buildings are preserved in Haifa, and even that in the vast majority by private hands who have the care and financial ability to do so. In practice, there is neglect and destruction. I'm not talking about nature, which is another painful issue. Lots of incredibly ugly additions to existing buildings, including buildings For preservation. Zero respect for the building and the environment. I live in a building that was designed by a very well-known architect. Over the years, every element that was in the building was vandalized or covered over that were removed or cut as desired, plaster, original cladding, everything. Not to mention the amount of cables and pipes that come out of each apartment, often with excessive breaking of the walls, which crumbles all the plaster around. Submitting a plan to the municipality is a legalization procedure of what you want to do, and everyone in it, including professionals.
The truth must be told: there is no housing culture in Israel and there is no value to originality, uniformity of appearance or preservation. In Israel, people are busy with themselves and survival. To most people a building is just a block of concrete. Somewhere I understand it. We are a traumatized and stressed country. You have to improvise to live. But it's a shame we don't do enough. And I wrote a lot about nature, the new TBA's are simply violence for its own sake against the mountain and the landscape.
Preservation surveys are very important, I participated in one or more regularly historical materials in different groups. But without proactive action, a change in the basis of thought, funding by the authorities and an obligation to preserve by law, nothing will happen.
right. Because the municipality does not have any requirements for the facades of the buildings, so there will not be a uniform socialist facade, but the windows, the balconies, the color will be preserved, flower winches will be encouraged, old-fashioned plastic shutters will be banned as well as old advertising remnants and so on. The other problem in our districts is that every citizen is a skilled architect and also represents a militant association or forum and their opinion. We need professional work led by the municipality, and the participation of the public will not be done for the sake of favoritism but with discretion and efficiency while marking the goal. No train moves on a track by the power of shouts, good intentions, titles and interested parties in disguise.
These conferences are apparently and soundly motivated by interests, I wonder who exactly these conferences serve! What is clear is that they do not serve the Green Carmel!!
The Council for Non-Preservation of Sites.
They are in favor of demolishing the casino and building a pool - the historic pool was built next to the casino. What is the point of destroying it? Then what, the developer will build another monster according to Tama 38 they will approve not 4 but 6 and a half floors. Public purpose? Will make a huge event hall when they approve to demolish the casino.
You live in a movie. There is no preservation in Haifa. You do what you want and the council holds conferences of Peka Peka.
The municipality should establish a policy?! Thanks, she ignores and tweets about your position.
Heritage sites in Acre - in a state of increasing neglect.
I have a feeling that the conferences were meant to mark and they did as a commitment x public conferences a year, and no more.