Councilor furious over building offense charges

Deputy TA Mayor Pe'er Visner is claiming he is being attacked because of his opposition to building projects on several beaches.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Deputy Tel Aviv Mayor Pe'er Visner is claiming that opposing councilors are trying to bring him down by hounding him over building offenses at his Caesarea home, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. Visner says he and other members of the Green faction are being attacked because of their opposition to building projects on several beaches. According to the report, Visner was charged with building breaches more than five years ago over a basement that allegedly exceeded the permit by 52 square meters. Visner and his wife, Susan, who was responsible for organizing the building work, tried and failed to have an exemption for the basement validated retroactively, and eventually appealed to the courts. Last week a court rejected the appeal, ordering the destruction of the basement and fining Susan Visner NIS 14,000 in court costs. "A man who makes a law for himself and commits an offense destroys the ground from under his appeal, because he makes his appeal without clean hands and with a lack of integrity," the judge said. "There is no point in giving someone who commits a building offense an advantage over others by authorizing the illegal building." But Visner said other members of Tel Aviv's Planning and Construction Committee were acting out of "foreign and vengeful considerations," sparked by his and other Greens' objections to building plans for the beach at Kibbutz Sdot Yam and at the Haifa marina. He said the only problem with the house had been the ceiling height of the basement, and the breach was not as bad as described.