Severe building violations could partially shut new Ikea store
"This is a clear case in which construction preceded planning."
By EYTAN HALONCustomers wait outside an IKEA shop after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown has been eased around the country and the company opens some of its stores, in Netanya, Israel April 23, 2020.(photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
Only 10 days after Ikea opened its fifth Israeli branch near Beit Shemesh, the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office applied on Thursday for an interim court order to partially shut the store due to "unprecedented" and "very serious" building violations.The application, submitted on behalf of the Jerusalem district planner to the capital's Administrative Affairs Court, opposes a decision reached by the District Planning and Building Appeals Committee to retroactively approve wide-ranging building violations at Ikea Eshtaol.According to the attorney's office, building violations concern the construction of 9,500 square-meters of the Swedish furniture giant's new 25,000 sq.m. store, which were allegedly built in a "slow but goal-orientated process" of planning and licensing.The "exceptional incident," the office added, bears similarities to several other cases, including the construction of Ikea's Rishon Lezion branch.While a building permit was initially issued by the Jerusalem District Planning Committee for a commercial facility spanning only 17,000 sq.m., the attorney's office said a local planning committee quickly approved the expansion of the permit to 25,000 sq.m. based on the "artificial separation that part of the building would supposedly be used for storage and offices."Yet in practice, the attorney's office said, the entire store is being used for commercial purposes without the necessary approval of the chairman of the district planning committee.Applying for an interim order to shut the 9,500 sq.m. extension of the store and schedule an urgent court hearing, the attorney's office described the building violations as "constituting a serious violation of the rule of law.""This is a clear case in which construction preceded planning, by creating facts on the ground, and the planning process was merely intended to be a rubber stamp to approve the improper construction and previous processes," the attorney's office wrote in its application.In a statement responding to the application, Ikea said that it is "not the owner of the property but leases it from its owner, and therefore is not involved in the legal proceedings."
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