Little house on the library?

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Some 22 small residential apartments have been built illegally just one floor above the Herzliya municipal library on Rehov Sokolov, reports www.local.co.il. And while 12 of the apartments have already been rented out, the city says it is investigating and any breaches of building laws will be "taken care of." According to the report, the privately owned story above the city library has been buzzing with activity in recent months as it has been divided into 22 apartments of some 50 square meters each, with each unit containing two rooms, a bathroom and a dining area. Twelve of the apartments have already been rented out for sums ranging from NIS 2,500 to NIS 4,000 per month. Legally, the building is designated for office use only. The report said the owner was open about his intention to turn the floor into a residential one, saying that he would apply for a special permit to change the designation before the work was finished. He said Herzliya was short of residential apartments in the center of the city and had an "interest" in allowing him to turn the space into apartments. But he said that until he did receive approval from the city, the rental contracts would state that the units were offices, not apartments. "I am renting them out as offices now and if someone wants to live there I'm not responsible for that," he said. A municipal spokesman responded that the matter was being investigated and the area was permitted to be used for offices only. The spokesman said that if there was a breach of the permit, "the matter will be taken care of by the city using all the means at its disposal."