Homeowners by Chords Bridge win compensation

Bridge of Chords Photo: Lior Mizrahi
Bridge of Chords Photo: Lior Mizrahi

67 homeowners living near the entrance to the city on Herzl Boulevard will receive NIS 3.5 million compensation.

Over 60 homeowners on Herzl Boulevard in Jerusalem at the Western entrace to the city will receive a total of NIS 3.5 million in compensation for a decrease in the value of their homes caused by construction of the Bridge of Chords and the light rail passing over the bridge. The ruling was made by appraiser Arie Kamil, who was appointed by the Jerusalem District appeals committee. The demand for compensation was filed by Advocates Ofir Cohen and Eli Wilchek from the Cohen, Wilchek & Co. law firm, which specializes in planning and building law.

The plan for construction of the Jerusalem light rail was approved in 2006, including the construction of the Bridge of Chords at the entrance to the city, on which the light rail passes. 67 homeowners living near the entrance to the city at 10, 12, and 14 Herzl Boulevard filed a NIS 19 million claim against the Local Planning and Building Commission in 2009. The claim asserted the light rail plan had reduced the value of their homes.

The Local Planning and Building Commission rejected the claim, and the homeowners filed an appeal at the district appeals committee demanding that the Local Planning and Building Commission's decision be overturned. In their appeal, to which an opinion by land appraiser Shaul Rosenberg was attached, the homeowners asserted that the plan had lowered the value of their homes by 24-30%, depending upon the location of the individual home. The appeal cited proximity to the railway tracks, proximity to the Bridge of Chords, exposure to noise, including braking and engine noise, concern about disruption of the electrical system, exposure to the lighting for the bridge, wind noise from the bridge, electromagnetic radiation, and a chance in the view from the homes.

"The atmosphere improved"

The Local Planning and Building Commission, represented by its appraiser, Yaakov Birnbaum, asserted that Herzl Boulevard was a major traffic artery even before the railway, with many vehicles traveling on it, including heavy public transportation, at all hours of the day and night. A large proportion of the vehicles entering Jerusalem allegedly passed close to the buildings on Herzl Boulevard.

The Local Planning and Building Commission also argued that an environmental impact survey conducted for the plan had showed that the light rail had had a positive environmental effect on noise and air pollution. In the specific case of the intersection at the entrance to the city, it was alleged that the survey had found that an improvement in air quality was projected, and that the light rail would have no effect on noise. The survey also stated that no deviations in tremors were anticipated, and that electromagnetic radiation posed no danger to the residents.

The Local Planning and Building Commission further stated that the lighting for the bridge was higher than the residents' homes, and therefore did not affect them. As for the allegations of damage to the view from the homes, the Local Planning and Building Commission argued that before the bridge had been built, the residents' homes had faced a busy municipal intersection, while their current view was now "an internationally renowned architectural monument." Concerning allegations of noise caused by the contact between the railway tracks on which the train travels and the bridge, the Local Planning and Building Commission claimed that the noise was caused by faulty construction of railway curves, not by the plan.

The appeals committee, headed by Advocate Gilad Hess, ruled in May 2008 that a distinction should be made between the actual damages caused and concern about damage, because the psychological factors resulting from concern about damage did not constitute grounds for damages. The law makes compensation contingent on proof that the plan caused damage. The appeals committee appointed Kamil to decide the matter. He made a number of visits to the homes in question in 2010, both during the day and at night.

Due to the difficulty in finding experts without previous relations with the Jerusalem municipality and the light railway company, an acoustics report on the noise caused to the residents' homes was submitted only in 2016 by Dr. Yuval Mantel and Prof. Giora Rosenhouse from the Swantech Sound Wave Analysis and Technologies company. Both parties agreed on the selection of this company.

Mantel and Rosenhouse's opinion stated that the noise caused by the busy traffic arteries and the light rail traffic, the loud screeching caused by contact between the light rail tracks and the Bridge of Chords, and noise caused by the bridge's chords deviated from what was allowed according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection's regulations.

Variable damage

Relying on this opinion, Kamil ruled that the passage of the light railway over the bridge caused noise that had not previously existed, as a result of the bends in the tracks and their proximity to the buildings on Herzl Boulevard. The main damage from the railway's movement on the bridge is caused by the screeching resulting from the train traveling on the bend in the tracks near the claimants' homes. He said that while it was true that homes were located near busy traffic arteries that had caused audible noise even before the railway had been built, passage of the train over the bend in the bridge caused excessive noise. Kamil rejected the Local Planning and Building Commission's argument that the noise was caused by faulty construction of the track, because the curved form of the tracks in this location was a direct result of the planning of the bridge in its current form. Damage therefore exists, the extent of which varies from one home to another.

As far as the change in the view from the homes caused by construction of the bridge near the homes, despite the Local Planning and Building Commission's argument that the residents now had a view of "an internationally renowned architectural monument" that did not previously exist, Kamil stated, "It cannot be ignored that the homes facing the bridge currently give a view of the bridge's chords. As seen by an ordinary viewer, including a potential buyer, the chords could be regarded as looking like either prison bars or an architectural monument." He therefore found that damage existed that varied from one home to another, depending on the location.

Where exposure to lighting caused by the bridge is concerned, Kamil found that as a result of the construction of the Bridge of Chords and its lighting, a large amount of light had been added to the area. "The lighting from the chords shines into the claimants' homes," Kamil stated. "In my opinion, the considerations and decisions of a potential buyer aware of the level of the surrounding light will be affected to a large extent." He therefore ruled that damage existed varying from one home to another, according to their location and the degree of each home's exposure to the Bridge of Chords.

Kamil concluded that the damages involved three elements: exposure to noise and screeching from the railway, a change in the view, and exposure to lighting from the bridge at night. The total proportion of damage, depending on the location of each home, is 9% of amounts, up to NIS 115,000 for each home, and an overall total of NIS 3.5 million, before payments of interest and linkage. Most of the amount of the claim, which was based on the decline in value caused by psychological concern, was not accepted by the appeals committee. 61 of the claimants will receive compensation varying from NIS 20,000 to NIS 115,000 each. Six claimants will receive no compensation.

The Jerusalem municipality said, "The amount of the claim was NIS 19 million, and the appraiser awarded the claimants NIS 3.5 million, a sixth of that amount. The municipality will study the decision in depth, and will then decide whether to file an appeal."

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on August 17, 2017

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017

Bridge of Chords Photo: Lior Mizrahi
Bridge of Chords Photo: Lior Mizrahi
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