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Last update - 01:51 27/08/2008
Tel Aviv and Givatayim at war over local beauty spot
By Igal Hai, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Givatayim, Kozlovsky Hill 

An increasingly bitter dispute has been ongoing for the past few months between the neighboring cities of Givatayim and Tel Aviv over the future of Kozlovsky Hill, situated in the center of Givatayim. The site is unique in the area because of the wild natural growth and its location  it is the highest spot in the Dan region, at 85 meters above sea level. However, the Tel Aviv municipality wants it fenced off and intends to undertake real estate projects on the site, much to the chagrin of Givatayim city hall and environmentalists, who want to preserve the green space for all to enjoy.

The dispute is unique in terms of its municipal pedigree: Even though Kozlovsky Hill, which covers 35 dunams (nearly nine acres), and is one of the two hills that gave Givatayim its name, is within that city's municipal jurisdiction, most of the property on it is owned by the Tel Aviv municipality.

According to Tel Aviv city hall, the property was owned by the Templers -a group of religious Christians from Germany that set up colonies in different parts of the Holy Land in the 19th century - and it was appropriated decades ago by the treasury. The property was then transferred to the Tel Aviv municipality, which says it paid the Templers in full for it.
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During the late 1950s, an underground water reservoir was built on the top of the hill, and to this day it provides water to most Tel Aviv neighborhoods and some of the areas of Givatayim.

Although the reservoir, which is fenced, constitutes only 15 percent of the territory of the hill, in February the Tel Aviv municipality filed for a building permit with the Givatayim municipality that would allow it to erect fences and gates around the entire area.

Givatayim rejected the request, saying it was willing to allow only the fencing of the reservoir area. In April, Tel Aviv appealed the decision to the Interior Ministry, noting that its request was made in order to replace an existing fence and that the "fencing of the entire area is essential in order to prevent trespassing, and because it would provides protection for all the area, including the reservoir."

In its argument the Tel Aviv municipality explained that "the existing fence around the reservoir is not effective... because there are underground pipes leading to the reservoir and it is important to prevent [unauthorized] access to them too."

On Tuesday, the Tel Aviv spokesperson had the following to say: "This is territory that belongs to the municipality and it is responsible for everything that goes on there. The area has been closed for years, and the fence has been breached in a number of spots, and the municipality wants to rebuild the fence." The fencing is done for safety reason, and preventing access to the water reservoir."

In its earlier arguments, Tel Aviv city hall also raised the specter of terrorism, saying that "if someone wanted to poison the drinking water, will the property's owner not be the one who will be solely responsible?"

In presenting its case to the Interior Ministry, Tel Aviv argued that Givatayim municipality is motivated by "external considerations... because it is interested in developing the area as public space or a park, ignoring who owns the property."

Using "geopolitical" terminology, the Tel Aviv municipality declared that it is well know that Givatayim "is not pleased with having a Tel Aviv enclave in its municipal territory."

The response of the Givatayim municipality was no less severe. Through attorney Tamar Lerner, Givatayim informed the Interior Ministry that there is no connection between the "security concerns" and the attempt to fence off large areas. Givatayim city hall accuses its Tel Aviv counterpart of trying to take over property under false pretenses.

"The general public has access to the area... where natural growth has flourished and many nature lovers come to enjoy the special vegetation," Lerner wrote.

"The fencing that is being demanded would undermine the right of the public to continue visiting the area and walk through it," she added.

Lerner rejected, in no uncertain terms, Tel Aviv's explanations for wanting to fence off the area and accused the city of having "a clear intention to initiate real estate projects in the area, and to use the fencing to stake a claim on the area."

A quick look at the Internet site of Tel Aviv's economic development authority suggests that the argument of Givatayim municipality has validity. Kozlovsky Hill appears under the category of "real estate projects," and is described as an urban asset "with very high potential real estate yields."

Into the fray enter the environmentalists of the Tel Aviv branch of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, who wrote to Tel Aviv's mayor, Ron Huldai, calling on him to "relinquish any plans to build" on the Kozlovsky.

The greens offered a study that demonstrates that Kozlovsky Hill is the largest natural gravel hill remaining between the area of Herzliya to the north, and Rishon Letzion to the south, calling it "an urban environmental site of prime importance because of its many unique, natural attributes.

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