Hell no, we won't stay

For sale signs have recently appeared on many of the new homes in the Yuvalim neighborhood in the town of Karkur, near Haifa. The residents are not planning a mass exodus, but are rather protesting against the local municipal council and the construction company, Naveh-Gad, which have not fulfilled their promise to home buyers to build a public park.

The residents of Yuvalim did not invent the "protest sale," a method used by new owners when they feel no one is listening to their grievances. The demonstration is designed to signal a readiness for a struggle that could hurt the continued marketing of a housing complex if solutions to their problems are not forthcoming.

Yuvalim has 400 luxury homes that Naveh is marketing as "Israel's Provence." 130 of the homes have so far been sold to a purchasing group of career army officers, most of whom have children. The homes, priced at NIS 1.7 million-NIS 2.2 million, have six rooms and 185-235 square meters of built up space, on lots measuring 400-500 square meters. Buyers started moving in in 2007, and about 100 families currently live there.

Sales representatives for Naveh-Gad, a subsidiary of Property and Building, an IDB Holdings group company, showed prospective buyers pictures depicting an 18-dunam public park beside the housing complex, with bicycle paths, pre-school buildings and playgrounds. The buyers were told the park would be completed by the end of 2009, but that date has been revised to mid-2010, and only a small part of the park will be built initially.

Sharon Ben-Zur, her husband and three children were among the first buyers in Yuvalim.

"I was told the park would be built by the end of 2009," says Ben-Zur. "We moved into our new home in October 2007. At the beginning of this year, when we didn't see any signs of the park being built, we began asking questions. We discovered that the residents of the adjacent neighborhood had had the same problem, and their park was built 15 years after they moved in. That information aroused our suspicions, which only grew after our meeting with local council head Haim Ga'ash. He told us there were financing problems and if a source could not be found for the funding, the park would not be built. Now the neighborhood's children have nowhere to play outside in the afternoons, which is a serious problem for me. Without the promised park, many children congregate every day in the public space beside the sales office, and two children have already been hurt there."

After that, the parents began to organize and sent a letter, signed by about 100 families, to Naveh's CEO, and began hanging for sale signs on their homes. In response to these actions, Naveh's management met with representatives of the residents.

"We were surprised to hear the company's official stance that the local council is responsible for the development of the public space," says Ben-Zur, "and the funding is supposed to come from the council's coffers. This outraged us, because the company had presented the park to us as an integral part of the housing complex's development plans, and uses the park as a marketing tool - as expressed in the park's prominent position in the images and articles [about the complex]. The company can't shirk its responsibility, regardless of its legal position vis-a-vis the council."

In talks between the local council and Naveh, the solution was drafted that includes the company's declaration of willingness to promote the immediate construction of the park, including bearing part of the cost.

Naveh's vice president of marketing, Rachel Barzilai, welcomed the residents' initiative regarding the park.

"The project's residents are also sales promoters, and are in fact part of our success," says Barzilai. "Naveh will build the park in the spring of 2010, on 4 dunams surrounding the houses that have already been built. More park area will be built as construction progresses. Naveh has decided to act for the residents' benefit and will finance and execute the project, so that the residents will not feel abandoned due to [our] negotiations with the local council."

"Naveh is not shirking its responsibility, but the local council will have to operate and maintain the park," Barzilai stressed.

Many of the for sale signs have not been removed, despite the agreement concerning the park. The residents say they will take down the signs only when they see the agreement in writing.

A similar struggle is being waged in Zichron Yaakov. Residents of the Naveh Sharett neighborhood have been trying for years to have a high tension electricity line relocated outside the neighborhood. Now Naveh Sharett is being joined by home buyers in the Halomot Zichron project, being built by Shikun Ovdim and Amirey Gan, as the line goes through their neighborhood, too. The marketing brochures for Halomot Zichron show a pastoral landscape with no indication of the wire, and buyers who asked questions about the line were told it was temporary.

A few weeks ago the skate park in Halomot Zichron was closed by order of local council head Eli Abutbul, after high levels of radiation were detected in the area by the Environmental Protection Ministry. Dangerously high levels of radiation were also discovered in Naveh Sharett. Local residents decided to step up their struggle, demanded the immediate relocation of the line and hung "Danger, radiation" signs from their balconies.

"Our struggle for the removal of the high tension line began five years ago," says Calanit Biton, who bought a six-room home in the upscale Halomot Zichron project six years ago. "We went from house to house, telling people and putting up notices. We also built a Web site and sent emails. In recent weeks many families have hung signs on their homes, warning of the cancer-causing radiation and demanding the removal of the line. Every Friday a group of residents pickets outside the company's sales offices, to pressure [the companies] into action."

Relocating the line will cost an estimated NIS 9.6 million and some home buyers received written and verbal commitments from the companies that the line will be moved - so the struggle is bearing fruit.

The Zichron Yaakov local council, the real estate companies and the Israel Lands Administration reached an agreement several weeks ago whereby each of these parties will cover one third of the relocation cost, but the ILA has not been forthcoming with its share, so Shikun Ovdim and Amirey Gan announced they would pay the ILA's share in order not to delay the relocation work.

At the beginning of November the Israel Electric Corporation began relocating the line and 12 towers have already been built to carry the cables. All that remains is for the IEC to attach the new cables and disconnect the old line.

"Hanging signs creates a bad image for a project," says Ron Berant, a lawyer who specializes in real estate, and who represented buyers of homes in a project on Hatzmaut St. in Kiryat Ata in a battle against their building contractor nine years ago.

Berant says that the brochures produced by the company to market the project showed a mixed neighborhood of tall and short buildings, small boutique shops, parks and gardens.

"It turned out, however, that the company planned to build tall towers even on the lots zoned for low-rise construction, causing increased population density and the cancellation of green spaces," recalls Berant. "In addition, the revised plan replaced the boutiques with a huge supermarket, which would be a nuisance to the residents if it were built."

When the buyers found out about the planned changes, they applied to the court for an injunction, and hung for sale signs from their balconies.

"The signs frightened away potential buyers, because they thought everyone was selling their apartments," continues Berant.

The company reversed its plans - attesting to how effective such struggles can be.

"They can also be dangerous," explains Berant, "because the damage to a company's image can last a long time after the [demanded] changes are made and the contractor could have grounds to sue for slander."

The slander laws protect protesters if they are telling the truth, but Berant warns people not to let their protests get out of hand.

Sometimes disputes can even be between neighbors, with no connection to the contractor. In one instance two squabbling neighbors in an upscale Haifa neighborhood hung signs from their balconies. One sign read for sale, and the other had an arrow pointing to the first sign, reading "Don't buy that apartment; the seller is not an honest man."

The neighbor was ordered by the court to pay damages to the man who hung the for sale sign.

So it's true - protest signs can sometimes make contractors change their minds, but whoever hangs a sign must be prepared for a fight.