Private landowners in Sde Dov to court: "Lottery before pollution tests is flawed and unfair"
Concerns regarding soil contamination in the Sde Dov quarter continue to delay the distribution of rights among approximately 1,700 landowners in the 'Gush HaGadol'. Although the appraiser found no grounds to change the value coefficients at this stage, rights holders argue that the lottery must be postponed until pollution test results are available.
The dispute over the distribution of private lands in the 'Gush HaGadol' complex in Sde Dov is escalating. After the court requested the managers of the 'Gush HaGadol' to present the appraiser's position regarding the impact of soil contamination concerns on complex coefficients, a group of rights holders, represented by Adv. Doron Kochavi, has asked the court to halt the lottery process at this stage.
The core of the dispute is whether it is appropriate to conduct the lottery of complexes among the 1,700 rights holders before the completion of soil tests. The managers of the 'Gush HaGadol' argue that the current stage involves only the lottery of complexes (the southern 'Eshkol' complex, complex 2, and plan TA/3700), not the lottery of individual plots, and that there are no obstacles to proceeding. Conversely, rights holders argue that contamination could significantly impact the distribution of rights, and therefore, they must wait for the results of tests promoted by the Israel Land Authority (ILA).
The lottery was previously postponed until August 11. However, in an update submitted by the ILA on August 12, it was revealed that the test plans are still awaiting approval from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, a process expected to take about a month. The managers of the 'Gush HaGadol' have asked the court to allow the lottery to proceed, arguing that the delay could extend for months while tests have yet to begin.
Judge Yaakov Shaked had previously noted that until the extent of the contamination is clear, it is impossible to determine its impact on the established coefficients. Following the court's request, appraiser Rosenberg stated that he currently has no new information that would justify changing his expert opinion from February.
"The chance of an equal distribution of contamination is zero"
Rights holders have expressed strong opposition to holding the lottery before the coefficients are updated. They argue that the current coefficients were set before the contamination concerns were known. They emphasize that "the chance of an equal distribution of contamination between the complexes is zero," and that holding the lottery based on existing coefficients would be fundamentally flawed and discriminatory.
The rights holders are asking the court to postpone the lottery until pollution test results are received and the coefficients are updated accordingly, and to order the state to provide regular updates on the progress of the tests.
