Inaccurate Portrayal by City Hall, Say Yerevan Residents Opposed to Building Construction in their Yard

Yerevan’s chief architect, Narek Sargsyan, instructed by Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan, on Feb. 1 met with the representatives of residents of 106/1 Nalbandyan St. who are protesting construction of a residential building in their yard.

According to a statement issued by the municipality, the city has given adequate justification for its decision and described in detail the need for construction in the given area — from the point of view of not only urban development and environmental interests, but also the residents’ interests.

As told to Epress.am by 106/1 Nalbandyan St. resident Grigor Ghazaryan, the meeting, in fact, achieves neither any positive results nor an agreement.

“The [Yerevan City Hall] statement doesn’t correspond to the truth. They are resorting to fraud, so they can give a quick building permit — without a positive conclusion on the impact on the surrounding environment,” he said.

Ghazaryan pointed out that there have been five meetings with building residents at city hall and at every meeting an environmental assessment was requested, which hasn’t been implemented yet — and beginning construction on a high-rise building without a positive assessment is unconstitutional.

“They allowed only two of us to participate in the discussion. Karine Virabyan, representing our interests, told us that actually, the meeting was held in a very tough atmosphere. Our representative stated our point of view. We’re not opposed to a kindergarten being built, but we’re against construction of a huge, high-rise building,” he said.

Recall, upon the residents’ request, the blueprint for a 16-storey building was changed to a 9-storey building, but this change didn’t satisfy residents.