RC#50: Land snatch #634

published in Eastern Economist #435, June 4, 2002

Now that the goodwill boys have had their say about beautiful downtown Kyiv [see RC #48]], I want to talk about a couple of not-so-high-profile projects that are going up in my neighborhood. It may be egotistical but, as they say, good works start at home.

            Last November, an unpublished letter was addressed to the executive council or RayVykonKom of the Zaliznychniy District by the director of a company called TOV Okean. (TOV means “limited liability company” in Ukrainian.) Okean requested the lot at the corner of vul. Urytskoho and Kudriashova to be handed over to it for development.

            Now this lot happens to be spitting distance from the spanking new southern train station in Kyiv and the nicely revamped original Vokzal. On that same side, a block away, is a large renovated wholesale market, a traveller’s chapel, and UkrPoshta’s fancy new headquarters.

            On the other side of this lot, one of the Kyiv supermarket chains has apparently bought out the Kruhla Birzha, a one-time circular grain exchange that has seen better days. In the last 5-6 years, this round, glass building has been full of a variety of nondescript businesses.

            Said fenced-in lot also happens to be where I and nearly 300 other local drivers park our cars.

            Apparently there is a comprehensive plan to develop the Solomianka area. KyivMiskBud is the general contractor on the residential projects and Arkada Bank is providing financing in the form of advance payments from buyers [see RC #15]. Of course, none of the residents in the area know anything about this comprehensive plot...er, plan.

            A hop and a skip up the street from the exchange building, a 17-story high-rise apartment building is going up on a ripped-up hillside park. This building was the first developer “snatch” in the neighborhood.

            Let me just remind readers of the story of this particular project. The hill it’s being built on is known as Batiyeva Hora. It’s where Batu Khan supposedly fought one of his deciding battles with the Slavs in Kyiv back in the 13th century. It is – or was – also the only park in a neighborhood of apartment blocks filled mostly with poorer families with small children and pensioners.

            Yet, Valeriy Tytarchuk, the municipal administrator responsible for land use approvals, described this park to EE last fall as “overgrown with bushes that local residents had turned into a garbage dump.”

            In fact, the hill was mostly open parkland. A nice spot to walk the dog, toss a ball with the kids, or hang out with the baby on a summer morning. A few oaks flanked the edges, with a small woods at the far end. A neighbor buried her favorite cat in those woods. “I didn’t see any trash coming or going,” she vouches. “Otherwise, I’d never have buried Mourko there.”

            Without warning, in March last year, the park was torn up and a few days later, a fence went up. Residents were stunned, but apathetic. There had been no notice at all, let alone debate or hearings on the project.

            Since then, the high-rise has been being built. Night and day. In the 15 months that have passed, the project has been going very slowly. Possibly because of the physical obstacles that this unfortunate site presents. It’s a steep, sandy hill destabilized by an underground stream. They only began putting in the framework of the lower floors in the last month.

            Not only has the neighborhood had nowhere to play. With pneumatic hammers are going day and night, it’s also had no peace.

            And now it looks like our neighborhood will have no place to park, either.

            On Mar. 29, the City, by Resolution Nº634, agreed to let TOV Okean start working on a project to develop this parcel of land. In addition to being one of only two car parks in a high-density neighborhood, this particular piece of land apparently is the crossroads for all kinds of cables and conduits for water, heating, electricity, sewage and other utilities. One of the reasons it wasn’t developed earlier.

            But the prospect of making some big bucks is clearly irresistible.

            The resolution, which is intended to “accelerate the construction of a commercial and office center,” allows Okean to start a feasibility study. It also acknowledges that issues of ownership are unresolved.

            At the same time, the document tells Okean to hire a general contractor and start construction while the project documents are still being prepared!

            On Apr. 19, the district passed Resolution Nº480 to implement the City’s decision. Now, the plot of land is described as containing a “temporary open carpark” and the resolution contains an “appeal” to the Vse-Ukrainska Spilka Automobilistiv, its rightful user, to free the land.

            The manager of this lot, Natalia Martysheva, is no slouch. She immediately posted a notice explaining the situation. The drivers all got together just before Easter and volunteered a helpful lawyer.

            The result was a petition to the City and District to oblige the developer to prepare another spot, about 1/4 kilometer further away, as an alternative parking lot. A couple of thousand bucks would probably do it. The land is there, officially allocated and ready to clear.

            So far, since submitting the petition May 7, there’s been no response from either office.

            Meanwhile, Mr. Tytarchuk has been bumped upstairs in the City Administration. No one would answer our questions when we called, except to say he was on two weeks’ vacation. In FSU-speak, that means he’s moving to a new post. Congratulations on a job well done, Mr. T!

            I wonder what kind of car he’ll be driving to his new office… •

–from the notebooks of Pan O.