The Jerusalem Municipality approved a sweeping plan last week that would allow Ramat Shlomo residents to build additions to their apartments. Mayor Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky, who worked to promote the issue, referred to it as a revolutionary plan to assist residents of Ramat Shlomo, the neighborhood with the highest percentage of large families in the city, to expand their homes with relative ease rather than requiring them to engage in the complex bureaucratic process normally required to receive permits for apartment additions. The plan would allow residents to build additions using a standard building permit, sparing them the involved process needed for any changes to the master city building plan as is usually required.

Over the past year Deputy Mayor Rabbi Yehoshua Pollak, chairman of the Planning and Construction Committee, worked hard to prepare the plan with the help of a large team of architects. Construction additions can be executed through uniform additions to the neighborhood and the municipality will allow additions to be built in empty spaces created in the neighborhood due to the mountainous topography — alongside buildings, on rooftops and by closing balconies.

“The building additions will not be made at the expense of neighborhood lands designated for public use,” said Rabbi Pollak. “The future plan for the densification of Ramat Shlomo calls for building contractors to set aside more public space than typically designated for the construction of religious, educational and public facilities that will serve the residents of the longstanding neighborhood.”

The first residents, primarily young couples, arrived in Ramat Shlomo 12 years ago, while today most of the apartments in the neighborhood are families blessed with a large number of children. Other improvements are also being carried out in the neighborhood, in part through the new master plan for Jerusalem. Mayor Lupoliansky has called for large green belts where complexes will be built to accommodate botei knesses, botei medrash, mikvo’os and educational and public facilities. Designated sites include Nachal Tzofim between Ramat Shlomo and Sanhedria Murchevet, and near Sderot Golda between Ramot Alef and Ramot Beit.

The plan calls for a 2,000-unit densification plan on the northern edge of Ramat Shlomo, east of Beit Chanina-Shuafat, as well as the construction of thousands of new housing units on the eastern outskirts of Ramot Alef in the direction of Beit Chanina, and on the western outskirts of the neighborhood in the direction of Beit Ichsa.

The plan was drawn up with the help of a team of chareidi architects who were in constant contact with the respective neighborhood rabbonim in order to meet the neighborhoods’ needs. A six-story height limit was set and only limited commercial space will be available to avoid altering the quality of the area.

(Dei’ah veDibur)