The
land that Mr Khani bought in Marlborough
St , Sandy
8561m2
in area it occupies a prominent ridgeline visible from the river,parts of the Eastern shore & from some places in the city & Sandy Bay Rd.
Because
of it’s position & prominence it, like 2 neighbouring properties, has
Conditions Registered on the Title to preserve the area’s character,including
native vegetation & wildlife.
These
include that:-
-there
is a 600m2 Building Envelope,
-that
“no vegetation or ground disturbance is to occur outside the building envelope
without the written approval of (the Council)”,
-to
strictly comply to the Geotechnical Report,&
-that
only 1 dwelling can be constructed.
Soon
after completing the purchase in February 2007 Mr Khani had about 2,300m2 of
the land (nearly all being outside the Building envelope) excavated with
a bulldozer and a large quantity of fill dumped there.
A
subsequent Geotechnical Assessment ordered by Mr Khani termed it “deep site
fill” & “illegal fill” “…“which appears to be poorly consolidated with a
considerable content of large rocks/debris which has potential for
instability”.
It
went on to say that the upper layers caused “considerable risk of debris
slide”.
The
half dozen or so neighbours below like the late Bob Petrass were in fear of a
collapse onto them of this huge mound & have complained since of flooding of their
homes after rain.
Readers
of this site will recall other instance of Mr Khani ignoring the law &
interferences with neighbours rights such as building closer than
permitted to 163 Bathurst St & actually cutting off part of his neighbours
fence at 178 Brisbane St,then constructing a
pillar on the neighbours property & seeking to widen his driveway funnel
shaped across that neighbours front garden.
The
Council acted in due course and finally in July 2009 the Resource Management
& Planning Appeal Tribunal Ordered the harm undone:-
-the
fill to be removed,
-excavation
works reinstated,&
-a
re-vegetation plan to be carried out.
In
July the Tribunal noted that Mr Khani’s appeal came on “after a protracted
& somewhat tortuous process” & that Mr Khani filed no evidence or any
material.
In
a decision of February 2010 the Tribunal termed Mr Khani’s opposition to the
Council’s conditions as “frivolous or vexatious”.
It
awarded the Council’s legal costs against him at 90% of the Supreme Court
scale.Ouch!
Lord
Mayor Damon Thomas has since labelled him “uncooperative”.
The
response of Mr Khani in October 2009 was to lodge a planning application for a
huge house of 3 stories with provisions for 10 parking spaces,an “Olympic”
sized tennis Court & lap Swimming pool.
Those
plans termed the area illegally excavated & filled (all outside the
building envelope) as “level area created by existing fill on site” and attributed to it a planned fountain & access stairs.
It
seems to have been lodged on the assumption that if approved,it would
retrospectively authorise the illegal work. Upon
being told in about November ’09 that a Planning Officer had recommended
refusal, Mr Khani asked to withdraw the application.
However
it was to be over 2 ½ years before the Council acted to remedy the land
devastation.
Council
Officers had claimed that negotiations were going on with Mr Khani for him to
do it.
If
that is so, it seems that he succeeded in
gaining what will amount to over 3 years grace.
For
whilst the Tenders called for closed on July 12th 2012, no Tender has yet been awarded.
Soon
after Tenders closed Mr Khani lodged another building application.
Whilst
the car spaces were reduced to 5 & the tennis court went,most of the plans
were the same ones and still bearing their 2009 date.
The
2012 application included:-
-the
illegally excavated & filled area being accepted & used as access to
parking,
-5
bedrooms all with en suites,
-clearing
more vegetation,
-a
lapped swimming pool,&
-5
car spaces.
The
Planner in recommending refusal noted:-
-the
density of a residence should be minimised to protect the characteristics of
the Zone,
-the
building bulk, footprint & land clearance need to be minimised in this
area, and
-the
proposed additional clearing of vegetation would have a significant visual
impact.
It
was before the Council’s Development & Environmental Services Committee on
October 15th and due to go to the full Council on October 22nd. But
on October 15th as
he’d done in 2009 Mr Khani acted to remove it from the Committee when he heard
of the recommendation for refusal.
The
Committee agreed to it being deferred but noted that any more than a minor
amendment would require a new application.
It
seems that a new application is unlikely given the cost of an Architect and that Mr Khani always careful with his money (and toilet rolls), is currently
trying to borrow to finish units in Bathurst
St
He
has long had the land for sale,currently with Falls Real Estate “offers over
$750,000”. Interestingly
their ad mentions the land size but says
nothing about the limited building envelope or of the restrictions on the Title,let alone the Planning Tribunal Order
or the Council’s calling for Tenders to remedy it all.
Under
S.196 of The Property Agents Act it is an offence if an Agent does not disclose
to a prospective purchaser any information that he knows or ought reasonably
know is likely to affect the purchaser’s decision,and he/she is liable for any loss or damage
flowing to the purchaser from that failure to disclose.
Approved
building plans would obviously only help a purchaser if he/she wanted exactly
the house approved & approvals last only 2 years.
There
might,of course, be a new attempt if he thinks it will delay the awarding
of a tender.
But
Council Officers assure that any building application will not affect it and that the delay is only to obtain a Quantity Surveyors report because the amount
of the Tenders is high.
The
Lord Mayor is being questioned about it again at the Council meeting on
November 5th so we
might see some action this year at least in the form of a tender being awarded. The
tip is big money-probably over ¼ million.
Mr
Khani will be responsible for it.Presumably the Council will register a caveat
for it over all his properties.
That
won’t be nice for a cash strapped owner.
Adding
that cost to the $412,500 purchase cost + over $14,000 in Stamp duty to buy it
+ lawyers costs + ANZ fees re the Mortgage you’d probably need the
$750,000 sought less Agent’s Commission to break even.
And
then, of course, there were the Council’s legal costs at the Tribunal and the
money he paid to the excavator & fill dumpers in 2007 and to the
Architect.
And, the
ongoing costs of possibly about $25,000 p.a. for ANZ interest, Land Tax @ 1.5%
of the land value & Council Rates.
Of
course achieving anything like $750,000 will be difficult.When he bought it for
$412,000, the Gov’t Valuation was only $195,000.
Maybe
Mr Khani will join the frustrated residents of upper Marlborough St
