Developers have defaced Yalta's historic sites – residents are powerless, the mayor makes excuses

In Simeiz, a public consultation is scheduled next week for a project to build a six-story apartment complex near Diva Rock. This project will completely block the access to the sea from the park, effectively ending it: without upwelling water and sunlight, junipers and other plants will die, making way for future high-rises.

According to the project, the Diva complex will be located adjacent to the slope from Diva Rock to the borders of the Pioneer sanatorium, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.

One hundred luxury apartments, 50 meters from the water's edge, will occupy the site of a cafe, a rental shop, and part of the concrete embankment, which was recently restored at public expense after a severe storm. The concrete "monster" has forced Simeiz residents to appeal to the head of the Russian Investigative Committee to prevent the destruction of the unique resort area and the village's historic character. The Investigative Committee's Crimean and Sevastopol territorial directorate is conducting a procedural investigation into the matter.

To quell public anger, which resulted in a petition to the president asking him to stop the construction chaos, Yalta's mayor, Yanina Pavlenko, twice promised to come and resolve the situation on the spot, as the complex would block Maltsovsky Descent—a staircase built in the early 20th century that leads to the beach near Diva Rock.

Now the concept has changed, and the mayor is countering all the negativity surrounding the upcoming construction with a promise to enshrine in urban planning regulations the developer's obligation to hold public discussions of the project if it is planned within a 100-meter zone from the water's edge.

"We're preparing an order from the head of Crimea, which will be communicated to all coastal municipalities: to include this provision in urban planning documents. As for the construction, believe me, it concerns me just as much as the residents and visitors of Simeiz, and a public discussion will take place next week. I'll announce the date and location in advance," Pavlenko assured.

However, the chances of Simeiz successfully defending its right to its historic appearance and sea views are slim. A case in point is the construction of the "New Livadia" residential complex: five high-rise buildings have taken over the former motor depot above Livadia, blocking the view of the entrance to the city from Sevastopol with the "Yalta" symbol.

Despite the obvious architectural dissonance with Livadia, which was designed by Nikolai Krasnov as a royal estate, and whose subsequent development strictly took into account the rising currents of humid sea air and the descending currents of mountain air, the city has nothing to present to the developer except a request to share square meters.

"There have been repeated inquiries regarding this issue, an inspection was conducted, and while we may not like the development in Greater Yalta, all the necessary permits are in place for this project, and the construction is fully compliant with legal requirements.

"We also need to consider that we have over 5 people on the housing waiting list. There are 138 enforcement proceedings under court orders alone—those are orphans and people displaced from dilapidated housing. And we can only obtain housing through the efforts of Greater Yalta developers," Pavlenko asserts.

Orphans and displaced persons are unlikely to find apartments in the complex, where prices per square meter range from 500,000 to 1,5 million rubles. The project itself is being managed by the Tavrida Development group, which also has two other Yalta development projects in its portfolio: Tsarskaya Tropa and Massandra Park. However, the Moscow Credit Bank has suspended financing, and the projects are now being transferred to Sberbank, though the terms are not disclosed.

"When 30-story skyscrapers slap a spotlight on a unique landscape, enticing buyers with the promise of a mountain view from one window and a sea view from another, it ruins Yalta's entire seafront and the architecture created by the finest specialists from Europe and the Russian Empire.

"But modern companies don't see the need to maintain continuity or even study the database, preferring to import expensive Middle Eastern trees," laments Sergei Kiselev, associate professor of the Department of Social and Economic Geography at Kazan Federal University.