“Not to mention the basement expansion encroaching on green space, but if digging continues, the house may collapse.” Ms. Yang Xin (pseudonym), an owner in the Dijing Garden community of Xintiandi in Baoshan District, Shanghai, recently reported to the media that a villa owner in the community occupied public green space and privately built a basement during renovation, causing great safety hazards to neighbors.
On January 6, the reporter learned that the Gucun Urban Management in Baoshan has determined that the basement reconstruction is an illegal structure and has visited the community three times to demolish it. Currently, the owner has agreed to restore the basement to its original state. In addition, illegal constructions in the community are far more than this one. Staff of the owners' committee said that due to inadequate property management, there are more than 40 households with serious illegal constructions such as privately installed security windows, expanded basements, and built sunrooms.
Encroaching on public green space, expanding basement
On January 5, the reporter came to Xintiandi Dijing Garden on Guqi Road. The community has four phases in total, with the west side mainly villa area and the rest mostly apartments.
The house that Ms. Yang reported for multiple illegal constructions is a townhouse in the villa area on the west side of the community. On the morning of the 5th, the reporter saw at the construction site of the illegal building that the exposed steel bars were shocking, a drill was inserted in the damaged wooden board, and a lot of excavated soil was piled up on the community green belt. The behavior of occupying public green space to build a basement was very obvious. A worker said that work is currently stopped, and it is unknown when it will resume.
The reporter preliminarily judged from the illegal construction site that this is an illegal expansion of a basement. The owner demolished the original basement wall on one side of the house and expanded outward, with an expanded area at least equivalent to the original basement area. The expansion area was originally the community's public green space. The owner removed the trees and lawns on it, used an excavator to remove the soil, and the outer concrete wall of the expanded “L”-shaped basement has also been built.
Residents: Afraid the house will collapse if digging continues
The reporter called the Gucun Urban Management in Baoshan to learn about the situation. The responsible person said that the privately built basement has been determined to be an illegal structure, and the matter has been reported to the Baoshan District Illegal Construction Demolition Office. The responsible person said that they had visited the community three times to demolish the illegal structure, with the last demolition on January 4, 2016.
Ms. Yang introduced that the illegal construction by this household began in late November 2015, when some residents saw an excavator entering the community. It was not until early December of that year that residents gradually paid attention to the illegal construction.
“At that time, columns were erected from the ground.” Another complaining owner, Mr. Zhang (pseudonym), told the reporter that after discovering the prototype of the basement illegal construction, he immediately reported the situation to the community property management. Property staff said they had no enforcement power and could only report the problem to the local urban management department, and suggested he also report to the urban management department.
However, to the surprise of Mr. Zhang and Ms. Yang, after the urban management department demolished the privately built basement for the first time, trucks transporting construction materials continued to enter and exit the community. It turned out that the resident continued the illegal construction. “The second demolition was on December 29 last year (2015). The urban management demolished it in the morning, and it was capped in the afternoon (the main structure of the building was completed). Not to mention the occupation of green space, I'm afraid the house will collapse if digging continues.” Ms. Yang said that on January 4, 2016, the urban management department came to enforce the law again after receiving a report and demolished the owner's third illegal construction.
Why did this owner repeatedly build despite demolitions, openly opposing the law enforcement department?
On January 6, the owner, Mr. Tong, complained for himself, “There are more than one illegal construction in the community, and the owners' committee is making an example of us!” Mr. Tong told the reporter that he initially wanted to expand the basement, but later faced opposition, and part of the basement construction was demolished. The site was left there, and he wanted to reuse it and change it into a sun courtyard.
Unexpectedly, the courtyard was demolished again. Mr. Tong was in a dilemma. He had spent a lot of money, and the key was that the reconstructed project left many hidden dangers. He was worried that the basement would be flooded after rain. “If I had known this, I shouldn't have had this plan in the first place.” Mr. Tong expressed regret and said he would gradually restore the basement to its original state.
It is understood that Mr. Tong has signed a commitment letter with the owners' committee, promising to demolish the low wall of the courtyard before the end of March, restore the damaged green area after the renovation is completed, and restore the damaged part on the east side.
Illegal constructions common in the community, over 40 households seriously violate regulations
The reporter also found during the interview that illegal constructions in the community are quite common, mainly concentrated in the villa area. Many owners complain that illegal constructions encroach on the community's public areas and seriously affect the community's image.
Relevant personnel of the owners' committee told the reporter that if small illegal constructions such as security windows are not counted, there are more than 40 households with serious illegal constructions such as expanded basements, built sunrooms, and expanded courtyards. “Since the community's owners' committee was just established not long ago, the committee decided to first stop the ongoing illegal constructions and then find ways to deal with the previous ones.”
The reporter noted that the community's owners' committee, neighborhood committee, and property management company jointly drafted a notice, which clearly prohibits vehicles carrying illegal construction materials from entering the community. However, some owners reported that after the notice was issued, residents still saw illegal construction materials entering the community, and hoped that the community property department would strictly enforce the rules and regulations and resolutely prevent illegal constructions.