Illegal Roof Addition at Charents House-Museum

In the heart of Yerevan, at 60 Arami Street, illegal construction of an attic was carried out on June 3-4 of this year. This was reported today, June 26, during the operational meeting of the Yerevan City Hall by the head of the Urban Development and Land Control Department, Yakov Asatryan.

“We have a sad phenomenon. In the heart of Yerevan, at 60 Arami Street, illegal construction of an attic was undertaken on June 3-4 of this year. In May 2022, a construction permit was granted by the municipality for the construction of an attic, which, in fact, did not imply any alteration of the building's external appearance. In March of that year, without any design deviations, the developer applied for a completion act, which was documented by the Urban Development and Land Control Department without any violations. Then, on June 3 of this year, the resident continued his work illegally, without any urban planning documents, and made significant changes by fully adding an attic,” said Asatryan, noting that this section belongs to the resident by property rights.

According to Yakov Asatryan, the resident has been fined. “We have received a letter from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport, and at your instruction, Mr. Avinyan, we will try to carry out administrative action this week for the violation of the monument building preservation order and restore that roofing section to its previous state, which we documented and provided a completion act for,” he stated.

“Am I right in saying that this concerns the Charents House-Museum?” asked Tigran Avinyan, continuing that if there is a need, legal regulations can be changed, for instance, making the number of fines unlimited. “This is the most blatant case where someone is doing something without permission on the roof of a monument building. In the center of Yerevan, and we should review all possible legal measures against illegal attic constructions because we should not tolerate it and then deal with the consequences. This should be treated as one of the most serious crimes. It is unacceptable for someone to decide to raise taxes on the roof of a monument building. Let’s end those legal explanations and discussions. Go and find a legal solution because the Yerevan City Hall must now stand guard over the city, monument buildings, architectural valuable buildings, and, in general, should not allow any type of construction outside the regulations without a building permit,” he emphasized.

It should be noted that Tigran Avinyan has instructed to apply the strictest methods in such cases.