TESTIMONY
Three years ago, bars-restaurants were installed at the bottom of Hélène's place, when the premises were supposed to accommodate a shopping arcade. Hélène says she is bothered by the music, smells and other pests that enter the apartments. She, who spent six months each year in her apartment by the sea, has been going there for a year. On "La Libre antenna" of Europe 1, Hélène reports the inconvenience caused by these bar-restaurants which encroach on the common areas of the building.
>> Listen to the rest of Hélène's testimony in full here
"I have been the owner of an apartment by the sea on the French Riviera since 2000. For three years, it has become hell. The town hall has accepted illegal construction of bars and restaurants on the common areas of the condominium, although we had been promised a shopping arcade.A wine bar has been installed below my apartment.It goes up to 80 decibels in my living room and to 30 in the bedrooms.
" It is a magnificent building which is devastated "I took all the necessary steps with the public prosecutor. I brought a civil action, I filed a personal complaint, I wrote to the Prefect, I wrote to all the eminent personalities in the sector. I did not have any answer. The trustee does not respond. There are 109 co-owners in the residence. There are more second homes than main ones. All the people who live there are silent and suffer. There is a terror that sets in. Some residents are scared, others don't care because they are second homes.
It is a magnificent building which is devastated. There are wild constructions. They set up cabins on the common parts of the building. The town hall accepts all that. There are no evacuations. The kitchens are under the building. Along the building there is a three-meter reserve for firefighters. They encroached on it. These restaurants demolished all the planters in the residence and cut down palm trees. The terraces occupy the common areas of the condominium.
" Rats and cockroaches are entering our apartments "Three years ago, we returned from a party with friends, there was phenomenal noise. It was impossible to be in the apartment, I was going crazy. I started having a fit. My husband sprayed everyone with a liquid that smelled very strongly. He was taken into custody, while they were making a hell of a noise. My neighbor no longer puts her car in the parking lot. My neighbor no longer goes out. Many people are petrified. I have called the police hundreds of times.
I wanted to complain about the noise, I was told that my complaint was inadmissible because there was no harm to the person. I have to call the police every time. When they arrive, there is no more music. Ten minutes later, the music resumes as if nothing had happened. Not to mention the garbage cans and odors in the hallways because there are no drains. The people who eat in these restaurants are in danger of health. Not to mention the rats and cockroaches that enter our apartments. Not to mention the sewers which are permanently blocked.
>> Find Olivier Delacroix's Libre antenna in replay and podcast here
I used to spend six months there every year, now I don't go. I haven't been back for over a year. I was robbed of my apartment. I can't live there anymore, I can't rent it, I can't sell it. When potential buyers see the mess down there, they don't buy. Despite the fact that the laws are in my favor, none are enforced. Nobody acts. The trustee is afraid. Everyone is silent and no one does anything. At the meeting of the co-owners, they fought.
I am furious and disillusioned. I no longer have the energy. It gnaws at me. I can not stand it anymore. It was my paradise. When I bought the apartment, downstairs there was an architect's office, a nail salon and a dental office. I'm at the end. This apartment I loved it, today I hate it. I don't know what to do anymore, I've done everything. I am devastated and angry. "