Monks force haircut for Rabat penthouse that went too high

The Maltese courts have ordered a 2.6m ‘haircut’ to a building on Saqqajja Hill in Rabat, for exceeding a height limit imposed by the Order of St Augustine on a lease contract dating from 1957.

In a property market whose players are accustomed to obtaining the most egregious concessions from the planning regulator, it is an order of monks that is demanding the developers of a building on their land to abide by rules set back in the late 1950s.

And it is clear the Rabat church of the Augustinians was already then safeguarding the visual prominence of churches from surrounding development.

The emphyteutic lease which expires in 2056 for the land in question, specifically states that the height of a building located in Saqqajja Hill should not exceed that of the pedestal of two balustrades holding a flame, found on the left and right side of the Augustinian church in Rabat.

It later transpired that development – at penthouse level – had exceeded this unique height limitation by 2.6m.

The additional height itself was covered by permits issued by the Planning Authority over the past decade. But because the building was on land granted by emphyteusis from the Augustinian Order, this aberration was never authorized by the Order.

While the Augustinians originally demanded the demolition of the entire penthouse, the law courts presided by judge Toni Abela concluded that only the part exceeding the height of the balustrades should be demolished.

Ogygia Enterprises, whose owner is Gold Market jeweller Michael Mizzi, acquired the ‘right of use’ of the property, and is now obliged to carry out the demolition within six months. Should the works not be carried out in that period, the Augustinian Order will be authorized to carry out the works at the expense of the tenant.

In their reply to the court application, the company insisted that the condition limiting the height of the property was only binding to the signatories of the original agreement.    

They also claimed that the aim of the court case was to “exercise pressure” on the company to pay money to the Order, claiming that the latter had offered to renounce their case in return for €60,000. The Order itself referred to various attempts to reach an agreement, which had been turned down by the leaseholder.

But the Court concluded that the condition was binding on all leaseholders of the property in question. Moreover the leaseholder had been obliged to inform the company before the penthouse was built.

Thirty-three properties and monuments in Rabat, which include the Church dedicated to St. Mark (pictured) and its adjacent monastery, a number of unique residences and statues located along Vjal Santu Wistin, Triq il-Muzew, Is-Saqqajja and Triq Santu Wistin, enjoy Grade 1 or Grade 2 protection status for their architecture and heritage value.

The conditions imposed in the 1950s Rabat deed limiting future heights were probably intended to protect the visual prominence of the Rabat church in question, and contrast with the lax attitude taken by other orders of the Catholic Church when selling land in more recent times.

Lately the Maltese Catholic Church found itself at the receiving end of criticism by Għargħur residents who objected to a six-storey development proposed just behind the parish church, on land sold by the Church itself.