Residents say doctor is ‘steamrolling’ through neighborhood

By George P. Hassett

Mouhab Rizkallah doesn’t want to add a back stairwell to his orthodontics practice on College Avenue. His neighbors don’t want him to and his alderman doesn’t want him to either. But because of a complaint filed with the Architectural Access Board – a group that enforces the tenets of the Americans with Disabilities Act – he says he must.

And because he is following the law (and spending $750,000 to do so, he says) by adding a new stairwell and elevator to his 30 College Ave. office, Rizkallah says he has been vilified in Davis Square.

‚ÄúI’m the victim here,‚Äù he said at a community meeting on Monday to owners of surrounding properties who say they will lose sunlight and value on their homes because of his additions. ‚ÄúI feel like I have horns. I have been getting beat up by my neighbors for the past month.‚Äù

The meeting, which at times grew heated with raised voices and shocked expressions exchanged, brought Rizkallah together with neighbors who say he tried to sneak the project through without proper notification.

Irene Antonelli, at the meeting with her brother Frank to represent their mother — whose property, by all accounts, will be the most affected — said the neighbors first learned of the project last month when work crews broke ground. Frank Antonelli said Ward Six Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz knew of the project beforehand but failed to notify anyone.

“This is dirty, filthy politics here,” he said.

Gewirtz said she saw only a ‚Äúscaled-down‚Äù version of Rizkallah’s plans and learned of the stairwell construction at the same time as Antonelli and other neighbors. She said Rizkallah has donated money to her campaigns in the past, but she is firmly against his plans to build a back stairwell.

However, no one disputes that 46 abutters to Rizkallah’s property were never notified of a July 11 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting to discuss the plans. Rizkallah intends to build the stairwell and an elevator to come up to code and add three feet to the height of the building for a third floor, which he says is necessary to pay for the other improvements.

City spokesman Thomas P. Champion said 40 residents weren’t notified after city officials incorrectly calculated whose land surrounded the property and six more were never informed because of a computer glitch. The mistake, he said, was innocent.

‚ÄúSome people in Somerville may want to hearken back to a prior era in the city’s history and be suspicious of a mistake like this but it was a genuine error,‚Äù Champion said.

Construction on the stairwell was stopped after the notification mistakes were acknowledged and Rizkallah and the neighborhood have been locked in dispute ever since.

Rizkallah said it is a ‚Äúclash of residents and the business district‚Äù and has turned into a ‚Äúfood fight.‚Äù And don’t forget, he said, he does not want to build a stairwell and an elevator either.

‚ÄúI don’t want to pay $750,000. If you want to convince me not to do it you don’t have to – I don’t want to do it,‚Äù he said at Monday’s meeting. ‚ÄúBut look past me and realize I have a gun behind my head forcing this.‚Äù He said his business faces a December 2008 deadline from the Architectural Access Board to get the stairwell and elevator up.

However Rizkallah received little sympathy at the meeting.

‚ÄúYou’re building right up to our lots,‚Äù said Ellen Garrett. ‚ÄúYou’re on top of our air and you’re blocking our sunlight.‚Äù

Irene Antonelli criticized Rizkallah’s handling of the building process. ‚ÄúWe’re used to doing business with a handshake over a fence. Instead we find out your plans when we hear the banging on the day construction starts,‚Äù she said.

‚ÄúThis is cockamamie,‚Äù said Frank Antonelli, putting both hands on his forehead. ‚ÄúYou know what people in Somerville do when they can’t afford a property? They sell it, but all you care about is your own wallet.‚Äù

When Rizkallah suggested the residents get their homes appraised before and after his additions and he would buy their property at the pre-construction price, his neighbors balked.

‚ÄúIf all your intentions could be summed up in one statement that’s it,‚Äù Frank Antonelli said. ‚ÄúYou’re looking to steamroll over all the old people here and buy everything up.‚Äù

Antonelli said Rizkallah has spent $5.5 million to buy six properties in Davis Square since 2004. “[Buying the surrounding property] is exactly what we thought he was up to,” he said.

Rizkallah said the offer was misunderstood and withdrew it.

Alderman-at-Large Dennis Sullivan said the dispute is a perfect example of why city officials should revise zoning laws to protect residents from developers. Alderman-at-Large Bruce Desmond said similar disputes are “happening in five other parts of the city.” He said he supported the neighbors position that Rizkallah should find a way to build the stairwell inside his existing office space. Rizkallah said that is not an option and pointed out he had the right to build a six-family home in the space the stairwell is slated to go in.