Residents of Sisakyan Street, in Yerevan’s Ajapnyak District, are up in arms about a 12-story building being constructed in their neighborhood of private homes and low-rise apartment buildings.

They’ve blocked the street on and off for several months, complaining that the new building will block sunlight and their view.

41 Sisakyan residents have signed a petition demanding that the building be scaled down to five stories; the height of the dormitory that once stood at the construction site before being demolished.

Dormitory residents were allocated apartments in new buildings elsewhere in Yerevan.

The Yerevan Municipality then started construction of the new building which is supposed to house residents living in unsafe buildings.

Irate Sisakyan residents claim that residents from dilapidated buildings from Yerevan’s Erebouni District are slated to be rehoused at the Sisakyan site, arguing that there’s enough vacant land in Erebouni to build new housing.

They also claim that the new building will not have parking and are fearful that Sisakyan will be turned into a garage for those moving in.

The residents have sent several letters to the Yerevan Municipality and have met with Chief Architect Artur Meschyan.

“Meschyan listened to us and didn’t claim that we were wrong. When we told him that the building would violate residency concentration norms, he said they’d find other space in order to halve the project,” Sisakyan resident Aregnaz Kesishoghlyan told Hetq.

When Hetq visited the construction site we were met by Edvard Vardanyan, Director of Inzhgarant LLC, the company that won the building contract.

Vardanyan said he hadn’t heard of any changes to the project.

Hetq has since written to Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan for further clarification.