Portelli attempts to turn illegal ‘hotel’ into apartments in Mellieha

Developer Joseph Portelli and his associates are attempting to reverse a court decision revoking the granting of an illegal permit by the Planning Authority for a hotel in Mellieha through a new application to sanction the building and turn it into more flats.

A new application, PA 06672/24, presented by Mark Agius, known as Ta’ Dirjanu, has been filed on behalf of Shopwise Development M Ltd.

Instead of issuing an enforcement order against the development, the Planning Authority is now considering the application, calling for objections until its case officer issues the recommendation – despite a Court order.

The illegal hotel was built on a plot next to the former Belleview Bistro in Mellieha as part of a larger development.

The developers used the hotel policy to build an additional two floors when this was not supposed to be permitted in a residential area. The Court ordered the revocation of the hotel permit granted by the Planning Authority.

Portelli and his associates turned the large plot, which the government originally promised to the Mellieha local council, into a large residential development comprising more than 100 apartments.

While the Planning Authority supported Portelli’s development by issuing a permit that violated the rules, the Gozitan developers finished the building as the Mellieha local council and others appealed the decision through legal channels.

In 2023, the Appeals court, led by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, declared the hotel part of the development illegal, as it went against the local plan, and revoked its permit.

The Court declared that since the area was residential, Portelli could not run a hotel there, let alone use a new policy to build more floors.

Instead of enforcing the Court’s ruling, forcing Portelli to remove the extra two floors he built through an illegal permit, the Planning Authority did not issue an enforcement order, only imposing a daily fine.

The Shift reported that in 2023, the developers were trying to sell the illegal hotel for over €4 million.

After their pitch failed, they devised a new plan: to regulate their illegalities through a fresh sanctioning application.

The Planning Authority still needs to issue its recommendation. Still, several objectors, including Din l-Art Helwa, have already told the Authority that this went against the court decision.

This is not the first time Portelli has ignored a decision by the Chief Justice. Earlier this year, following another court decision declaring part of a development in Sannat illegal, Portelli, hiding behind some of his foreign workers, applied to sanction an illegal row of penthouses.

Once again, the Planning Authority accepted his application and is considering issuing a permit, contrary to the Court’s decision. Portelli has already managed to get a Planning Authority permit in one case, openly defying the Court’s ruling.

In the case of the Mellieha hotel, Portelli’s co-shareholders in the illegal building include his usual associates, Mark Agius and Daniel Refalo, as well as Peter Borg, the co-owner of the Welbees supermarket chain, which has one of its supermarkets next to the illegal development.