The Shilin District Court on Monday ruled that part of the mansion former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) lives in must be torn down, with the court ruling that an addition was built crossing the boundary line with an adjacent property.
The residence, which is in the Zueishan Villa (翠山莊) community, is registered in the name of Lee’s granddaughter Lee Kun-yi (李坤儀).
A lawsuit against the family was filed by Chen Hsu Chun-mei (陳許春美).
The district court ruled that the family had built illegally on 22.22m3 of Chen Hsu’s land, and that all above-ground structures found to be across the boundary should be demolished.
The ruling can be appealed.
According to Lee Kun-yi and her attorney, an established path, which has been in continuous use by the community for 40 years, runs through the strip of disputed property, and the plaintiff would not be able to build anything on the property after its return.
The path is the only access road for the community, Lee Kun-yi said.
The family did not add the parts of the house referred to in the court’s ruling, but that they came with the property, she added.
The attorney representing the family said the additions included struts and pillars, the removal of which would compromise the garage beneath the strip of contested land.
Their removal could also destabilize the entire slope, putting the community at risk of mudslides, the attorney added.
The judge presiding over the case rejected the defendant’s arguments, saying the strip in dispute was originally a service road used by construction crews and was therefore unlikely to contain any structures above ground.
The family must have added the contentious parts to the house after purchasing the property, the judge said.
The court said that the defendants had failed to back claims about a mudslide risk, adding that demolishing the illegal construction would not hinder use of the path.
Wang Yen-chun (王燕軍), director of Lee Teng-hui’s office, said the family would appeal the verdict, as there are several points in the case they consider unreasonable.
The disputed construction is comprised of a rain shelter for a garage, Wang said, adding that other homeowners have similar situations and the verdict could negatively affect all 13 households in the community.
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