New episode in the "Diter saga". The extravagant "Château Diter", a neo-Florentine palace of 5000 square meters located in the town of Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes), will be able to continue despite the multiple legal decisions ordering its destruction. In a statement, the lawyers of its whimsical owner, Patrick Diter, announced that the "administrative court has just ruled that the constructions of Mr. Diter are not irregular, at least not in their entirety".
The case dates back nearly two decades, as reported in a long investigation by Le Figaro. Since 2000 and the acquisition of a "main" building and his estate, the whimsical businessman Patrick Diter is opposed to his Franco-British neighbors, the Butt couple, who accuse him of having built his palace illegally. Orangeries, veranda, summer kitchen, galleries, dovecotes... The many changes over the years generate "nuisances" that neighbors complain about. In addition, Patrick Diter carried out a lot of work before obtaining the corresponding "modifying" building permits, as he admitted.
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The quarrel remained latent until 2015, before exploding: the Butt couple, accompanied by a neighbor whose wall was damaged by a construction machine, filed a complaint for fraud. According to them, the family home and the swimming pool, presented by Patrick Diter as existing at the time of the acquisition of the estate, were actually built between 2000 and 2004. Criminal legal decisions stemming from this complaint finally ordered the owner, in 2020, to demolish the palace within 18 months.
Coup de théâtre
But coup de théâtre on May 31: in a judgment consulted by Le Figaro, the administrative court of Nice reinstated the building permit "issued on July 18, 2006", and which relates to the "main" building.
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The administrative court of Nice has therefore held that the permit of July 18, 2006, on the basis of which Mr. Diter built most of his house (about 70%), is not tainted by fraud, "summarize Patrick Diter's lawyers. "By the court's own admission, its judgment 'has the effect of reinstating this building permit from the reading of this judgment,'" they wrote.
In other words, "there is a divergence of interpretation between the administrative judge and the criminal judge. This divergence precludes, for the time being, any demolition of the building, at least concerning the part covered by the permit of 18 July 2006.
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Still, the case is not yet over: the owner of the Diter Palace now hopes for a review of the criminal judgment convicting him, which would allow him to eventually keep the remaining 30% of his constructions.