We have written repeatedly about the controversies surrounding the plot at Łokietka, Zgorzelecka and Górne Młyny streets, where a shopping gallery was supposed to be built. On Wednesday, 2 March, the District Court in Jelenia Góra handed down its judgment in the case. The Municipal Commune lost.
Let us recall: first, the commune granted the land in perpetual usufruct, with restrictions; then the City Council amended the zoning plan and increased the development possibilities. The company demanded a change to the agreement that would allow it to build an object permitted under the plan. The mayor refused to make the change and wanted the company to build in accordance with the agreement.
What makes the case even more intriguing is the fact that the plan had always allowed more, but when the land was sold, the city introduced restrictions into the agreement and sold the plot to two businessmen from Bolesławiec for PLN 4.1 million. The councillors later introduced changes to the zoning plan, and the businessmen resold the site to Spectrum Galerie several times more expensively.
“We consulted our plans with the city architect. We informed the mayor, who supported such a facility as the one we proposed,” Andrzej Bronowicki of Spectrum Galerie said in an interview with us two years ago. After purchasing the land, however, the mayor did not want to sign an annex to the agreement. He explained that if he did so, it would be a matter for the prosecutor’s office. “We proved our case. The city should change the provision in the agreement with us so that we could carry out the investment in accordance with the local plan. The court also accepted our request to extend the implementation deadlines,” Andrzej Bronowicki said in an interview with us today.
“We will request the reasoning and may then file an appeal,” Agnieszka Gergont, the mayor’s spokesperson, said today. She did not answer when asked whether officials were surprised by the judgment. She only added that more would be known after the reasoning was received.
“The initiation of this case by Mayor Roman is merely an attempt to create a smokescreen to conceal the fact that the city lost PLN 14 million. All I can do is congratulate the majority of Bolesławiec residents on their choice of Piotr Roman,” comments Józef Burniak, former mayor of Bolesławiec.
“The court’s ruling shows that the company may build what it wanted and that stopping the investment made no sense. This is an important matter; residents need to be informed about it,” emphasizes Cezariusz Rudyk, a Civic Platform activist and head of the Civic Platform councillors’ club in the City Council during the previous term.
A programme about problems with building the gallery
In the December 2008 edition of “Na światło dzienne,” we discussed the huge plot in the city centre. A dispute between the new owners of the land, Spectrum Galerie, and the municipal commune was already pending in court. At the time, the city authorities spoke most extensively about the unstarted investment and the reasons for the situation. No one presented the owners’ arguments. Krzysztof Gwizdała was the only person to reach Spectrum Galerie. The company’s representatives agreed to an interview.
The guests on “Na światło dzienne” were Andrzej Bronowicki, president of Spectrum Galerie, and Paweł Wójcik, a legal adviser from the Grynhoff | Woźny | Maliński law firm, representing the company.