The Lviv establishment “Vienna Coffee Shop” was fined 170,000 hryvnias for “deliberately bringing the coffee shop, which is an architectural monument, to destruction.” The resolution on financial sanctions was signed by the Lviv City Council due to the violation of the law “On the Protection of Cultural Heritage”.
As the town planning department of the Lviv City Council said, it is about double-glazed windows installed on the terrace, with the help of which the owners actually created an illegal extension in the premises of the architectural monument.
We will remind you that a few years ago, the Department of Historical Environment Protection issued orders for the dismantling of double-glazed windows on the terrace. However, the owner of the coffee shop canceled it through the court. Then the representatives of “Vienna Coffee House” won the court of first instance and the appeal. However, last year the case got to the Supreme Court of Ukraine, which already satisfied the complaint of the Lviv City Council and sent the case about the dismantling of the structures for reconsideration.
The following facts became key for reviewing the case:
– installation of fencing structures took place without approval of project documentation;
– the building is located in the historical area of the city and in the UNESCO zone;
– preservation of cultural heritage objects and prevention of their destruction due to unauthorized economic activity, according to the court, is one of the main tasks of local self-government bodies.
“Vienna Coffee House” is located on the territory of the historical area of Lviv, in the UNESCO zone and in the object of cultural heritage – in the building of architectural monument. The building consists of three floors and a terrace, which the owners, under unknown circumstances, divided into separate real estate objects with separate technical passports. In fact, precisely such manipulations with addresses allowed the court to avoid the execution of the order from the Lviv City Council. In connection with the new address, on paper the building automatically ceased to belong to the monument of cultural heritage.
On Tuesday, January 23, another court session will be held in the “Vienna Coffee House” case.