Today, on 3 October, a meeting of the administrative commission under the executive committee dealing with violations of legislation in the field of historical heritage protection in our city was held.
The meeting considered five cases of violations committed by residents in heritage buildings. The main violations were the replacement of wooden windows and balcony blocks with plastic ones. The situation at 3 Kotsiubynskoho Street was also discussed, where the company was fined the maximum fine of UAH 170,000 for the destruction of the monument.
In particular, for the illegal replacement of wooden windows and balcony blocks with plastic ones in buildings at 3 B. Khmelnytskoho Street, 21 M. Hrushevskoho Street, 19 Lychakivska Street, 46 I. Franko Street, and 12 Rynok Square. Rynok, 12, the administrative commission imposed fines of UAH 1700 on the apartment owners. In addition, according to the security contracts, they have to eliminate the violations by replacing the plastic windows and balconies with wooden ones. If the owners do not fulfil their obligations, the city will go to court.
By the way, all five owners were invited to the commission’s meeting, but none of them showed up.
Yevhen Boyko, chairman of the administrative commission and manager of the executive committee, stressed the need not only to record and respond to violations, but also to prevent them. To do this, the city plans to increase monitoring of the historic part of the city and intensify educational activities among residents. “We have to do preventive work to avoid such cases. Monitoring should be more regular to record violations before they happen. We will also increase educational work so that residents know that it is forbidden to replace windows with plastic ones in the city centre,” said Yevhen Boyko.
In addition, the owner of the premises at 3 Kotsiubynskoho Street, TEMPO LLC, was informed at the meeting that a fine of UAH 170,000 had been imposed on it for violating the monument protection legislation and the terms of the security agreement. The owner installed a door instead of one window, replaced the other three windows with plastic ones, and repainted the facade. In case of non-compliance with the requirements to correct the violations and non-payment of the fine, the city will turn to law enforcement agencies.
Yevhen Boyko also announced the next meeting of the commission, which will be held on-site at 9 Parkova Street, where construction without permits was recorded. “At the request of the city council, a criminal case was opened regarding illegal construction, land seizure and unlawful registration of property rights. Today, we conducted investigative actions and inspected the site. All violations have been documented,” said Taras Pavlyshyn, head of the city’s State Architectural and Construction Control Inspectorate.
The city has also submitted the relevant materials to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy and the State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Development. An offsite meeting with law enforcement officers is scheduled for Tuesday, 8 October.
Residents of the city are urged to contact the Lviv City Council’s Department of Historic Environment Protection at 20 Valova Street before starting work on architectural monuments or valuable buildings. Consultations are available on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 to 16:00 (break from 12:00 to 13:00), telephone numbers: +38 (032) 235-43-40, +38 (032) 297-55-69. It is recommended to engage restoration specialists whose contacts are available in the online catalogue “Heritage Operators”.
The city also encourages residents to carry out professional restoration works under co-financing programmes, including the restoration of historic gates, windows, and balconies in monument buildings. More detailed information on the terms of cooperation and co-financing can be found on the website of the Heritage Bureau in the Co-financing section.
Earlier, a series of trainings were held for building managers and residents in Lviv, which included both theoretical and practical lessons on the preservation of architectural monuments. Participants were taught how to organise restoration work and who to coordinate it with. On the example of one of the buildings, the experts demonstrated the processes of repairing walls, joinery and metal elements.