HUBBARD Officials discuss suit over condominiums

The company sued after the city stopped construction.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HUBBARD -- City officials met in executive session to discuss resolving a pending federal lawsuit involving a condominium development.
At Tuesday's special meeting, council members and Mayor George Praznik met with lawyer John Latchney, representing the Love Insurance Agency, to discuss the terms offered to resolve a lawsuit filed against the city by Tri-Corp Management Co. of Vienna.
No action was taken at the meeting, and Praznik said since the case is pending he was unable to discuss the specifics of the case. He said he was unsure when council would take any action on the matter. Hubbard council is recessed until September.
Court documents show the lawsuit, filed in May 2000, was ordered "settled and dismissed" July 30 by U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin. The papers do not disclose the terms of the settlement.
Praznik said the executive session was to allow council and other city officials to discuss the offered terms.
Tri-Corp owners sued the city over a long-standing dispute over a proposed condominium development on the city's northeast side.
Project stalled
Tri-Corp sought to install 14 prebuilt condominium homes on four acres it owns on Elmwood and Gary drives. The project has been stalled since the city ordered construction to cease in May 1998.
Tri-Corp argues in the suit that the city withdrew its approval of the project, which was based on the unanimous recommendation of the city's planning and zoning commission. The commission approved the project in January 1997.
City officials stopped the construction, saying that the approval was only preliminary, and final approval was needed from council. Council members rejected the plan, saying the area is zoned only for single-family dwellings, and that the planned condominiums would violate the zoning code.
Tri-Corp originally filed the lawsuit in 1999 in Trumbull County Common Please Court, asking for permission to continue construction, and for $500,000 in damages plus attorney's fees. That suit was dropped by Tri-Corp, but then refiled in the federal court.
slshaulis@vindy.com