SHAMOKIN - Robert Gilligbauer's plans to build a pair of enclosed carports on a lot outside his automotive repair garage are on indefinite hold by order of the city.
Rick Bozza, code enforcement officer, issued a stop work order to Gilligbauer, posting a sign Wednesday on the frame of a structure Gilligbauer had begun to erect.
That came one day after Gilligbauer announced he would build the
prefabricated structures on the larger of his two lots at Spurzheim and Rock streets to keep the vehicles parked there out of sight. His intent is to end the episodic spats he and city officials have had over the lot, and he had hoped to have the structures in place by the end of the weekend.
"I went and bought everything and now they stopped me working on this. I have commercial property and I'm allowed to build to the end of the property line," Gilligbauer said Wednesday. "Where am I violating anything?
"This is the best resolution to this whole problem," he said.
With the two sides at odds, Bozza and Gilligbauer met Thursday. The code officer told the mechanic he could take down the stop work order sign, but that the order remains in tact for now.
The order could be lifted as early as today but could also last into next week, Bozza said.
"I told him he could take the sign down, but don't do any more work until I speak with the zoning board," he said.
The city believes the vehicles he has parked there are junk and thereby violate ordinance. Gilligbauer contends the cars are there to be repaired and that they're stored on the lot legally under state law.
Gilligbauer and the city are entangled in a lawsuit filed by the city solicitor.
The suit seeks a county judge to rule in favor of the city and order Gilligbauer to abide by the city ordinance. The mechanic's attorney has filed a response, seeking either more definite information on the alleged offenses or that the suit be dismissed altogether.
While Bozza said earlier this week that the structures would not be taxable, he said representatives from the county assessor's office said they are indeed taxable.
Gilligbauer said he intends to challenge that assessment, saying since the structures are not permanent that they are not taxable property.