Judge decides against TRPIL in parking lot dispute
A Washington restaurateur and caterer has prevailed in a conflict in Washington County Court with a neighboring nonprofit organization in the midst of renovating the former YWCA on West Maiden Street.
After hearing testimony last month, Judge Michael Lucas decided in favor of Joseph Pintola, who owns Hungry Jose’s at 227 and 229 S. Main St. and Julian’s Banquet Hall at 78 W. Maiden St.
Lucas decreed the organization formerly known as Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living must pay Pintola $6,300 for a period when his access to parking was blocked.
Under the ruling, the nonprofit, now known as Transitional Paths to Independent Living, must also pay $450 each month in compensation to Pintola until it removes all barriers to his access to up to 10 parking spaces daily.
Pintola and Kathleen Kleinmann, chief executive officer for TRPIL, in 2012 signed a sales agreement for three parking lot land parcels near the former Washington YWCA.
Pintola said he never knew the parking would be unavailable during the renovation of the YWCA, but Kleinmann maintained they specifically discussed the impact the intended construction would have on parking.
For several years, Pintola and TRPIL had differences over the use of the parking area, but no litigation resulted until TRPIL notified Pintola in June of last year the YWCA parking lot would be closed so it could be used as a contractor’s staging area for equipment.
Pintola took the matter to court in September of last year, and about a week later, TRPIL demanded $7,010 from him for several years of “agreed upon cost-sharing.”
The YWCA’s construction is in its first phase and Kleinmann testified there is no definite date for it to conclude. The organization has not secured financing for the second or third phases.
Lucas found the agreement between TIPIL and Pintola was not ambiguous and there was no definition when using the term “special events” in the agreement.
The judge did not consider construction activities to fit the definition of a special event; nor did he find TRPIL’s right to limit use eliminated or suspended Pintola’s access to parking.
The judge based the dollar figure at which he arrived on documentation in the nonjury trial record that a monthly parking lease with the city costs $45 for one space and he called the $6,300 for being deprived of up to 10 spaces for 14 months “fair and reasonable.”