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WILKES-BARRE — The city sought the maximum in fines for Leo A. Glodzik III in a zoning dispute and settled for the minimum due to his effort to follow the rules he first ignored, said a resident involved in the case.
Glodzik, a former city towing contractor awaiting sentencing for federal tax fraud, faced $12,000 in fines for building an apartment above a garage before getting approval from the city’s Zoning Hearing Board.
Earlier this month, a district judge reduced the amount to $670, a sum city officials did not oppose, said Joe Wielgosz, whose mother lives near the property in question.
“They suggested it, which I believe is a grave injustice to the city of Wilkes-Barre,” Wielgosz said Monday.
He said he was asked to be a witness at Glodzik’s May 3 hearing before District Judge Tom Malloy on the civil complaint filed by Bill Harris, the city’s zoning officer. Wielgosz said he was going to say that someone had been living in the apartment in the garage directly across Weston Lane from his mother’s property.
The violation cost Glodzik $500 a day until it reached the maximum of $12,000 and resulted in the city filing a complaint on March 2, ordering him to pay up and shut down the apartment. Prior to the filing, he ignored notifications dated Nov. 20, 2015, and Feb. 22 of this year to comply with the city’s zoning ordinances, according to the complaint.
Wielgosz said Harris and assistant city attorney Maureen Collins reached a deal with Glodzik in the hallway the day of the hearing. “They more or less told me that I wasn’t needed no more,” Wielgosz said of the city officials.
When asked about the reduced judgment, which amounted to a $500 fine and $170.73 in fees and costs, Harris said, “We don’t question the judge.”
Glodzik did not return a phone call for comment Monday.
Wielgosz had the opportunity to offer limited testimony at Glodzik’s May 18 hearing before the zoning hearing board. Wielgosz said he’s familiar with the detached garage and house and tried to buy the property before Glodzik did in 2010.
The city’s zoning ordinance requires two parking spots for the apartment, space that Glodzik said is available in the garage. But Wielgosz said the narrow width of the garage door makes it necessary to drive onto his mother’s property to pull in or out. “You can’t make the door any bigger because the furnace is right there,” Wielgosz said.
The five members of the zoning board held off voting on the variance until they could visit the garage. A decision is expected at the board’s June 15 meeting.