Klaipėda halts paid parking plans amid land ownership questions

Klaipėda city officials have temporarily suspended plans to implement paid parking in a lot located in the southern part of the city, near a former "Mere" store. The decision follows a complaint from a local resident who questioned the legality of charging for parking on what appears to be state-owned land.

The resident pointed out that public records indicate the land parcel was formed only after the commercial building itself and that the parking area falls within unformed state land. This raised significant questions for the municipality regarding the basis on which private owners registered the lot as an engineering structure and whether they have the right to operate a paid parking service there.

Previously, Darius Krasnauskas, a representative for "Menesa," the company managing the building, asserted that the parking lot was legally registered as an engineering structure belonging to the company. He argued that the land's unformed status did not preclude their right to operate the lot, emphasizing that the company maintained the area and had invested considerable funds into it.

However, the municipality's investigation has cast doubt on these claims. Adomas Rimkevičius, from "CityPro," the company installing the parking system, stated that "ParkOK" was merely a technical administrator and that the lot's client possessed all necessary documentation. Despite these assurances, the municipality has reportedly contacted law enforcement agencies to clarify the situation.

In response to the ongoing investigation into the lot's legal status and operational basis, the municipality has formally requested both the building owner and the parking system company to halt the paid parking process. The situation remains unresolved as officials work to untangle the complex legal issues surrounding the parking lot's registration and use of state land.