When you want a house in a forbidden coastal area: scams are sometimes used

The bricks and fragments found in the underground plots become an opportunity for the owners to build a house in a unique location by the sea in Lithuania.

It is true that, as the experience of specialists shows, there are several, the real ones, that prove the existence of a building that existed and, apparently, those that appeared recently, in order to prove historicity and build a house on the plot.

According to D. Nicius, the most disappointing thing is that there are people who cheat and probably take their combs out of their pockets or “accidentally” draw a few dozen meters to the side.

The first verdict of the LAT

The Supreme Court of Lithuania (SCL) has just ended the first such case in the Karklė area, where an attempt was made to legalize construction in a reserve near Lake Plazė, based on the findings of commercial archaeologists.

According to D. Nicius, the court heard arguments from the Seaside Regional Park Authority and archaeologists that the investigation was not sufficiently scientifically substantiated and that there was insufficient scientific basis to assert that there was an ancient farm at that location.

Before that, the decision of the Klaipėda District Court was not favorable for the regional park. There were concerns that faulty practices could develop.

“It turned out to be silly that the application submitted by the farm was maintained until 1944. Separately, the war collapsed. We showed that at that time no property was standing according to the cartographic data. The court claimed that the building had been raised before, it fell into disrepair in another period, and there were sufficient factual circumstances for there to be findings, “said the interlocutor.

However, last year’s decision of the Klaipėda Regional Court, which changed the verdict, gave hope.

The LAT, which had just announced the decision, took the same position.

The owner of the Seaside Regional Park is convinced that the archaeological research carried out on a commercial basis, which proves the existence of old farmhouses in the reserves, determines the possibility of urbanization of the reserves, so the data collected from the owners, which many sometimes cast doubt. About legitimacy, it must be evaluated very carefully.

Show that the farm was standing

There are still a couple of cases where agricultural parcel owners are trying to prove that the buildings used to be here and get the right to create added value on the parcel – a building.

In addition, the facts of old farms are usually proven by the buyers and not by the real heirs. The owners buy those plots much cheaper, knowing that they will not really be able to build anything on them.

It is not uncommon for the boundaries of then present and now existing parcels to change, and buildings that used to be on the same parcel are located on the lands of three owners.

“So the question arises, who has the priority to rebuild? The Supreme Court has ruled that the possibility only on the plot where the old residential house was located. And how do you show that residential house now? Quite complicated. If from the findings, there is some methodology, but when there is nothing, complicated enough. That’s why cases go to court, said D. Nicius.

Maps Help

Specialists often look for traces of possible ancient settlements on cartographic material, that is, on old official maps.

They show if there was a building.

From the early 20th century to the Second World War, a large amount of cartographic material has survived, quite accurate, even available online.

The information is also being refined into a 1944 aerial photograph, a detailed photograph taken from an airplane that was recently retrieved from American archives.

Archaeological research and findings are also used.

However, D. Nicius also names very slippery moments.

“In practice, we are faced with many of those moments when we try to prove the existence of a property from individual findings. I should point out that the archaeologist does the research alone. No one can deny that you came, you did not take the metal works out of your pocket and close it. All that remains is a question of trust, because no one can confirm or deny it, said D. Nicius.

– Now much attention is paid to the cartography presented. The surveyors dared to show that the old farm is within the boundaries of the plot. To perform the so-called “tie”, to mark the boundaries of the current plot of land in the place of the previous map – very careful work, it is necessary to have competence, special programs.

There is no state institution in Lithuania that can do this and present it to the court. Only private surveyors remain. We had the data delivered to the court, when they mistakenly, intentionally or not, took a place a hundred meters from the visible house ”.

According to the interlocutor, in such a situation, the preparation of documents remains within the limits of a person’s attention, and the person can make human mistakes and make malicious mistakes.

According to D. Nicius, the Seaside Regional Park in such cases also uses specialists and provides revised map data, which shows that there are discrepancies in the material.

The owners do not use it, they hire another surveyor and the second one again provides the same drawing as the first.

“There have been cases in which the situation has gone to the STT for possible fraud by surveyors, but they go unpunished. Both the surveyor and the archaeologist who recorded the finds allege that they made a mistake. It says I marked a centimeter incorrectly and moved the ground. There is no liability and it is difficult to show that this was done specifically, Mr. Nicius said.

Both the surveyor and the archaeologist who recorded the finds allege that they made a mistake.

– It will not prove that it is a forgery of documents, because there is a certain methodology: find geographical points, road intersections. If you don’t put the starting point there, there will be an inaccuracy of one or two centimeters, everything will be different. “

There is no referee

The owner of the Seaside Regional Park regrets that the law does not specify who is the referee who must evaluate the documentary material.

Furthermore, in his opinion, it is wrong that owners currently prepare all documents in private and not requesting them from a particular authority.

“When it comes to judicial decisions, the question of trust in archaeologists remains. Ten years ago, the archaeological community seemed respectable, there were people with titles, the unexpected data seemed unethical, especially when the professor presents, but there are several cases , which begin to seem critical, even with degrees the data is incorrect, inaccurate, questionable. “, – lamented D. Nicius.

According to him, such cases would be avoided if the owner paid for the service and the research was done by the state, and the person did not even know which archaeologist or surveyor was assigned the task. Now the customer dictates the terms himself.

According to the interlocutor, the State Service for Protected Areas intends to propose corrections and legally refuse to restore the properties.

Each area has its own management plans, so they would be sufficient to plan both old and new reconstructions.

“Looking at historical justice, a farm and a mill were near the deer Karklė, but a person cannot restore it, because he can only restore the farm. This causes dissatisfaction in the people, legally it is as if it were wrong, the factory would also beautify the landscape ”, said D. Nicius to the collision.

The head of Seaside Regional Park says legal processes require a large amount of state resources, and the aforementioned SCL’s favorable decision once again proves that the current system is flawed.