Battle Over Pre-WWII Street Reaches Supreme Court
The Supreme Court last week began weighing the case of a historic Tallinn street that has municipal officials and conservationists pitted against a private property owner.
Trepi street, which lies right in the middle of the Old Town area destroyed by Soviet bombing in 1944, was unearthed and partially restored in 2007 after laying buried for more than six decades.
However, the walls retaining the earthworks on both sides of the street, which now sits 2.7 meters below the surrounding area, are located on property owned by Uranos OÜ, which wants them removed.
The company's owner Heino Viik has turned down the city's offer to buy the property and in February successfully sued in the Tallinn District Court to have the walls demolished, a move that the head of the Tallinn Cultural Heritage Department Aini Härm said would necessitate reburying the street and removing the accompanying Needle's Eye gate.
In its appeal, the city said that the court had not adequately considered the issue of heritage, uudised.err.ee reported.
"The city of Tallinn is of the opinion that the district court decision is incorrect. The district court should have, in shaping its decision, applied the Heritage Act in addition to the law on property, and weighed, among other things, public interest, including possible damage to heritage property, the protected area and buildings on it arising from the ruling," said the city's legal director Priit Lello.
The city asked the Supreme Court to take into account that the area in dispute is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Old Town.
At the time of the district court's ruling, public opinion on the issue appeared to be split: some felt the owner is being litigious. Others said the city's UNESCO claims are specious, noting that Trepi tänav was originally a much wider street, and that a park would have been preferable.
Steve Roman