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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A deal has been reached in a months-long dispute over parking on the former Hotel Sterling lot.</p><p>The owner of the downtown property will be allowed to operate the lot until the end of June 2019 when existing contracts run out and then shut it down, said Tom Torbik, executive director of the Wilkes-Barre Parking Authority.</p><p>The Authority has challenged the legality of the lot and was prepared to seek an injunction against H&amp;N Investments LLC in Luzerne County Court on Friday.</p><p>&#8220;We reached an agreement yesterday afternoon,&#8221; Torbik said Friday.</p><p>Attorneys for the Authority and the lot owner were in the process of working out the details. The court case will be continued until the agreement is signed, however.</p><p>Attorney Jack Zelinka of Rosenn Jenkins &amp; Greenwald, who is representing the Authority in the case, said he anticipated having a signed agreement within a week.</p><p>The pending application for a temporary use variance before the Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board will be addressed in the agreement, Zelinka said. &#8220;It will include the fact it will be concluded,&#8221; he said.</p><p><strong>Board arguments</strong></p><p>The parties appeared before the zoning board Wednesday for a third time and argued their positions for and against the lot, without a resolution. The board instructed attorneys to file documents before it revisits the application at its Nov. 28 public hearing.</p><p>Steve Barrouk, who is working with owner Hysni &#8220;Sam&#8221; Syla, reiterated a point made previously.</p><p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t our intention to permanently run a parking lot there,&#8221; said Barrouk of City Brokers LLC.</p><p>The latest plan was to operate the lot for 18 months on the property H&amp;N Investments LLC bought from the city in June for $600,000 so the owner could get ready to build a $35 million mixed-use development on the site, according to Barrouk.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re in the early stages of this, but we&#8217;re moving along,&#8221; Barrouk said.</p><p>The terms of the deal allow the lot owner to meet its contracts for the lot, Barrouk said. &#8220;At a certain point next year, it&#8217;s going to come to an end,&#8221; he said of the parking.</p><p><strong>City proposes deal</strong></p><p>The deal was due in part to the city&#8217;s efforts.</p><p>&#8220;I do want to thank the mayor&#8217;s office for their cooperation on this,&#8221; Barrouk said.</p><p>Torbik said he was contacted by city Administrator Ted Wampole about resolving the dispute over the lot.</p><p>&#8220;Ted called me (Thursday) afternoon and said, &#8216;Are you amenable to a deal?&#8217;&#8221; Torbik recalled. Torbik said he replied, &#8220;It depends on what the deal is.&#8221;</p><p>As it was explained by Wampole, the owner had contracts through June 30, 2019, with Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance and others, Torbik said. He said he was asked if he could &#8220;live with&#8221; the lot operating until the end of those contracts.</p><p><strong>Origins of dispute</strong></p><p>The Authority had objected to the lot on the grounds that it was unfair competition, as well as being illegal and operating since mid-June without zoning approval. The lot charged a lower rate of $60 a month, compared to the Authority&#8217;s rate of $70, and took away customers and revenue.</p><p>In addition, the Authority said the operation, initially limited to 24 months, would have provided the owner with more than half of what it paid to buy the property.</p><p>At Wednesday&#8217;s hearing, the property owner noted the Authority did not object when there was a parking lot on the city-owned real estate.</p><p>But the Authority responded it made no sense to sue the city, to which it paid $150,000 a year from revenues raised from its surface lots and parking garages.</p><p>The Authority maintained that the only reason H&amp;N Investments LLC applied for the zoning variance was due to the court case that sought to shut down the illegal lot.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A deal has been reached to end the dispute over parking on the former Hotel Sterling property in Wilkes-Barre. It will allow the lot to operate until the end of June 2019 when existing contracts expire. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_parkinglot-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>A deal has been reached to end the dispute over parking on the former Hotel Sterling property in Wilkes-Barre. It will allow the lot to operate until the end of June 2019 when existing contracts expire. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Deal settles dispute over parking on former Hotel Sterling lot