<!--Rick Pfeiffer--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Rick Pfeiffer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com">rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
The City Housing Court case of a Falls woman accused of running an illegal bed and breakfast at her Fourth Street home has been settled.
Eva Hedges’ defense attorney George V.C. Muscato said Thursday his client has corrected building code violations at her property and all the charges against her have been resolved. Hedges had been given until Monday to bring her property into compliance with city building codes.
“She didn’t want to wait until Nov. 16,” Muscato said. “We lowered the fence (surrounding the property) and removed some of the structures in the backyard.”
Muscato said Hedges pleaded guilty to single building code violation “of having too much stuff in her yard,” and paid a $1,000 fine. All the remaining charges were dismissed.
“The allegations of her running a bed and breakfast were dismissed,” he said.
Attention was drawn to Hedges’ home after a 12-year-old Bronx girl who was staying there as part of a Polish children’s camp, slipped into the Niagara River gorge on a field trip and drowned. That incident remains under investigation by the Niagara County District Attorney’s office.
DA Michael Violante maintains he is “still deciding” whether or not to bring charges against Hedges, 62, and her son, Timothy, 23, who was leading the field trip of more than 20 children to the Niagara Gorge.
Magdalena Lubowska slipped off a rock as she dipped her feet into the river. She was swept away into the gorge and drowned.
Lubowska’s parents have said they will sue Hedges and others in connection with their daughter’s death. While a notice of claim has been filed in the matter, no lawsuit has yet been brought to court.
Hedges had sought a variance from the Falls Zoning Board, that was rejected. City building inspectors said Hedges need to lower a 12-foot high fence around her property and remove “structures” that were described as “three sheds and a tent over an above-ground swimming pool.”
Muscato said the fence now measures 6 feet in height and the swimming pool and tent have been removed.
Inspectors had also charged that Hedges was operating a bed and breakfast out of her home without the proper permits. Both Muscato and Hedges refute that charge.
“We deny she ever operated a bed and breakfast,” Muscato said.
