A Lakewood businessman was denied a request to add a few more parking spaces to his Madison Avenue auto repair shop.
That ruling by the , came after a court battle earlier this year between the city and Charles Calanni over the number of cars he’s allowed to have parked in front of the business.
Calanni, who owns , at 13728 Madison Ave., applied for a redesign of his parking lot with the city’s architectural board of review.
His request was denied.
City inspectors have reported that there are often more than a dozen vehicles parked in front of the business — despite only allowing eight.
Calanni was found guilty of failure to comply in in April 2011 for having too many cars parked in front of the business. His .
Calanni, who has owned the business since 1979, told Lakewood Patch on Thursday that he doesn’t agree with the city’s assertion that agreed in 1984 to limit the number of cars in his lot to eight.
“I think it’s strange that they produce this document from 1984,” he said. “They didn’t have a problem for all these years and now they’ve got a problem.”
In his application to the city, Calanni argued that he doesn’t need to comply with city ordinance because he believes the business is “grandfathered in.”
He also claimed that if reduced to eight parking spaces, the restriction would “effectively put (him) out of business.”
In December 2010, after “continued non-compliance,” the city issued Calanni a citation for “failure to comply with building violations” in violation of Lakewood Codified Ordinances 1306.99, according to court records.
I don't know all of the facts yet for sure but what I do know, and plan on telling the mayor and the planning committee if the spineless, gutless, wastes of political breath would ever return (or have a representative) a call is that they are about to be investigated by both the county and state agencies for their practices and their strong arming of some businesses and the fact they look away at others. I am on one of those committees
I'd love to see A WHOLE lot more reputable businesses go up in Lakewood and the bad ones leave. Problem is the picking and choosing that the city does.
Parties? Those are AA meetings held at the church. Lakewood Police are frequent visitors to Calanni. Need proof? Call City Hall (521-7580) ask to see the police file for 13728 Madison Avenue - this is public information. You will find most calls to police are dis-satisfied customers. Read police reports to see what people are subjected to. Carl Monday received so many complaints/calls about Calanni he could no longer ignore the situation and did an exposé which aired on TV . Calanni was tried in Cuyahoga County Court and found guilty of being a nuisance. It is up to the City to enforce this verdict. In 2005, reporter Michael Gill wrote an article for the CLEVELAND FREE TIMES about Calanni's business - it's worth reading. Calanni is currently on probation for Building Code Violations - due to appear in Lakewood court. To find court dates go to: onelakewood.com>Departments>Municipal Court>Court Dockets/Schedules>Search by Party/case/ticket>type in Charles Calanni. Tying a dog in a hot garage on a two foot chain/rope all night, my veternarian weigh-in on this. It's going to be 93 degrees tomorrow - those poor animals. Let Calanni take his "thriving" business to Westlake, where he lives. I agree with Tfacey above - "I am simply BLOWN away that Calanni is still in business!" How? Why?
A friend of mine brought her Mazda Miata to be repaired. He quoted her one price but jacked up the price of the repair when she came to pick the car up because she wasn't wise enough to ask for a copy of the original estimate in writing. She had to take him to court to recover her property. I'd be afraid to take my car here just because of the number of people he has jerked. I agree with the other reader about Calanni moving his auto repair business to Westlake. Please go. Thank you Lakewood for denying this request.
Your thoights regarding Calanni mocking the justice system would be well served in a letter to the mayor: mayor@lakewoodoh.net
It seems odd that you choose to walk your dog to/by Calanni's. A walk to the park might be more enjoyable for your dog. Abused animals are often "sweet" , hoping to be rescued from their dire situation. Let's tie you to a four foot chain at the back of that hot, filthy garage - you will be happy to have the additional two feet of chain, no doubt. 93 degrees during the DAYTIME, night time temperature was not mentioned. You certainly know a great deal about the daily , no make that hourly, routine of this business. A better analogy of Calanni's use of that parking lot is having a 5 bedroom home, converting those 5 bedrooms to 15 bedrooms, sleeping in the living room and renting out the dining room to borders. "concerned citizen" -really?
Take your brown nosing ass elsewhere please and stop sticking it in matters that have nothing to do with you.
Ouch! Ouch! That really hurts!! On second thought, no it doesn't, coming from someone who won't use their real name. Usually someone who hides their real identity is also hiding something else. Grow some balls and tell us who you are before you make statements like this.
Capiccioni's has serviced our vehicles and several of our friends vehicles for years. Their shop is clean and neat. No junk parts laying in his parking lot, no used lawn mowers littering the entrance to his service bays. No chained dogs that need to be rescued. Capiccioni's performs all work inside his service bays. It is illegal to perform work outside of service bays. His property is not parked up with the same cars for weeks, months, or years. And you don't have to tell Capiccioni that you don't want to be surprised when you get your bill.