Repeated vandalism leaving one East Nashville business to pay Metro Codes fines and cleaning costs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An East Nashville business manager said that vandals have repeatedly tagged their property.

Tower Market and Deli has subsequently been stuck with fines from Metro Codes and Building Safety. Not only have they dealt with fines, but it has cost them hundreds of dollars to repeatedly fix the graffiti.

“For business owners, the problem is spending hundreds of dollars to get these things repainted,” manager Shequitta Dobson told News 2.

Over the weekend, Dobson said that staff noticed fresh graffiti on the roof of the market, and it’s not the first time. Last month, taggers also vandalized a property across the street that they own. That incident cost the owners $600 to paint over it.

More painters came out on Monday to look at the roof — but that estimate is already in the hundreds. However, they’re footing more than one bill. Every time the graffiti returns, the business gets another citation from Metro Codes.

“That becomes the frustrating part for us,” Dobson said. “How do you think we’re going to be able to keep on paying this and stay afloat?”

News 2 stopped by the Metro codes administration office to talk with director Bill Herbert. He said that they’re only enforcing laws set in place by Metro council.

“We understand that when property owners get tagged with graffiti, they are innocent in this. We understand that,” said Herbert. “What we generally do is we send a notice of violation, which generally gives 30 days, to bring the problem into compliance.”

Herbert told News 2 that after the notice of violation deadline, there’s a $50 daily fee for every day until the tag is removed. Herbert said that as of publication, there were no conversations planned for addressing the nuances of this issue that leaves owners footing the bill. Herbert added that financial help is available.

“Please call and let us know and we will give you more time,” Herbert said. “We are not here to punish anybody or fine anybody. We just have to make sure that the laws are complied with.”

Dobson believes that more can be done by the city to protect businesses so that fines don’t end up tagging establishments out of business.

“I think once the business has been fined once and they’ve made the adjustments, if they get retagged […] then kind of leave it alone,” Dobson added.

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