Lynn to auto repair shops: Clean up

LYNN – City inspectors closed an Ellis Street auto body shop Monday during a code enforcement crackdown that left car repair and body shop owners grumbling about City Hall turning a blind eye to their problems.Enrique Batista shuttered Enrique?s Auto Repair at noon after acknowledging that he had let his annual business certificate, license to store flammables and other city-required credentials expire. Lead code enforcer and city Assistant Parking Director Robert Stilian also ordered Batista to clean up trash around his shop and stop water possibly contaminated by transmission fluid and oil from flowing out of his business.?If you don?t keep it clean, I?ll be back once a week,” Stilian warned Batista.Stilian said complaints from neighboring residents and observations by city inspectors and police officers trigger unannounced code enforcement inspections like Monday?s Alley and Ellis street checks.?It has to do with quality of life and public safety – fire apparatus can?t get down streets if cars are double parked,” Stilian said.Stilian and eight police officers, fire and building inspectors fanned out on Bennett Street Monday morning, quickly irritating Crystal Diamond Auto Body shop owner Jose Grullon.?Every year you have to give me a hard time,” he said as Fire Department inspector Norman Bourque and building inspector Tom Kench walked through his shop. Bourque told Grullon to park fewer cars in his garage and warned that cars parked in an alley next to the shop impeded use of a side door.Kench said the cars parked bumper to bumper also presented an attraction to rats who nest in the chassis.Kench ordered employees in Caribbean Auto Body, located across Alley Street from Crystal, to not park cars they are repairing on the street and warned a parts delivery driver to not double park.Italmondo, an Alley Street automobile painting business, complied with city codes but Kench told owner Pedro Miranda he is responsible for removing graffiti from the building?s exterior walls and reminded him to not leave vehicles on the street or sidewalk. Miranda said the inspection left him “a little shaken.”?But it?s good to clean up the street a little,” he said.In addition to properly storing flammable material, auto businesses are required to have working fire extinguishers and emergency extinguishing systems in place in auto paint spraying booths.Batista said he is aware Stilian and city inspectors periodically check businesses for code compliance and said he will go to City Hall to renew his license.?The city does their job. I don?t have a problem,” he said.But Miranda and Caribbean employee Jose Quezada said the city needs to help auto shop owners obtain more parking. Quezada suggested a one-hour parking limit on Alley Street and Bennett Street.?The parking issue has to be organized. We are bringing business to Lynn from other towns,” he said.Latino Business Association President Frances Martinez said the stores city officials visited Monday are not Association members and said the Association holds informational seminars for body and repair shop owners who are Association members.?We tell them, ?These are things you need to do,?” she said.Stilian acknowledged that 35 auto businesses are concentrated on Alley Street with more located on Bennett Street off Commercial Street, leaving little room for on or off-street parking. Grullon said city officials should allow shop operators to work on vehicles later than 7 p.m.Officer Michael Gorman on Monday urged Grullon to address the complaints pointed out by inspectors who walked through Crystal Diamond Auto Body.?Rectify the complaints and I?ll be down here hugging you and saying, ?Great job,?” Gorman said.Grullon nodded and agreed, and then let out a loud sigh as he got back to work.Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].