Contested tent, the TAR agrees with Lucio Paesani

The tug of war between the Municipality of Rimini and the entrepreneur Lucio Paesani which revolved around the tent to cover the Coconuts dance floor has ended, at least for now. The TAR of Emilia-Romagna, with yesterday’s ruling, partly declared the appeal presented by the nightclub owner and the lawyer Franco Fiorenza inadmissible and partly accepted it, annulling the provision with which the municipal administration of Rimini had ordered the demolition of the roof. The story is well known. In 2019, following some investigations, Paesani was challenged for the covering and side infills installed in 2008 on the dance floor of the club on the seafront side. The entire ‘indicted’ area (approximately 180 square metres) was placed under preventive seizure by the local police at the disposal of the Prosecutor’s Office. Paesani ends up on trial, but is acquitted: he did not commit any building abuse. A few days after the verdict, the ordinance arrived from the Municipality ordering the demolition of the roof. “The Municipality’s initiative is paradoxical – Franco Fiorenza, Paesani’s lawyer, observed – given that the judges have established that there has been no building abuse. The tent has been there since 2008, authorized by all the competent bodies including the Municipality”. The lawyer had filed an urgent appeal with the TAR against the order requesting the suspension of the provision. “The vertical roofs of the structure – the judges noted – have to date been removed by the appellant, so that for these interventions there is no longer any interest in the appeal, as the Municipality is partly unable to demand the demolition of works that no longer exist. For the entire remaining part, the structure follows what was agreed by the administration through the Dia presented in 2008, that is, in essence, an artifact similar to a pergola”.