WARREN Shutting down 77 Soul?

The inspection was to boost the site's capacity, the owner said.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN --The owner of a U.S. Route 422 nightspot said he expects the city to shut down his business today because of building code issues.
Representatives of the building and fire departments conducted a safety inspection at 77 Soul on Wednesday afternoon, listing five violations that Lashawn Ziegler, owner, had planned to correct by Saturday.
Ziegler said the inspection was to update the business's capacity for occupancy.
Violations included replacement of a side door with new glass and a panic bar, removal of a padlock from a rear basement door, cleaning out the basement, getting fire extinguishers replaced and removal of a large canvas painting from the dining room area.
Told of citation
Ziegler already had taken steps to get the door replaced when he got a call Thursday from Chris Taneyhill, city chief building official. Ziegler said Taneyhill told him he had a citation against the business that he would deliver this afternoon and that the business "would be down for awhile."
"The intention was never to up my capacity," the club owner said. "It was to shut me down."
Taneyhill couldn't be reached Thursday afternoon.
Ziegler also questions why a citation to shut down his business would be delivered on a Friday when it had been prepared the day before. He's only open Friday and Saturday evenings.
Ziegler said he wasn't told what the citation was for, but he speculates that the city may be trying to label 77 Soul a nightclub. That would require sprinklers.
But Ziegler argues that he serves food and is a restaurant/lounge, not a nightclub.
"I serve food, I buy food," he said. "They know me at Sam's Club very well because I buy food there every week."
That's the way he's been operating for 18 months.
"If that isn't right then they shouldn't have approved me to open in the first place," Ziegler said.
Mayor's comments
Mayor Michael J. O'Brien said he's aware of a discussion set for today among Taneyhill, Ziegler and the building's owner to review results of the inspection that was done Wednesday.
He believes that Ziegler had wanted to increase the business's capacity because he wanted it to be a nightclub.
& quot;Going from a restaurant to a nightclub involves a whole different realm of code enforcement issues, & quot; O'Brien said.
He said he believes that a sprinkler system is a requirement for a nightclub but not a restaurant.
Law Director Greg Hicks said he was told there were some building code violations against the business and he was asked to be available this afternoon. He didn't know what the violations entail.
Ziegler points to what he views as additional harassment of getting pulled over by police Wednesday afternoon and issued a citation for speeding. The ticket doesn't list a speed at which Ziegler was traveling.
The officer said he was pacing Ziegler's vehicle.
Earlier this week, O'Brien called a meeting with Ziegler, the owner of the building and representatives of several city departments to talk about problems at the club.
Police have been called to the business many times over the last year on reports ranging from gunfire and stabbings to parking violations.
O'Brien said after that meeting, that Ziegler was "on notice" to address the problems.