COS tattoo shop puts mural with genitalia on their roof, over apartment building towing clients’ cars

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The owners of one Colorado Springs tattoo shop say that the mural on the roof of their business, featuring numerous images of genitalia, is their frustrated response to a next-door apartment building towing their clients vehicles, from an alley that they share.

The root of the dispute between the 532CO apartments and Fallen Heroes tattoo shop, which are both located along Colorado Avenue just shy of downtown Colorado Springs, lies in the fact that a handful of parking spots within the alley, line up next to the tattoo shop's main entrance, putting clients in a sometimes confusing position.

Tattoo shop manager Michelle Rizzuto explains to KRDO13 that their business has been open for nine years, and the alley and its parking spots used to be their property. She says that the land was bought by 523CO about three years ago, when construction for their apartment building began.

Rizzuto says her ownership battled to keep the parking spots. Owner of Fallen Heroes, David Brown, who has another location in Florida, told KRDO13 that they even made an offer in the hundreds of thousands of dollars over the alley, however they were unsuccessful.

For about the last year, Rizzuto explains that the apartment building has had a few signs indicating their property is private, even specifically indicating that any vehicles parked on the premises, unless authorized to do so, would be towed.

She continues to say that for the first six to eight months, a tow truck driver would typically come inside the business to warn if a client was parked illegally, to give that person the opportunity to move their car.

Now, in the last three or so months, clients have had their cars towed without any warning, sometimes in very brief periods of time spent inside.

That frustration, is what led to the shop electing to paint a mural on their roof, to be on display for the apartment building. You can see that mural below:

KRDO13 has blurred the contents of the mural, as it depicts numerous images of male genitalia, and other more graphic acts that we are choosing not to detail.

The mural was designed and painted by "Paes164", a man who is both a tattoo artist at Fallen Heroes Tattoo and Piercing shop and a popular muralist in Colorado Springs, who has painted over 100 murals within the city.

The manager of Fallen Heroes, Michelle Rizzuto, explained the sentiment behind the mural.

"We used to have a view [of the mountains]. We used to have a parking lot. We didn't have to worry about our clients' cars getting towed, and so just when we kept sitting around... everybody's response kept being, what a bunch of d***s." said Rizzuto.

Paes164 then explained why he and shop management chose the specific design.

He says the mural is intended to be a tow truck driver, running over innocent people while towing a car behind them, with people traveling on hot air balloons, bikes, snowboards, and hiking to get away from the driver. However, all the parties involved in the mural, are all represented by male genitalia.

"The initial thought was just kind of over how rude the apartment complex has been. And if we're just going to do something to kind of just piss them off, then we should just go full throttle." explained Paes164.

Rizzuto contends that the signage that's already posted along the apartment's property, aren't overtly obvious to customers pulling into the parking spaces, which hug the wall of their business. Instead, she and other management have offered other ideas to the building owners.

"We've asked him to put signs up, or to put, to paint the parking spots, put permit parking only or something in it." explained the shop manager.

She says that apartment management once told them to put up signs on their wall, which line the parking spaces, however Rizzuto says that another colorful mural on that wall, has been there for all nine years of the business' existence, and they don't want to cover it up.

"It's not our responsibility to mark your parking spots. It's your responsibility." she stated.

Rizzuto says that despite their complaints, their shop has taken to reminding clients about the off-limits parking for the last year, and even have a sign at their front desk to give the warning. She says, however, with 23 artists on staff, they can have just as many clients inside at one time, meaning some people get missed.

Ultimately, Paes164 and Rizzuto both say, they don't want the mural to stay there forever. They just the best for their clients, in an area with very limited parking.

"As long as they just put the signage up correctly, we'll paint over the mural." said Rizzuto.

Boardwalk Property Management, who owns the 532CO apartment building, sent KRDO13 the following statement over email:

At 532CO Apartments, we have ample signage clearly designating the areas for resident parking only, specifically within our designated lot. Our towing policies apply strictly to vehicles in this lot, and we do not tow from public spaces such as the street or alley. If we were towing from public areas, we would be in contact with the city regarding such issues; however, this has not been a concern, as our practices comply fully with city regulations and are limited solely to private parking areas reserved for our residents.

We understand the importance of clear communication with our neighbors and encourage businesses in the area to reach out if they have any concerns. To date, we have not been made aware of unresolved contact attempts, but we are more than willing to establish an open line of communication to ensure a mutual understanding.

-Maria Estes, Boardwalk Property Management