Tea shop’s sign stirs up tempest

Published: Monday, 1/20/2014 - Updated: 30 seconds ago

BY IGNAZIO MESSINA BLADE STAFF WRITER

Sometimes when its David vs. Goliath, a teapot gets broken.

Elaine Terman, owner of Elaines Tea Shoppe in West Toledo, has been embroiled for months in a battle with the city of Toledo about a sign a conflict that has raised the issue of municipal code enforcement versus the treatment of small businesses in a city striving to appear more business-friendly.

At issue is a teapot-shaped sign Ms. Terman has placed on the grass between the sidewalk and the street in front of the tea shop at 3115 West Sylvania Ave.

The city of Toledo is again harassing us about our teapot sign out front! Ms. Terman wrote in a letter posted on Facebook and reposted by dozens of customers.

Ms. Terman moved her business from Sylvania Township back into Toledo in June. She had previously been in Toledo but spent nine years in the township.

I was a little leery about moving back into Toledo because inspectors in Toledo versus Sylvania Township are a different story, she said.

I started hearing from customers about how hard it was to spot the shop, Ms. Terman said, So I had this teapot sign and I put it out there and I started hearing immediately that people saw it.

But a neighboring business operator reported the sign to city inspectors, who told her it violated city law and had to go.

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Tea shop’s sign stirs up tempest