Naples, work has begun on the private parking in via Aniello Falcone

In the Neapolitan neighborhood of Vomero, with the resumption of activities after the summer break, doubts and controversies are intensifying in these days, to say no to the construction of new private underground parking lots

Gennaro Capodanno, engineer, president of the Comitato Valori Colliri, former head of the district, and founder of the group on the Facebook social network, once again weighs in on the long-standing issue: "The hill says enough to construction sites and excavations."

“Once again, we reiterate our firm rejection of the construction of private underground parking lots, which, among other things, risk reducing the Naples hills to a veritable sieve, with imaginable repercussions on the structure of the subsoil as well,” Capodanno states.

This is especially true given that many of the garages built in recent years in the hilly municipality, placed on the market at prices of tens of thousands of euros, have not always easily found buyers.

So we ask ourselves what sense there is in continuing to build other private underground garages a few hundred meters from the unsold ones, since the demand would currently be lower than the supply."

"We take this opportunity," Capodanno emphasizes, "to once again highlight the failed traffic policy of the Neapolitan municipal administration. They have failed to implement a comprehensive project to reduce the significant amount of cars on the hill, instead of facilitating and increasing it through the creation of additional parking spaces."

I am referring, in particular, to the strengthening and improvement of public transport in an area home to three funiculars and three hilltop metro stations: Piazza Vanvitelli, Piazza Quattro Giornate, and Piazza Medaglie d'Oro.

A public transport system on rails that unfortunately, for some time now, has shown continuous disservices and malfunctions, as demonstrated, most recently, by the closure of the Chiaia funicular for almost a year, without even the twenty-year revision work having started yet.

"Meanwhile," Capodanno emphasizes, "work has begun in recent days on the construction of a private, three-story underground car park with no restrictions on its ownership. It will be located on Via Aniello Falcone, at number 249, near the private Diaz side street, covering an area of ​​approximately 4 square meters.

This is where tennis courts once stood, and where a massive crane has been installed for over a decade. This crane has sparked much controversy, often making headlines due to residents' concerns about the swaying of the bridge on windy days.

A parking lot that includes the construction of three underground levels, with 118 parking spaces, ranging in size from 15 square meters and up and with prices starting from 80 thousand euros and up, as stated on the dedicated website.

A parking lot—Evangelo recalls—that raised numerous concerns after the Campania Regional Administrative Court, with a 2009 ruling, rejected the appeal filed by the real estate company Belvedere spa for the annulment of the decree of the Superintendency for Architectural and Landscape Heritage of Naples, dated September 18, 2008, which had annulled the landscape authorization decree of the Municipality of Naples no. 19 of May 23, 2008.

Relating to the request of the same company to the Municipality of Naples to build in via Aniello Falcone, to be precise at the private Diaz crossroads, in an area falling within a landscape-restricted zone, a permanent and non-appurtenant underground car park with the arrangement of the overlying surface to be used as a public space equipped for games and sports.

A story that has been going on for fifteen years and which has only recently come to a conclusion with the beginning of the work."

Regarding the issues raised, Capodanno launches yet another appeal to the Neapolitan municipal administration, specifically the mayor of Naples, to prevent the construction of new private underground parking lots within the hilly municipality.