Agenda Packets - 2003/10/27 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 9A Meeting Date: October 27, 2003 Type of Business: PH & CB Administrator Review : ______ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Public Hearing, First Reading and Introduction of Ordinance 711, an Ordinance Establishing a Pawn Overlay District Introduction: The City Council adopted an Interim ordinance on February 27, 2003, which directed the Planning Commission to review the licensing and zoning implications related to pawnshops and to recommend applicable provisions. The Planning Commission discussed this issue at meetings in March, April and May of this year, reviewing State statues, ordinances from adjoining communities and ordinances from communities where pawnshops currently operate. The Commission also heard testimony from representatives of the Mounds View Police Department who performed research of their own, discussing the potential impacts of a pawnshop with other police departments. After significant discussion and input from interested parties including residents and tenants from Moundsview Square, the Commission adopted a resolution forwarding two ordinances on to the City Council for their consideration. The City Council deliberated on the pawnshop zoning and licensing matters before sending the zoning component back to the Commission for additional study to consider (1) an overlay district and (2) potential additional uses to include within the overlay. Discussion: The Planning Commission discussed the two issues at length at their July 16th meeting and from that discussion, many questions were raised concerning the legalities of an overlay district. The questions were generally as follows: 1. Is there a minimum amount of land that the City can identify as an overlay district without being unreasonably restrictive? 2. Would the City be at "risk" if the overlay district encompassed ONLY unavailable property? (The golf course, for example) 3. Which other cities (if any) currently have a pawn overlay? 4. Some cities explicitly limit the number of pawnshops that can be sited in the City while other communities ban them outright. Is either practice legally permissible? 5. What are the legal ramifications (outside of the scope of strict land use considerations) of identifying multiple “unwanted” land uses within one overlay? 6. While there is some element of legal risk in everything a city does, is the City at greater risk if it creates a "red light” district, especially if opposed by the property owners?