Panel OKs pawnshops in retail areas

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 10:49 a.m.

Future pawnshops could be allowed to migrate from industrial areas again if the Henderson City Council upholds a preliminary approval granted by the Planning Commission Thursday night.

But the applicant, Camco Inc., which does business as SuperPawn, will not have the option of opening any new stores in areas zoned tourist commercial or in the old downtown redevelopment area.

The 6-1 vote would allow pawnshops to operate only in retail areas along highways and near residential neighborhoods. City planners also gave themselves latitude to impose additional limitations on applications on a case-by-case basis.

Under the proposed regulations, all future pawnshops would be required to dedicate at least 50 percent of their floor space to retail sales, some of which would have to be new items. The sale of firearms would be prohibited.

Those limitations were unsatisfactory to Planning Commissioner JoAnn Huffaker's mind.

"The thrust of a pawnshop isn't retail sales," Huffaker said. "I can't support bringing pawnshops into a retail area."

In 1998, city planners voted pawnshops out of all retail areas, limiting them to areas zoned for industrial uses.

Huffaker said those regulations should stand. But other commissioners showed less loyalty to the three-year-old regulations. Commission staff said that during informal conversations, City Council members spoke favorably of loosening restrictions.

Just one resident spoke against allowing future pawnshops back into residential neighborhoods.

Robert Gronauer, an attorney with the Las Vegas firm Kummer Kaempfer Bonner & Renshaw, said SuperPawn's stores did not fit people's usual perception of a pawnshop. They have established more of a retail setting, he said.

About 10 pawnshops operate in Henderson. The majority are along Boulder Highway, but at least three operate in Green Valley.

The City Council will vote on the Planning Commission's recommendation March 20.