Ordinance proposed to limit pawnshops

By Sally Voth - svoth@nvdaily.com

WOODSTOCK -- A proposed ordinance would allow the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors to limit the number of pawnshops in the county.

Planning and Zoning Director Brandon Davis presented the proposal to the supervisors' Public Safety and Code Committee on Tuesday.

"Are we required by law to have this?" asked District 4 Supervisor Sharon Baroncelli, who is the committee's chairwoman. Davis said the county is under no such requirement.

State law allows prospective pawn brokers to apply for a license with the circuit court. But the code also allows counties to enact ordinances limiting the number of pawnshops.

Attorney Kevin Black sent a letter to Zoning Subdivision Administrator Joyce Fadeley last month asking for an ordinance that would allow pawnshops in the local business district. He represents Adam and Nick Lefferts, who plan to open a pawnshop at 18127 Old Valley Pike south of Woodstock.

According to a staff report from the planning and zoning department, pawnshops aren't by-right uses in any county zoning district.

Staff is recommending that such shops also be allowed in the general business district.

The proposed ordinance would allow a maximum of three pawnshops in the unincorporated areas of Shenandoah County.

"We would probably have to allow it somewhere," Davis told the committee. "Our recommendation is that business districts are the place to allow them."

Board of Supervisors Chairman David Ferguson asked Shenandoah County Sheriff's Maj. Scott Proctor's opinion of pawnshops from a law-enforcement perspective.

"It's a double-edged sword," Proctor said. "It provides an avenue for a criminal who has stolen property [to fence it]. It also provides a resource for law enforcement to catch a criminal."

On Thursday, Davis said the proposed ordinance also would require that the Shenandoah County Sheriff's Office receive electronic records from such shops rather than paper records.

State code requires pawn brokers to keep a daily report of everything pawned or sold. The reports include the name, address and driver's license number, or another form of identification, of those who have pawned items, as well as what those items were. They are due by noon the next day.

A joint public hearing with the supervisors and Planning Commission on the proposed ordinance is planned for Oct. 7.