Hoover council passes temporary moratorium against vape shops, pawn shops, payday loan centers

The Hoover City Council tonight voted 4-3 to pass a temporary moratorium against issuing business licenses to vape shops, pawn shops, check cashing stores and businesses that issue car title loans or payday loans or advances.

Hoover Councilman Casey Middlebrooks proposed the moratorium, saying these types of businesses are undesirable and hinder the recruitment of other desirable businesses.

Middlebrooks said many council members campaigned on the idea of protecting older, established neighborhoods from decay and he believes this moratorium is a step in fulfilling that promise.

Some older neighborhoods, such as those along Lorna Road, have seen a proliferation of these undesirable businesses, he said.

He said he wants to keep the moratorium in place until the city can take a comprehensive look at rewriting its zoning ordinance and/or subdivision regulations as it pertains to these businesses.

Councilmen Curt Posey, Derrick Murphy and John Greene joined Middlebrooks in approving the moratorium, while Councilman Mike Shaw, John Lyda and Gene Smith voted against it.

Shaw said he lives in an older neighborhood and also campaigned on the need to protect older neighborhoods. However, he believes there are better ways to do so than an outright moratorium.

Shaw has offered a proposal that would limit vape shops, pawn shops, body art establishments and short-term loan shops to C-2 commercial districts and prohibit them within 500 feet of a residential district or within 1,000 feet of each other. The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 8 recommended the City Council approve those restrictions, and the council is set to vote on them on Nov. 5.

Shaw said his proposal would protect neighborhoods while maintaining a pro-business environment. While government does have authority to regulate business, a moratorium goes too far, he said. “I think this is an abuse of government power.”

There’s not really an overabundance of these types of businesses in Hoover, Shaw said. There are only 15 out of about 4,000 businesses in the city, he said.

Also, he doesn’t believe these types of businesses hinder the city’s ability to recruit other businesses. Huntsville, Mobile and Birmingham are able to recruit businesses despite having businesses such as pawn shops and vape shops, he said.

Shipt in July announced it is expanding in Birmingham, adding 881 new jobs, and there are three of the types of businesses affected by Hoover’s moratorium within four city blocks of Shipt, Shaw said.

Lyda said this was just another example of big government solutions looking for a problem. While the moratorium originally proposed didn’t prohibit existing such businesses from continuing to operate, they would not be able to relocate elsewhere in Hoover if their building were damaged by a fire, he said.

He doesn’t like the idea of government outlawing a certain type of business just because some people don’t like that type of business, he said.

Fran Bishop, president of the Alabama Pawn Brokers Association and past president of the National Pawn Brokers Association, asked the council to postpone consideration of the moratorium and study the different types of businesses separately.

She argued that the two pawn shops in Hoover provide valuable financial services to Hoover residents. Anywhere from 75 to 90 percent of their customers live in Hoover, she said.

The Alabama Pawn Brokers Association has had its annual conference in Hoover for at least 10 years but won’t be coming back, she said.

Randy Toffel, a 33-year Hoover resident who owns the Vapeology in Lorna Brook Village, said vape shops also provide a valuable service to the people of Hoover. It provides them a much healthier alternative to smoking, he said.

Councilmen Curt Posey and Derrick Murphy suggested amending the moratorium to allow existing businesses in Hoover to relocate within the city. That amendment passed, and that’s when the moratorium was approved.

Murphy said he’s a true capitalist and doesn’t like the idea of government telling him what to do. However, there are some times when capitalism collides with culture, he said.

Governments rightly regulate such things as smoking and strip clubs, he said. The Hoover community is based on family values, he said.

Susanne Wright of the Monte D’Oro Neighborhood Association, thanked the council members who voted in favor of the moratorium, saying it was needed to protect neighborhoods from undesirable businesses.

Posey said it’s possible the council could rescind the moratorium if Shaw’s proposed zoning restrictions are approved on Nov. 5. He doesn’t believe there would be a need for a moratorium in that case, he said.

However, he also noted he has some questions about Shaw’s proposed zoning restrictions.

Originally, Shaw had proposed that these types of businesses be required to come individually to the zoning board and City Council to get “conditional use” approval, much like car washes and gasoline stations must do. But planning commissioners voted to remove that requirement, saying it was an unnecessary hurdle for business owners if the other distance restrictions are already in place.

In other business tonight, the City Council:

• Rezoned 259 acres owned by the Freshwater Land Trust between Ross Bridge Parkway and Shades Crest Road from Jefferson County I-3 Industrial and A-1 agricultural zones to a Hoover A-1 agricultural district.
• Agreed to allow the expansion of a parking lot on 1.2 acres at the Chase Corporate Center at 1834 Montgomery Highway to service a building now occupied by a St. Vincent’s health clinic, Winonah School of Cosmetology and Pure Barre fitness center.
• Agreed to add .62 acres at 118 Mars Hill Road to the Trace Crossings Planned Unit Development and rezone that recently annexed property from a Jefferson County preferred commercial zone to a planned commercial district. The existing medical clinic there will be razed to make way for a Spine & Sports Properties clinic, City Planner Mac Martin said.
• Approved a license for Dave and Buster’s to sell alcoholic beverages at 2000 Riverchase Galleria, Suit 110 and B&B Bartending to sell alcoholic beverages at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex at 100 Ben Chapman Drive.
• Began the process of annexing the former Riverchase Middle School property, which is being transformed into a skilled trades center for the Hoover school system called the Riverchase Career Connection Center. The property must be annexed in phases because of its proximity to Pelham.
• Affirmed Mayor Frank Brocato’s appointment of Ann Lusco and Robyn Henderson to the Hoover Beautification Board and reappointment of Jennifer Gregory, Rebecca Hassee, Diane Ray, Mary Ross Searcy and Donna Spencer to the same board.
• Agreed to pay to have the weeds and grass at 2335 Deerwood Road cut due to the overgrown nature of the property being deemed a public nuisance and the property owner billed for the cutting.
• Declared properties at 2054 Woodmeadow Circle and 2033 Russet Woods Trail a public nuisance due to overgrown weeds and/or grass.

This article was updated at 11:16 p.m. to include additional actions taken by the City Council and at 8:52 a.m. on Oct. 16 to remove tattoo parlors from the moratorium. A copy of the ordinance provided at the meeting included tattoo parlors in the moratorium, but they were removed from the proposed ordinance just prior to the meeting.