Photo by Jon Anderson
191119_Titlemax
Traffic passes by the TitleMax short-term loan business at 1630 Montgomery Highway in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019. Across the highway is a vape store. New restrictions will, among other things, prohibit new pawn shops, short-term loan shops, vape stores and tobacco stores from locating within 1,000 feet of each other, but existing businesses will be exempt.
The Hoover City Council on Monday night lifted its moratorium against new pawn shops, short-term loan shops, vape stores and tobacco stores after passing new regulations to govern where they can operate.
The new rules prohibit any such new stores from opening within 500 feet of a residential area and within 1,000 feet of a K-12 school, child care facility, church, public library, public playground, public park, youth center or other space primarily used for youth-oriented activities.
Also, any such stores will only be allowed in C-2, C-3 or C-4 commercial zones and will have to get special permission from the city to operate in such zones as a “conditional use.” Further, any such stores cannot be within 1,000 feet of another store in any of those categories.
Councilman Casey Middlebrooks, who initiated the moratorium against pawn shops, short-term loan shops, vape stores and tobacco stores until city leaders could develop the new regulations, said he believes the new restrictions put Hoover communities and families first.
When the council passed the moratorium in October 2018, Middlebrooks said these types of businesses were undesirable and hindered the recruitment of desirable businesses. Also, Middlebrooks and many council members campaigned on protecting older, established neighborhoods in Hoover from decay, and some older neighborhoods have seen a proliferation of these types of businesses.
The new regulations allow for strategic redevelopment of certain areas of Hoover, Middlebrooks said Monday night. “I feel like it meets our quality-of-life expectations we have in the city of Hoover.”
The distance restrictions already applied to vape stores, thanks to a new law passed by the state Legislature this spring, Councilman Mike Shaw said.
City Planner Mac Martin said any existing pawn shops, short-term loan shops, vape stores or tobacco stores are not affected by the new restrictions. They are “grandfathered” at their existing location and can stay in that location as a “nonconforming” business.
Businesses that sell vaping and tobacco goods as an ancillary product, such as gasoline stations and grocery stores, also are not affected by these restrictions, Martin said. It applies only to vape and tobacco stores where those products are the primary source of revenue, he said.
The ordinance does apply, however, to any business that serves as a pawnbroker and/or secondhand dealer and any business that provides short-term loans on car titles, installment loans of 90 days or less, and/or payday loans, except a bank or savings and loan institution regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.