Agenda - Planning Commission - 03/04/1997

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Z.B. February 10, 1997- Page 7 I I I i I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Code Violation -- Pawnshop owners claim zoning ordinances are invalid Citation: Hollingsworth v. City of Dallas, 93J S.W.2d 699 (Texas) 1996 The Hollingsworths ran two pawnshops in Dallas, one located on Greenville Avenue. They claimed the city refused to issue a building permit for expansion of one and refused to grant a certificate of occupancy for the other. The city claimed both pawnshops violated its zoning ordinances. The Hollingsworths asked a court to declare the zoning ordinances invalid. In response, the city asked for a permanent ban on the use of the Greenville location as a pawnshop, and asked the court to impose fines. The city showed the trial court the affidavit of an inspector who visited the Greenville site; the official city zoning maps, which showed the Greenville location was in an MU3 zone; and the city development code. The code listed the districts in which pawnshops were allowed. MU3 was not included. The city then asked the court for judgment without a trial. The court decided the Hollingsworths had violated the zoning ordinance. It ordered them to shut down the Greenville Avenue pawnshop and pay a $1,000 fine. The Hollingsworths appealed. They argued the city did not prove they violated city ordinances. They also claimed the city had to prove not just that ;hey violated the zoning ordinance, but that their use of the property created a substantial danger of injury or an adverse health impact. Finally, the Hollingsworths argued the city could not regulate pawnshops. They pointed to the Texas Pawnshop Act, which they claimed gave the state the sole power to regulate pawnshops. The Act stated the Legislature had the exclusive authority' regarding the operation of pawnshops, except for those matters delegated to the consumer credit commissioner. The city countered that a more recent state law, part of the Local Government Code, allowed cities to regulate pawnshops under certain circumstances. That law, which was passed after the Pawnshop Act and referred to the Pawnshop Act, stated municipalities had to designate state-licensed pawnshops as a permitted use in one or more zoning classifications. It also stated municipalities could not impose specific-use permits on state-licensed pawnshops. DECISION: Affirmed, in favor of the city. The city showed the Hollingsworths were operating a pawnshop on Greenville Avenue and that the zoning district covering Greenville Avenue did not permit pawnshops. The city did not have to show a substantial danger of injury or an adverse health impact to ban the pawnshop's operation. The statute the Legislature intended to apply to zoning-ordinance enforcement required only that it prove a violation of the zoning ordinance. The Texas Pawnshop Act did not preempt the city from regulating the location of pawnshops. The Local Government Code allowed municipalities to regulate pawnshops under some circumstances. Dallas was a home-rule city. If the Legislature wanted to preempt a subject matter normally controlled by a