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means of identifying pawnshops, excluding businesses that lend
<br />money exclusively on "deposits of secondhand precious metals."
<br /> Pawnshops have been permitted by right in two
<br />commercial zones as retail uses. Although the new rules
<br />would not apply retroactively to existing pawnshops, new
<br />pawnshops would have to apply for special use permits.
<br />Further, their overall number may not increase from the
<br />current 11, nor may they locate within a mile of an existing
<br />pawnshop. Pawnshops abutting a residential zone line,
<br />school, or church would have to erect a six-foot-high buffer
<br />in combination with landscaping, and the zoning
<br />commissioner would be entitled to limit their hours of
<br />operation.
<br /> The proposal would also regulate pawnshop signage, limiting
<br />signs to 75 square feet. These signs may not extend above the
<br />eaves line ufa pitched roof or the parapet ufa flat roof.
<br />Freestanding signs would not be permitted, and the zoning
<br />commissioner could take steps to ensure signs' compatibility
<br />with signage on neighboring businesses. County planner Karen
<br />Brown says that, because the council is expected to act on the
<br />proposal soon, the ordinance will probably take effect while the
<br />moratorium is still in effect. Fay Do/nick
<br />
<br />St. Paul Restricts
<br />Currency Exchanges
<br />
<br />The St. Paul, Minnesota, city council has amended its zoning
<br />ordinance to restrict the number and location of check-
<br />cashing businesses, also known as currency exchanges. The
<br />measure, adopted in January., is one of several that have been
<br />proposed to limit various unpopular land uses in or near
<br />residential neighborhoods. Other proposals still pending
<br />before the city council include restrictions on pawn shops,
<br />gun shops, and taverns.
<br /> Currency exchanges typically cash checks and issue money
<br />orders for people who do not have bank accounts. Because of
<br />their lower-income clientele, they are most often located in
<br />poorer neighborhoods and commercial districts. That very
<br />concentration rends to produce some unease among
<br />neighborhood leaders. In 1993, a planning commission study
<br />found that the exchanges tend to require more police services,
<br />generating twice as many calls to police as an equivalent number
<br />of banks. Most of these calls, however, involved bad checks
<br />rather than violent customers.
<br />
<br />Zoning News is a monthly newsletter published by the American Planning Association.
<br />Subsctlptlons arc available for $45 (U.S.) and $54 (foreign).
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<br />
<br />Zoni,g News is produced at APA. Jim Schwab, Editor; Michael Barrette. Dan Biver,
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<br />Design and Production.
<br />Copyright ©1995 by American Phnning Association, 1313 E. 60th St., Cbicago, IL
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<br /> The new restrictions allow currency exchanges as special
<br />conditional uses in heavy commercial and industrial districts,
<br />where they must be at least 100 feet from any residential lot.
<br /> Dan Biver
<br />
<br />Communication Towers
<br />Take High Road
<br />
<br />While other communities wage battles over where to site satellite
<br />dishes and communication towers, Monroe, Connecticut, has
<br />taken the high road. The former municipal dump site, situated
<br />atop the highest hill in the area, is home to the Monroe
<br />Communications Park. Planner Dan Tuba wrote the overlay
<br />zoning that created the park, "We don't have any siting problems
<br />in Monroe," says Tuba. "With the park dedicated to antennas,
<br />we're actually in a position to ~velcome them."
<br /> In addition to avoiding difficult siting issues, the town has
<br />profited from a parcel that was once considered unusable. So
<br />far, there are two towers, leased to a cable company and a
<br />telephone company. The renters sublease space on the towers to
<br />other tenants. Both towers have enough space for a few more
<br />whip antennas. That arrangement pleases the town of Monroe
<br />because, in addition to the monthly rent of the towers, the town
<br />collects a percentage of the sublessor's rent.
<br /> The site, first leased in 1980, offers a line of sight to antennas
<br />on the Empire &ate Building and World Trade Center. The
<br />second tower was built adjacent to the dump site in 1990. Tuba
<br />reports that the park has room for several more towers and
<br />satellite dishes. Charles Spanbauer, Monroe's economic
<br />development coordinator, says that, in addition to providing a
<br />source of income, the communications park is a success with the
<br />public. "We have had very few complaints," he says. "The
<br />towers are relatively unobtrusive, and the park is really out of
<br />the way so there aren't many residents near it."
<br /> Michad Barrette
<br />
<br /> GReports
<br />The Zoning Dictionary; The Zoning Provisions
<br />Encyclopedia.; The Zoning Diagrams ·
<br />
<br />Compendium
<br />Lehman &Associates, 113 Collier St., Barrie, ON, L4M 1H2,
<br />Canada. Both 1994. 182pp. and 104 pp., respectively. $75 for the
<br />dictionmy or encyclopedia; $20 for the compendium; $160 for the
<br />three-volume set. Price includes shipping.
<br />The publisher describes these volumes as % resource for
<br />planners, lawyers and others involved in the preparation of
<br />Zoning By-laws by providing a useful and practical base of
<br />information." The encyclopedia offers sample zoning language
<br />compiled from adopted zoning ordinances from the U.S. and
<br />Canada. The topics are compiled under 27 major zoning topics.
<br />The diagrams in the compendium are a collection o'fsome
<br />standard diagrams for use ~n defining zoning terms and
<br />regulations. They cover illustrations, such as building bulk
<br />plane, yard and setback diagrams, landscaping, screening, and
<br />buffers. No references or sources are identified in either of the
<br />two volumes. The publisher claims that this was done to
<br />improve the clarity of the material.
<br />
<br />
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