In March of 2016 an ordinance was adopted that identified restricted personal service uses as commercial retail uses including: blood plasma centers, body piercing establishments, check cashing stores, instant loan stores, day labor establishments, pawn shops, tattoo parlors and the cultivation, processing or dispensing of cannabis. The reason that these uses are considered to be problematic is because a concentration of these types of businesses creates an image of economic decline and serves as an impediment to positive development efforts.

Additionally, it is believed that these personal service uses should be disbursed throughout a business district in order to minimize their adverse impacts.  In that regard the ordinance establishes minimum separation distances from other restricted service uses, public or private day care centers, places of worship, public parks, libraries, recreation centers, public or private schools and regulated adult uses.

The purpose of this agenda item is twofold.  First, to expand the definitions to include an instant loan store.  An instant loan store is a retail business that loans customers money in exchange for an automobile title.  This type of business is considered to be predatory in nature and therefore should be appropriately categorized as a restricted personal service use.

The second change in the ordinance relates to the distancing requirements between restricted personal service uses.  The current ordinance sets forth a distancing requirement between problematic uses of 500 feet.  Since this standard was adopted and based on the size of some of the commercial properties particularly situated on U.S. Highway 19 it appears that the standard set is not properly restrictive.  Therefore, the proposed ordinance establishes the separation requirement to be 1,000 ft. between uses.  Copies of maps which depict both the 500 ft and 1,000 ft radii are attached to this communication.

The proposed ordinance is consistent with the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan.

The Land Development Review Board at their meeting on July 19, 2018 voted unanimously in favor of recommending the adoption of the ordinance.