(a) Findings. The City Council makes the following findings regarding the need to regulate
operating within the city.
(1)
provide an opportunity for the commission of crime and the concealment of crime, because
have the ability to receive and transfer stolen property easily and quickly.
(2) The pawn industry has outgrown the city’s current ability to effectively and efficiently identify criminal activity related to
and
. The adoption of an automated pawn system will allow law enforcement officials to timely collect and share pawn transaction information more efficiently.
(3) Consumer protection regulation of pawn transactions is warranted in light of the potential for abuse.
(4) Because of the propensity of
to attract criminals attempting to conduct transactions involving stolen goods,
have the potential to be generally injurious to the maintenance and development of healthy, adjacent commercial, recreational and residential areas.
(5) To safeguard the public health, safety and welfare, and to help stabilize costs associated with the regulation of the pawn industry, it is necessary to restrict the number of
permitted to conduct business within the community.
(b) Purpose statement. The City Council enacts this Division M of the city code in order to further the following objectives:
(1) The prevention of
from being used as facilities for the commission of crime;
(2) The identification of criminal activities through timely collection and sharing of pawn transaction information;
(3) The promulgation of consumer protection standards to be adhered to by the pawn industry;
(4) To separate youth from the pawn industry;
(5) To protect property values, prevent blight, and protect the public health, safety and general welfare; and
(6) To stabilize the city’s costs of regulating the pawn industry.
(1958 Code, § 143.11) (Ord. 37, passed 8-7-1961; Ord. 41, passed 9-6-1961; recodified by Ord. 95-13, passed 8-7-1995; Ord. 97-16, passed 5-5-1997; added by Ord. 98-27, passed 6-15-1998; Ord. 2007-18, passed 5-7-2007)