City to Consider Limiting Secondhand Stores, Pawnshops

The City of Newark may soon make steps toward limiting where secondhand shops and pawn stores can open within city limits.

A public hearing on an ordinance that aims to remove secondhand stores and pawnshops form the city's list of permitted uses in particular commercial districts will be held at Thursday's council meeting, according to the council agenda. 

The council meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 37101 Newark Blvd.

According to the agenda, the stores are defined as follows:

Pawn Store: "Every person engaged in the business of receiving goods, including motor vehicles, in pledge as security for a loan is a pawn broker.."

Secondhand store: "..any person, co-partnership, firm, or corporation whose business includes buying, selling, trading, taking in pawn, accepting for sale or consignment, accepting for auctioning, or auctioning secondhand tangible personal property."

City officials note that there has been an increase of secondhand stores in the city, according to the agenda. Newark currently has 11 licensed secondhand dealers, the agenda notes.

The city agenda also states that Newark police have seen a rise in burglaries in the past year and that jewelry is often stolen. Secondhand stores, according to the agenda, "make it easy to dispose of the stolen goods and receive cash in its place."

If the proposed ordinance is adopted, secondhand stores and pawnshops must obtain a conditional use permit in order to operate. 

For more details, click here to for the entire agenda. 

What do you think of the proposal to require secondhand stores and pawnshops to obtain a conditional use permit? Share your thoughts in our comments section below.