This is the time to make your opinion known to the City

The below letter was sent to the 5 Council Members, the Mayor, City Manager and Zoning Administrator. With the May meetings at hand it is time for everyone to make known to the City Administration your views on having this 'illegal' Pawn Shop remain in the strip mall.


You might also want to take note that Venturi's lawyer Mr. Sams is asking that all those 'exceptions' they agreed to in 2004 be scrapped, not just the one regarding 'Pawn Shops', this could allow usage for pool halls, paint and body repair shops, breeding and boarding kennels etc.


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Sunday, ‎29 ‎April, ‎2012

  

Dear Mr. Simmons: 

In a 10/4/04 City Commission meeting, the City approved Ordinance No. 2004-50, which changed the zoning on the Venturi property from PUD to City HGB and that change was specific in saying:  "adopted subject to the following conditions:  1) Sept. 28, 2004 letter from Sams, Larkin and Huff (attached hereto)".

This comprehensive 5 page letter, at page 2 had exclusions of otherwise permitted uses under the HGB District listing items a. through z., and at item s. we find "Pawn Shops" as one of the excluded uses.  This letter was signed by Mr. Garvis L. Sams, Jr.

An attorney for Mr. Venturi, the property owner, now 8 years later, comes before the current City Commission to complain with a 'Constitutional Challenge' that Mr. Venturi had his rights under both the United States Constitution and the Georgia Constitution of 1983, trampled by the City of Kennesaw in restricting his client's usage of the property.

Further this attorney seeks rezoning of the Venturi property to eliminate all conditional HGB exclusions from the 2004 agreement.

It seems that the lawyer used by Mr. Venturi in 2004 must have been totally incompetent to allow his client Mr. Venturi to enter into such an agreement in order to get the zoning changed so he could build a strip mall on a piece of residential property.

But wait a minute!  The attorney in the current 2012 Constitutional Challenge is Mr. Garvis L. Sams, Jr and wasn't the Venturi lawyer of 2004 also a Garvis L. Sams, Jr? 

Mr. Venturi has the attorney who brokered the agreement, denounce this same agreement as unconstitutional and an infringement of Mr. Venturi's rights!  The obvious question here is that, if the 2004 agreement was so bad, unconstitutional and infringed on Mr. Venturi's rights, why did Mr. Sams draft it in the first place?

What we have before the City Commission is a land owner who made an agreement to get his land rezoned in 2004 and when this strip mall proved to be an under performing bad investment he is now desperate to get any tenants into his mall with no regard to the earlier willing agreement to exclude various types of 'undesireable' businesses. 

Prior to this Cruchelow license being mistakenly issued, I was told that 3 other applicants for licenses in this strip mall had been turned down.  Mr. Venturi keeps sending to the City those businesses that he knows can not be licensed in the hopes that they can slip through the vetting procedures.  In this case that happened.  

It is now time to correct this error.

The defense that Mr. Venturi "did not know" that there was to be a Pawn Shop in the mall is belied as the 37 page lease Venturi drafted and signed, states clearly on pages 2 and 7, that a Pawn Shop was the intended usage for the 2 units lease of 60 months.

Mr. Venturi made a bad business decision in building his 2nd strip mall and he is desperate to get ANY business to rent there.  3 of his 17 units are now empty and only 2 of the businesses in the mall seem to be doing enough trade to stay afloat.

I hope that the City of Kennesaw will make short work of this Constitutional Challenge nonsense and enforce the current zoning regulations which bar Pawn Shops.

Sincerely,

Bill Harris

P O Box 535

Kennesaw, Ga 30156

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Right click and open new link for larger image:

My Email to City - It is time for you to write!

Subject: Pawn Shop Lease Now Available - Information you should know 
Date: 4/27/2012 4:13:44 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time

From: WmHarris2010@aol.com

To: mmathews@kennesaw-ga.gov, randall.bentley@bbandblaw.com, cwelsh@kennesaw-ga.gov, bjenkins@kennesaw-ga.gov, jduckett@kennesaw-ga.gov, tkillingsworth@kennesaw-ga.gov, skennedy@kennesaw-ga.gov, bthrash@kennesaw-ga.gov

To: Mayor, City Manager, City Council

1)  I have obtained a copy of a copy of the Venturi/Cruchelow Lease from the City Clerk. It is dated Sept 8, 2011 and signed 9/7/11 by Venturi as Managing Partner and both Serena and John Cruchelow. It is 37 pages and has the financial information blacked out, it is for a 60 month term.

The lease is a copy of a copy and difficult to read. This section deals with the use of the rented property.

Marked as Page 2 at 1.1(k) reads as follows:
"USE" - Tenant shall use the premises for the retail sale repair, and loan of jewelry; for a gold buying operation, for the purchase, loan and sale of firearms (but Tenant may not sell ammunition); and for pawn brokering services and for no other purpose whatsoever."

It seems obvious that the land owner Venturi had ample notice that this shop would be used as a Pawn Shop.

We know that 8 years ago the same Venturi/Sams combo practically begged the City and area residents to allow a change of usage from residential to business for his 2.91 acres and in return for the change they agreed to various businesses not being allowed on that property.

I understand that he has disclaimed knowledge of the intended use by the Cruchelows but the lease is one prepared by Venturi and/or lawyer Sams and it is clear that one of the uses was to be a Pawn Shop operation and that this was known as early as 9/8/11 when the lease was typed up.

So when Venturi claims to other shop Owners in his mall that he was unaware of the intended usage of these 2 units leased by Cruchelow is he a Liar?

I will leave that for you to decide, I have already made up my mind on the matter and I look forward to he and Sams appearing to argue this issue before the City Commission.

2) Also in the matter of the change of wording with the sign at the Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan, as of today that sign was not changed and remains the same as it did, despite promises made by Cruchelow and his lawyer Pryor at the 4/2/12 City Council Meeting that the 'Loan' portion of the sign would be changed (cost quoted as $500) it has not been changed.
 
3)  It seems obvious to me and other area residents, that neither Venturi/Sams or the Cruchelow's have dealt with the City in an honest and above board manner. We look forward to the coming May meetings and hope that the City of Kennesaw has by now had enough BS from both parties and is prepared to act decisively and have the Pawn Shop removed.

Bill Harris

Pawn Shop Promises - But Does Nothing about Sign

At the April 2nd City Council meeting it was decided that the City of Kennesaw had no jurisdiction to enforce the Georgia Code section which barred Pawn Shops from using 'Loan' in their advertisements.  However the topic of the name of the store 'Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan' came up repeatedly as that name by itself was an obvious violation of that Code section.

It was represented to the Council and audience 3 times that the sign was going to be changed quickly and the cost to Cruchelow for the change was established to be $500.

As of 5/1/12 there have been no changes at all in the signage: 

Below are the 3 references to changing the sign to remove the term 'Loan' both Attorney Pryor and Cruchelow told the City Attorney and Councilmember Jenkins that the wording was to be quickly changed:

Attorney Pryor: 
Thank you for reminding me about that. I’ve spoken to my clients about the State law that you talked about and they understand that State law needs to be respected. . . . I sent a letter to the Mayor, and I know Mr. Bentley got a copy of that letter that said they are willing to take down the signs that have the "loan" language and come into compliance with that State law to the extent that it addresses everybody’s concern about that issue. They don’t have any problems with that; there are no problems with doing that. That will be an expense that they’ll incur. But Mr. Bentley’s correct – we have put forward a compromise to take the "loan" language out of their advertising and off their sign.

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Councilmember Jenkins:
I do have one actually Mr. Mayor. Mr. Cruchelow, do you have any idea right off the top of your head, just a ballpark, what are you looking at expense-wise to change that, change that sign? I mean, just a ballpark, I’m just curious.
Mr. Cruchelow:
I think under $500. We got a quote from our sign guy who said he would get back with us sometime this week, so…
-----------------------------------------------------

Attorney Bentley: 
I apologize. You said you think that you can have it completed by…?
Attorney Pryor:
They have contacted their sign people who actually did the sign initially. They’ve gotten a quote. It’s in the process of being changed and he’s, Mr. Chuchelow has testified it’s going to be under a $500 fix, but it’s as soon as possible in terms of… I mean, it’s a deep priority at their business to get that changed and come into compliance.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

I have obtained a copy of a copy of the Venturi/Cruchelow Lease dated Sept 8, 2011 and signed 9/7/11 by Venturi as Managing Partner and both Serena and John Cruchelow. It is 37 pages and has the financial information blacked out, it is for a 60 month term.

The lease is a copy of a copy and difficult to read.  This section deals with the use of the rented property.

Marked as Page 2 at 1.1(k) reads as follows:
"USE" - Tenant shall use the premises for the retail sale repair, and loan of jewelry; for a gold buying operation, for the purchase, loan and sale of firearms (but Tenant may not sell ammunition); and for pawn brokering services and for no other purpose whatsoever."






At page 7, Article IV Use of Demised Premises, 4.2(a) "Tenant shall conduct its business in Demised Premises during the hours consistent with a pawn shop operator."

It seems that the land owner Venturi had ample notice that this shop would be used as a Pawn Shop. I understand that he has disclaimed knowledge of the intended use but the lease is one prepared by Venturi and/or lawyer Sams and it is clear that one of the uses was to be a Pawn Shop operation and that this was known as early as 9/8/11 when the lease was typed up.

We know that 8 years ago the same Venturi/Sams combo practically begged the City and area residents to allow a change of usage from residential to business for his 2.91 acres.

So when Venturi claims to other shop Owners in his mall that he was unaware of the intended usage of these 2 units leased by Cruchelow is he a Liar?

I will leave that for you to decide, I have already made up my mind on the matter and I look forward to he and Sams appearing to argue this issue before the City Commission.  They can count on my having some comments on the matter.

Don't miss these meetings!

Here are 2 meetings where the City and Venturi are going to try to screw the homeowners around Mack Dobbs and Cobb Parkway.

You better be there for both meetings or our weak kneed City Council will just ram this modification of the 2004 zoning through and we will be stuck with the Pawn Shop.

Be there Thurs May 3rd at 7 pm and Wed May 16 at 6 pm. The City is going to sell us out to avoid getting sued by Venturi/Cruchelow. Be there and speak up on this issue!

Just my opinion:

There was, and apparently in some quarters still is, some body of opinion and sympathy for the unfortunate shop owners who it seemed initially were mistakenly given a business license for a type of business that was specifically banned from the strip mall where they opened.

I personally went down the City Clerk's office in Kennesaw and reviewed the 18-20 pages of the Cruchelow's application. Each page, and sometimes twice on a page had: "Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan".   Only one mention of  'Pawn Shop' appeared in the center of one document in the middle of the page where both above and below the mention appeared the familiar phrase "Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan".

If I were to hand this body of documents to anyone not familiar with the issue and asked them to read them over and then asked them what kind of business was applying for a license, the reply would be 'a jewelry store'.

Should the City have caught it? Yes, but they were set up to fail. I'm told that even the Chief of Police signed off on the application.  Everybody missed it just as they were suppose to miss it.

That Pawn Shop got the City license via fraud, trickery and deceit and this came to light when the Cruchelow's bragged in their neighborhood that they had found a way to get around the City ban on such shops in that strip mall.

The Cruchelow's deserve absolutely no consideration from the City and this shop should be closed down immediately.

Wake Up City Council - these people made you look foolish - it is past time to revoke this license.

Who should you contact about this problem?

Make your opinions heard by the Mayor, City Council or Venturi: 
         Mayor Mathews:                 mmathews@kennesaw-ga.gov

5 Council members are:       bthrash@kennesaw-ga.gov cwelsh@kennesaw-ga.gov       bjenkins@kennesaw-ga.gov
jduckett@kennesaw-ga.gov    tkillingsworth@kennesaw-ga.gov

City Manager Steve Kennedy     skennedy@kennesaw-ga.gov 

Tino Venturi, property Owner:      tinoventuri@aol.com 

Gavis Sams, Attorney for Venturi:   gsams@samslarkinhuff.com

Just my opinion:

There was, and apparently in some quarters still is, some body of opinion and sympathy for the unfortunate shop owners who it seemed initially were mistakenly given a business license for a type of business that was specifically banned from the strip mall where they opened.

I personally went down the City Clerk's office in Kennesaw and reviewed the 18-20 pages of the Cruchelow's application. Each page, and sometimes twice on a page had: "Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan".   Only one mention of  'Pawn Shop' appeared in the center of one document in the middle of the page where both above and below the mention appeared the familiar phrase "Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan".

If I were to hand this body of documents to anyone not familiar with the issue and asked them to read them over and then asked them what kind of business was applying for a license, the reply would be 'a jewelry store'.

Should the City have caught it? Yes, but they were set up to fail. I'm told that even the Chief of Police signed off on the application.  Everybody missed it just as they were suppose to miss it.

That Pawn Shop got the City license via fraud, trickery and deceit and this came to light when the Cruchelow's bragged in their neighborhood that they had found a way to get around the City ban on such shops in that strip mall.

The Cruchelow's deserve absolutely no consideration from the City and this shop should be closed down immediately.

Wake Up City Council - these people made you look foolish - it is past time to revoke this license.

Just my opinion:

The Kennesaw Watch had an extensive survey on their site.  Here is what I posted:

I took a look at the survey for the City Council. I didn't fill it out because I have a very limited amount of knowledge about the people who hold these positions.

I have lived in Kennesaw for 11 years and generally don't pay any attention to who runs the place. I vote in the national and state elections but don't bother with mayor, city council so I am not really up on them.

I can give a general comment based on what I have seen in the handling of this recent Pawn Shop issue and that is very simple and you don't need a survey with lots of detailed questions. My opinion is that the whole bunch of them should never get another term.

Instead of actually doing something about the Pawn Shop not one of them gave me an answer when I emailed each one of them asking what they intended to do in the matter.   2 Council members did not reply, the Mayor and 3 Council people did but they did not give any opinion, just blew a lot of hot air.

They should all be replaced by just about anyone else just on the basis that those now in office are useless and anyone else we might get might not be any better but they couldn't be much worse.

Bill Harris

Minutes of 4/2/12 City Council Meeting

The meeting minutes run for 20 pages, but only pages 5-19 refer to the Cruchelow Pawn Shop issue and you may see them either on the City site: http://www.kennesaw-ga.gov/form-center/category/58-2012  or on this site at: http://kennesawpawnproblems.blogspot.com/2012/04/b.html

Misc:  Word Count 6,730, 1,069 lines, reading time approx. 30 minutes.

In addition to those from the City speaking we have the following giving testimony:
Mr. Cruchelow
Attorney Pryor
JEFF WILSON
ROBIN FERGUSON
GARY GRENHART
BILL HARRIS
LISA STABLER

Rental Costs at Mack Dobbs Point Mall

Just in case you are keeping up with the 2 Venturi malls you can pull up info on rental at the below sites.

Last year the Mack Dobbs mall was on the market for $3,500,000. Obviously it did not sell and the listing appears now to be off the market.

Mack Dobbs Point
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/17557937/2953-North-Cobb-Parkway-Kennesaw-GA/

Mars Hill Point
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/17557931/3451-Cobb-Parkway-NW-Acworth-GA/

Hall of Shame

When the Kennesaw City Council decided that they did not have the authority to take up the issue of the Pawn Shop violating the Georgia State Code by using 'Loan' in their firm name and in their advertisements I contacted Sen. Lindsey Tippins, Georgia Senate District 037, 139 Midway Road, Marietta, GA 30064 both by fax and email asking him what agency should be contacted regarding enforcement of the section of the Georgia Code banning the 'Loan' usage for Pawn Shops.

2 weeks have now past and there has been no reply to either my fax or email from Senator Tippins.  I again emailed him this evening to let him know that I was disappointed in his lack of interest and to assure him that he would never receive a vote from me.

If you see his name in subsequent elections you might keep in mind that he is about as useless as any politician can get and you might want to avoid any votes for Sen. Tippins.

Right click for larger image or print out:

For Your Information:

Before this Pawn Shop issue really got complicated I had the opinion that it was probably just an accident on the part of the City and that while I and others might be critical of it that I should at least offer some sort of solution. After all, if you want to complain then perhaps you should be ready to provide a solution.

With that in mind I did some research to find out if Mr Venturi still owned his Mars Hill strip mall in Acworth. He did and I set aside a Saturday afternoon (March 10th) to take a look and see if my idea might be possible.

I did find that there were 2 empty units in that strip mall and suggested via an email to City Manager Kennedy and Zoning head Mr Simmons (with cc to Mr. Killingsworth) that perhaps the Pawn Shop might relocate to the other Venturi mall and the City refund all fees paid by the Pawn Shop. I provided unit numbers and 7 photos.
(see email at this link: http://kennesawpawnproblems.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-post_11.html)

A month later a City official mentioned in passing that my idea was not of interest to Mr. Venturi, no details given.  I was sorry to hear this but by this time it had become known that the shop owners had gotten the license by trickery and deceit and were bragging about how they had gotten their shop into a mall where it was prohibited. Very shortly thereafter I learned that Mr. Venturi, despite his 2004 agreement, wanted to have the zoning changed again, to allow the shop to remain.

Reasonable alternatives were available from nearly the start of this matter but were not acceptable to the property owner.

I have absolutely no respect for either the shop owners, who got their license by trickery and deceit, nor for the property owner who it turns out is simply a two faced businessman with no regard for honor or integrity.

 

His word is just worthless as is that of his lawyer Gavis Sams.

That Pawn Shop must go.

There is now consideration in the community for both picket lines at the strip mall and a boycott of all stores in that mall. 

What is your opinion? Let us know at: http://kennesaw.proboards.com/index.cgi and there is another blog site FYI at: http://jcruchelow.blogspot.com/

Venturi's Constitutional Challenge to the City of Kennesaw

You can click on the direct link http://kennesawpawnproblems.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-post_09.html to go directly to this document.  Only the first 4 pages are relevant, the rest is just legal garbage.  You might also make note that you can email Mr. Venturi at:  tinoventuri@aol.com.

It's Just My Opinion:

It is well known and recorded in the City Minutes of the October 2004 Council meeting that Mr. Venturi, as owner of the 2.9 acre parcel to be rezoned, was well aware and signed off on the restrictions prohibiting Pawn Shops on that land.

8 years pass and the City admits it has made an error in issuing a business license to the Pawn Shop, said shop using the misleading terms Jewelry and Loan rather than Pawn Shop to obtain their license.

Initial information was that mall owner Venturi was equally misled by the shop owners and he did not know of the Pawn issue until signs appeared in the shop windows.

That was the initial impression.

Now that Mr. Venturi has gone on record by asking the City to in some manner change the regulation or make an exception so that the Pawn Shop can remain, you must ask yourself if someone who had been misled, or even lied to, by the shop owners would be of such forgiving disposition that despite the area residents outrage at the shop, and the underhanded method of it getting approved, would you expect the mall owner to then go to bat for the shop owners?

I don't think so.

You might then have to consider the possibility that Mr. Venturi knew all along that a Pawn Shop was intended for those 2 units of his 16 unit mall. You might even consider that since it was built in 2006 that the mall had not attracted a lot of new businesses to rent those units and he may well be having a hard time staying solvent with an under performing mall.

Could it be that Mr. Venturi was well aware of the intended usage and decided that renting 2 of his empty units it would be worth it if the City thought that the license was for a Jewelry store rather than a Pawn Shop and did issue them a business license?

I guess only Mr. Venturi can answer that question. But his coming to the assistance of the Pawn Shop owners by asking the City to allow them to remain tells me that it is quite likely that he put money over integrity.

Shame on you Celestino Venturi.

Do you want this in your neighborhood?

We don't either! This Pawn Shop has to GO!

City Council Work Session, Wednesday, May 02 2012, 6:00pm
City Council Meeting, Monday, May 07 2012, 6:30pm

Read about Cruchelows at the Bad Business Bureau:
http://tinyurl.com/75f6r7n

and read about the property Owner at:
http://tinyurl.com/7haf5gk

Kennesaw pawnshop may get rezoned

Kennesaw pawnshop may get rezoned

by Geoff Folsom gfolsom@mdjonline.com The Marietta Daily Journal

April 03, 2012 01:11 AM |

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KENNESAW — The owner of property where the city of Kennesaw mistakenly allowed a pawnshop will apply for rezoning, officials said Monday.

The property’s owner, Celestino Venturi, asked the city to amend the zoning at the strip mall that houses Cruchelow Jewelry & Loan at Cobb Parkway and Mack Dobbs Road, said Atlanta attorney Michael Pryor, who represented pawnshop owners John and Serena Cruchelow. Venturi; his lawyer, Garvis Sams; and Council members Bill Thrash and Jeff Duckett did not attend Monday’s hearing at the Kennesaw City Council’s regular meeting.

Mayor Mark Mathews said the rezoning could be discussed at public hearings before the city’s planning commission as early as May 3 and with city council on May 7.

If the rezoning is denied, the pawnshop could be forced to move, Mathews said.

Monday’s hearing was initially called after the city determined the pawnshop to be in violation of a state law prohibiting pawnbrokers from having the word “loan” in their name. According to Georgia code section 44-12-138, any pawnbroker that opens after March 1, 1992, must prominently use the word “pawn” and cannot use “loan” in advertisements.

But, after a threat on constitutional charges from the pawnshop’s attorney, the council voted 3-0 to dismiss the claim referring to the word “loan.” Mathews said city attorneys determined late Friday that, while state law prohibits advertising with the word “loan,” the city had no such wording in its ordinance, meaning it has no jurisdiction to enforce the law.

Despite the city’s claims being dismissed, John Cruchelow told council members he is already working to come into compliance with state law by removing any signs referring to the word “loan.” But he said moving the business would be too costly since he and his wife already put $40,000 into licenses and outfitting the store.

When questioned by Councilman Tim Killingsworth, John Cruchelow defended himself against allegations that he physically and verbally assaulted a neighbor, which led to an arrest in September for disorderly conduct. John Cruchelow said the neighbor had kicked in his door and made “sexual gestures” to his new wife.

“I’m not a public person. It seems everybody is trying to put my business out there,” he said. “I thought he was my friend.”

The Cruchelows left the council chambers after their case was dismissed, but Pryor convinced them to return to hear comments from some of the 50 audience members in attendance. Speakers delivered more than 100 signatures from residents of nearby subdivisions opposing the pawnshop.

Summer Stream resident Lisa Stables even volunteered to help the couple move to another location.

“Hopefully, we’ll find a way to work together so the law’s held up and you’re not hurt financially,” she told the Cruchelows.

But others pointed the finger at the City Council for not enforcing the law.

“They didn’t face the issue,” Summerbrooke resident Robin Ferguson said after the meeting. “They took the easy way out.”

After the hearing, John Cruchelow referred questions to Pryor, who said they plan to work with neighbors.

“The neighbors have a right to come out and express their concerns,” Pryor said. “Obviously the Cruchelows want to meet people halfway. If there’s something they’re doing that the neighbors don’t like, they want to hear from them because they’re their potential customers.”

Mathews apologized for the city’s error, admitting a “serious, serious oversight” in its zoning department at the March 26 meeting and echoed that feeling Monday.

“We’ve been put in a very, very bad position, just as everybody has,” he said. “It’s all been a serious, very serious mistake on our part, when they were approving the business license,” he said.

As of Monday, the Cruchelow Jewelry & Loan website maintained the word “loan” in the store’s name. It was also on signs at its location at 2953 N. Cobb Parkway.

Mathews said the City Manager Steve Kennedy’s office was reviewing whether anyone should be held responsible for the licensing foul-up.

“It’s purely within his abilities,” Mathews said.

In 2004, the city’s approval of a zoning request for Venturi put in writing that the Mack Dobbs Point shopping center would be free from certain kinds of business — including pawnshops.

After neighbors expressed concern about the strip mall during the initial zoning process, an agreement was reached that restricted what could be put at the strip mall. Among the other uses prohibited at the site, which were written into city ordinances, were adult bookstores and massage parlors.

But the city council, on the recommendation of city finance director Gina Auld, approved a pawn and precious metal license for Cruchelow Jewelry & Loan at its Sept. 19, 2011, meeting.

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Kennesaw pawnshop may get rezoned

Venturi reneges on 8 year old promise!

Pawn Shop 'landlord' wants Kennesaw to change zoning to allow Pawn Shop to remain!

ABC News aired a report at 11:15 PM 4/2/12, saying that the 'property landord' is petitioning the City to change the zoning so the Pawn Shop can stay' in his strip mall.
 
The Kennesaw Planning and Zoning Commission will consider a petition to change the zoning to allow the Pawn Shop to stay on May 3rd and it will be before the City Commission on May 7th. There should be 2 hearings before the City Commision before they take a final vote.

Mr. Celestino (Tino) Venturi and wife Linda, can be contacted at 630 Willeo Road, Roswell, Ga. 30075 (770) 992-2264. You might drop him a line or phone to let him know that we are greatly disappointed in his conduct in this matter.

You might recall that Mr. Venturi agreed to restrictions on what would be allowed on that property in 2004, this in return for area residents dropping their objections to changing the zoning from residential to business. 

Some people have very short memories.

Property Owner Seeks Rezoning for Kennesaw Pawn Shop

The mayor and City Council heard from the owners of Cruchelow Jewelry & Loan.

• ByDonna Espy-Rypel, Kennesaw Patch

John and Serena Cruchelow (right) sit with their attorney, Michael Pryor, as they await the City Council's entrance after a closed-door executive session to discuss their case.

After a 30-minute executive session behind closed doors with their legal counsel, the Kennesaw City Council was unable to make a decision Monday on a controversial pawn shop that opened in the Mack Dobbs Point strip mall this year despite a 2004 agreement prohibiting such businesses from the property.

Cruchelow Jewelry & Loan owners John and Serena Cruchelow were in attendance at a public meeting for the first time and were represented by attorney Michael Pryor.

"The Cruchelows believe they have done everything they needed to do to obtain a business license," said Pryor, who also acknowledged that the property landlord, Celestino Venturi, has applied for rezoning that would allow the pawn shop to operate on his property.

The first of two hearings on that rezoning request for the Mack Dobbs Point strip mall will probably take place May 3, followed by a final meeting during the May 7 council meeting, said Mayor Mark Mathews.

"My clients want to be in compliance with state law and are willing to take down their 'loan' sign as soon as possible," said Pryor in addressing the council. "They don't have a problem with that."
While officials admitted the city made a mistake by approving the business license, Mathews said during a previous meeting that the pawn shop was in the wrong for having used the term "loan" instead of "pawn," in violation of state law.

According to Georgia code section 44-12-138, pawnbrokers "shall include most prominently in any and all types of advertisements the word 'pawn' or the words 'pawn transaction.' A pawnbroker shall not use the term 'loan' in any advertisements or in connection with any advertising of the business of the pawnbroker."

But City Council members ultimately decided they had no jurisdiction to enforce the state law.  John Cruchelow addressed the council for the first time, stating he wasn't trying to deceive the city by putting a pawn shop where it was not allowed. "I was just trying to open up a business and support my wife, that's all," said Cruchelow.

Some nearby neighbors were not happy with the outcome of Monday's meeting.

"We're ticked off," said a Summer Stream homeowner who did not wish to be identified but has lived in the neighborhood since it opened in 2001. "The pawn shop doesn't belong there. It was in the 2004 ordinance."

Representatives from both the Summer Brooke and Summer Stream subdivisions asked the council to rescind the business license of the pawn shop, citing petitions with signatures from the majority of homeowners. They asked city officials to enforce the zoning that's in place and correct their mistake in approving the Cruchelows' business license.

"We're doing everything legally and by the book," said Mathews in response to some heated public comments at the end of the meeting.

"This has all been a very serious and unfortunate mistake on our part in approving this business license," Mathews said. "We're not going to be able to make everyone happy, and that's very unfortunate."

Citation Dropped Against Kennesaw Pawn Shop

The Kennesaw Watch

Citation Dropped Against Kennesaw Pawn Shop By MYFOXATLANTA STAFF/myfoxatlanta

KENNESAW, Ga. - A Kennesaw pawn shop won a small victory from th...e city council on Monday.

The owners of Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan were cited for using the word loan in the store's name and signs. That's against state law.

The council dismissed the citation on technical grounds, but John and Serena Cruchelow have a bigger fight ahead.

Opponents of the pawnshop say it should never been allowed to open.

The city admits that it made a mistake when it gave the business a license. A public hearing will be held on May 3 to consider what the city can do about the pawnshop.
 

A final meeting on the business will be held May 7.

Kennesaw City Council dismisses citation against pawn shop

Posted: Apr 03, 2012 7:50 AM EDT

By Mandi Milligan - email

KENNESAW, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -

There are new developments in an ongoing battle in Kennesaw where some people say they don't want a pawn shop in their neighborhood.

Monday night, the city council dismissed a citation against Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan for having the word loan in their name.

But, some claim the shop is doing business illegally.

"As I told the residents that came out and were concerned, no matter what we do, we are not gonna make everybody happy. That's very, very unfortunate," said one council member.

Pawn shops are not allowed to be open in the shopping center where the business is located.

Meetings to discuss the fate of the pawn shop are set for next month.

Debate Over Pawn Shop Heats Up

KENNEWSAW, Ga. —  WSB-TV Atlanta

Kennesaw’s mayor called for patience in the debate over a controversial pawn shop.

A zoning department snafu allowed the pawn shop to move into town, against a city ordinance. Now, months have gone by, residents are frustrated, and the business owners have invested tens of thousands of dollars into Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan.

Residents hoped the City Council would revoke the pawn shop’s business license at a Monday night meeting, but that didn’t happen.

“Ultimately, the board really didn’t have the authority to revoke their business license based on this particular part of Georgia law,” attorney Michael Pryor said.

The Cruchelow's landlord is petitioning the city to change the zoning, so the pawn shop can stay. Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews said patience is in order while due process takes place.

“It’s just a very, very unfortunate incident and we want to make sure that we do right by as many people as we can,” Mathews said.

Next month, the Kennesaw planning commission will consider the petition to change the zoning so the pawn shop can stay. There will be two public hearings before the Kennesaw City Council takes a final vote.

Results of the April 2nd City Commission Meeting

The Kennesaw City Council met with only 3 of the 5 members present.  (Jenkins, Killingsworth and Welsh) About 20 minutes into the meeting the Pawn Shop issue came up and the Council went into Executive Session for 40 minutes to discuss the matter with the City Attorney Randal Bently.

It was decided that the City had no authority to revoke the Kennesaw City Business License based on the Georgia State Law regarding the use of the word "Loan" in the advertising or name of the Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan LLC.

ABC News aired a report saying that the 'property landord'* is petitioning the City to change the zoning so the Pawn Shop can stay'.

Petitions from Summer Stream were presented to the Council, 39 of 54 homes signing up to say that the Pawn Shop was unwelcome, 76 of 112 homes signed a similar petition from Summer Brooke and their petition was presented by Jeff Wilson.

The Cruchelows were represented by Attorney Michael Pryor and several supporters of the Cruchelows, including Nancy Johnson and children were on hand for the hearing.  There were approx. 60 citizens attending.  Mr. Cruchelow spoke to several questions from the Council and refuted allegations made at a prior City Council meeting about having said that he had found a way around the ban on Pawn Shops at that strip mall.

Both ABC and CBS had TV crews at the meeting, other internet sites were also represented.

The Summer Brooke representative was one of 4 residents to speak after the decision to put off any further action was made by the Council.  He was very pointed in his displeasure that the matter was not concluded.

Bill Harris asked the City Attorney Mr. Randal Bently if he could obtain a copy of the Cruchelow/Venturi lease to determine if the purpose of the shop had been stated as 'Pawn Shop'.  The Cruchelow attorney had already stated this would be provided and Harris asked that the City Attorney try to get a copy of the Venturi lease so that they could be compared to make sure nothing was changed.

Harris also asked Mayor Mathews for the exact dates when the matter of the Pawn Shop would be taken up: 
City Council Work Session, Wednesday, May 02 2012, 6:00pm
City Council Meeting, Monday, May 07 2012, 6:30pm
There should be 2 hearings before the City Commision before they take a final vote
* Mr. Celestino (Tino) Venturi and wife Linda, can be contacted at 630 Willeo Road, Roswell, Ga 30075 (770) 992-2264.  You might drop him a line or phone to let him know that we are greatly disappointed in his conduct in this matter.

City to Hold Hearing on Pawn Shop

The City Council will meet tonight at 6:30 at City Hall.

• 
• ByGaetana Pipia 
• The Kennesaw Patch

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The City of Kennesaw will hold a hearing during tonight's City Council meeting to determine the continued status of the business and pawn licenses for Cruchelow Jewelry & Loan.

The pawn shop was allowed to open in the Mack Dobbs Point strip mall this year, despite a 2004 agreement prohibiting pawn shops from the property.

While officials admitted the city made a mistake by approving the business license, Mayor Mark Mathews said the pawn shop was in the wrong by having used the term "loan" when Georgia law bars pawnbrokers from using the word in connection with any advertising for pawn shops opened after 1992.

According to tonight's agenda, which is attached to this article, the mayor and council will conduct the public hearing, consider any and all evidence that is put forth, and may then render a decision regarding the continued operation of the business as a pawn shop.

The public is encouraged to attend tonight's meeting at 6:30 at City Hall.

Email the City Officials to Make them live up to their agreement of 8 years ago!

The April 2nd City Council meeting will tell all the voters in Kennesaw if the word of the Mayor and City Council means anything.

If they are going to actually take action to enforce the Zoning regulations they passed in 2004 or if they are going to ignore what was agreed on during those meetings.

Will they take action, or as some members of the community suspect, look for a way to sidestep the issue by granting a variance so that the Pawn Shop can remain?

Here are direct links that you can use to make your opinions heard by the Mayor and City Council:

Mayor Mathews:
mmathews@kennesaw-ga.gov

5 Council members are:
bthrash@kennesaw-ga.gov
cwelsh@kennesaw-ga.gov
bjenkins@kennesaw-ga.gov
jduckett@kennesaw-ga.gov
tkillingsworth@kennesaw-ga.gov

City Manager Steve Kennedy

skennedy@kennesaw-ga.gov