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.
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.
