In October 2004 area residents agreed to having the zoning changed from residential to business with stipulations that no Pawn Shops would be allowed. In 2012 we found a Pawn Shop in this mall. It is now relocated to Marietta and the resulting suit by the property owner against the City has ended. This is a good example of neighbors working together for a better community. Contact: consumer2010@aol.com, see also: http://johncruchelow.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Pawn shop at center of controversy shuts down
Posted: Jun 13, 2012 7:37 AM EDTUpdated: Jun 13, 2012 7:42 AM EDT
A Kennesaw pawn shop, Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan, has shut down, after three months of fighting by neighbors.
Those neighbors said that in 2004 a Roswell man named Tino Venturi promised them if they would permit Kennesaw to change a piece of land in their neighborhood from residential to commercial, he wouldn't allow any shops, such as pawn shops.
Nearly eight years later, neighbors said that promise was broken, by both the city and landlord, by allowing Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan to set up shop. Neighbors like Bill Harris have been fighting since then.
"I think the city really believed that it was getting a jewelry store," Harris said. "It was like three and a half months of turmoil that we really didn't need."
After CBS Atlanta News did multiple stories, the store removed flashing "pawn" signs from its walls.
At a packed public meeting in March, Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews owned up to the city's mistake.
"We made a terrible, terrible oversight," Mathews said. "For that I apologize to the residents, I apologize to the business owner. They shouldn't be in that position."
As of Tuesday, Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan has removed most items from inside of its shop. There are no signs saying where, if anywhere, the business will move.
