Pawnshop owners urge commission to correct 2017 DCP clerical error that limited relocation rights

At the Jan. 21 Planning Commission meeting, multiple public speakers — including Will Klass and Michael Klass, owners of Santa Monica Jewelry and Loan — asked the commission to approve a text amendment correcting what they described as a clerical error in the 2017 Downtown Community Plan that removed long-standing relocation rights for the city’s pawnshop.

The Klass brothers said the change was never communicated to them and that without a correction their business could be forced to close. Broker Barbara Tenzer, who worked on prior downtown text amendments, supported the owners and said the city’s intent historically had allowed regulated pawnshop relocation within downtown.

Staff confirmed the 2017 DCP change likely was unintended and said the amendment on the table would not open the door for new pawnshops across the city; rather, it would restore the previous ability of the existing licensed pawnshop to relocate within downtown while preventing net new pawnshops. The commission conducted a straw poll favoring staff’s recommendation to allow the relocation language to proceed to the final recommendation to council.

The commission did not adopt final ordinance language; staff will draft redlines reflecting the direction and send them with other amendments to council for action. The Klass owners emphasized the change is corrective, not an expansion of pawnshop rights, and thanked commissioners for consideration.