Planning board recommends against one-time pawnshop expansion exception

The Margate Planning & Zoning Board recommended that the City Commission not adopt an ordinance that would allow existing legally nonconforming pawnshops a one-time contiguous expansion into adjacent tenant space. Senior Planner Andrew Penny told the board the ordinance is narrowly tailored to pawnshops and would allow an existing pawnshop to expand only into contiguous tenant space on the same floor and only once; it would not permit new pawnshops.

Penny noted "there are 7 pawn shops in the city currently" and that the ordinance keeps those uses legally nonconforming even if an expansion is permitted. One board member who visited a specific plaza on 441 suggested conditioning any approval on property improvements, saying "the parking lot should be resealed and restriped" and pointing to landscaping and lighting concerns.

Other board members debated whether allowing expansions across all existing pawnshops serves the city's interest. Concerns included the possibility that if each of the seven pawnshops exercised the one-time expansion, the city could see a substantial net increase in pawnshop square footage. After discussion a motion to recommend denial of the ordinance was made and seconded; the board voted to recommend that the City Commission not adopt the pawnshop-expansion exception, passing 3–2 on a roll call. The recommendation will be forwarded to the commission for final consideration.