Elgin council votes 4-3 for city’s second pawn shop
In the most divided vote Elgin’s current city council has ever taken, members approved the zoning application Wednesday for Easy Cash Solutions, Elgin’s second pawnshop.
The company plans to open near the SWAN neighborhood at 1460 Main Lane.
The council was set to discuss the zoning request at its last meeting but postponed the matter at the request of EZPAWN Illinois, the business owner. Several SWAN residents spoke out against the plan at that meeting and several more showed up again Wednesday.
Like the community opponents, council member Robert Gilliam rejected the proposal because he said the business would be detrimental.
“I don’t care how you slice it, it does not improve the image of our community,” Gilliam said.
Council member John Prigge said it was too soon to consider a second pawnshop after less than two years of data on the effects of the first one, in the Eagle Heights neighborhood. And council member Richard Dunne joined the minority in voting against it.
Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said the volume of police calls to Windy City Jewelry and Loan is not above average, and Mayor Dave Kaptain added that the current pawnshop, just three blocks from his own home, has caused no problems. Also supporting the zoning request were council members Anna Moeller, John Steffen and Tish Powell, who said she has bought cheap video games for her son from Windy City Jewelry and Loan and recognizes the benefit of its business model.
“I seriously have a problem with the Payday Loans because of their predatory lending practices,” Powell said.
A pawnshop, though, gives people a chance to put their own items up for collateral and avoid hits to their credit scores if they can’t repay the loan — a favorable service, in Powell’s eyes.
EZPAWN Illinois has one more step before it can open its Elgin business. Council members are expected to vote on granting a license for the business in July.