Markeshia Ricks Photo
Arganese pleads case.
A pawn shop will not be coming to upper Whalley Avenue in the Beverly Hills section of the city, where neighbors and other businesses feared what kind of customers would come in.
Gene Arganese, owner of the Connecticut Consignment Depot in Ansonia, wanted to bring an outpost of his pawn shop to New Haven.
He’d paid out three months of rent for space in a strip mall at 1330 Whalley Ave. in anticipation of receiving approval for a special exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals to open the shop in a BA zone.
“We’ve grown enough to where we’d like to lease a space on Whalley Avenue and have our second location there,” he told board members during their regular meeting in the Hall of Records at 200 Orange St. Tuesday.
But it was not to be. The board voted unanimously against granting an exception based on opposition from City Plan staff as well as neighbors concerned about having a pawn shop so close to their homes.
Talbot: Not that kind of expansion.
Tom Talbot, the city’s deputy director of zoning, said that in addition to the lack of an adequate site plan, Arganese’s application would put the store, near the corner of Anthony Street and Whalley, too near a residential street.
“There are a number of reasons why a use like this is special exception in BA as opposed to permitted by right and I believe one of them has to do with the fact when it comes to intersections like this that are adjacent to residential property,” Talbot told the board. “I think you need to focus on uses that are more neighborhood related or less intense like a small office.”
Talbot said the more intense use could not be allowed next to adjacent residential property.
Burton: Pawn shop would attract the wrong crowd.
That was news to Arganese, who argued that he believed the pawn shop should be a permitted use given that the location had always been a commercial space. A locksmith was there for 25 years, he noted. He also said that he had reached out to people in the surrounding neighborhood, at the suggestion of City Plan staff, and received positive feedback about the business.
Vaper Frowns On Pawner
Nichols: Pawn shop not a good look for the neighborhood.
Business owners who already rent space at 1330 Whalley Ave., an adjacent homeowner and an alder who represents the area showed up to the meeting Tuesday to counter that narrative.
David Burton, owner of the Glass Cloud Vape Shop and Lounge, said that a pawn shop would create a parking issue and draw in a more transient client base that’s less invested in the stability of the neighborhood.
Furlow: Absolutely not.
“I think it would degrade the area,” Burton said.
Carrien Davis, florist and owner of Any Occasion Creation, added that pawn shop customers would drive her customers away. Davis Street homeowner Lakiya Nichols said, “I don’t feel it would bring anything positive to the community.”
West Hills/Amity Alder Richard Furlow said he’s received a number of calls opposing the pawn shop.
“This project would not fly in Westville Village, and its not a good fit for Upper Westville,” he said.
Pawn Shop is the Poorman's Bank and A Bank is The Richman's Pawn Shop. A pawn shop is where the regular person can get a loan on the spot. No credit checks necessary.