DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190523

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LOUIS HANSEN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   56 lines

PAWN SHOP RESTRICTIONS STILL IN LIMBO COMMISSION TABLES A TOUGHER LAW, BUT SUFFOLK NOT READY TO GIVE UP FIGHT.

Where can you go for a hurry-up deal on a 21-inch Sony TV? Or maybe $50 for that fancy watch?

Maybe in the same block as the city's new, $14.2 million Mills E. Godwin Courthouse - depending on which Suffolk officials get their way.

It's not the kind of neighbor some city officials want for a downtown showplace that they say will bring new life.

Still, the Planning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to table an ordinance giving the city more leverage to decide where pawn shops can go.

The ordinance, which had been ``fast-tracked'' and designated to be voted on this week by both the Planning Commission and City Council, will not go before the council.

By tabling the vote, the commission took the strongest action it could against the measure. If the commission voted to approve or deny the measure it would have moved to City Council.

Several commissioners said the ordinance appeared to unfairly target Mike Duman, a local used auto dealer and businessman.

Duman, who attended the meeting, agreed: ``What else could it be directed at?''

In January, Duman bought two buildings at 120 and 122 N. Main St. He intends to move his Downtown Pawn Shop about three blocks, from West Washington Street.

The city is striving to boost the profile of Main Street through numerous efforts, including the courthouse project and the recent hiring of an outside urban planner.

City Manager Myles E. Standish declined to comment on whether the ordinance was aimed at Duman's business, but said, ``We would like to see the highest and best land use in the urban core.''

Assistant City Attorney B. Kay Wilson said the city would likely refuse an occupancy permit if Duman tried to move. That action would be based on the city's existing zoning regulations, which the city thinks gives it enough power to keep the pawn shop out of the N. Main Street location.

The proposed ordinance defines pawn shops and would require their owners to receive conditional-use permits from City Council. It also would limit the expansion of existing pawn shops.

``This will be part of the overall efforts to enhance the downtown,'' said Planning director Paul E. Fisher.

No such restrictions exist now, and pawn shops have been allowed in any business district.

Downtown Suffolk has three pawn shops: Duman's; Bunny's, also on West Washington Street; and Suffolk Pawn and Music Shop, in Suffolk West Shopping Center on Constance Road.

They serve as creditors for many of the poor in the community; for others, they are discount shops for used jewelry, electronics and sundry household items.

Typically, pawn shops require collateral for loans and charge interest rates higher than banks do.

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