Oakdale City Council Members Say They Favor Remaining a One-Pawnshop Town

A majority of Oakdale City Council members said they’d support limiting pawnshops in town to the existing one, at a workshop meeting Tuesday, Sept. 27.

That means no pawnshops would be allowed to move into Oakdale unless —located just north of 10th Street on Century Avenue—closed.

Council members cited concerns over the community’s image.

“I don’t think we’ll ever know what kind of business losses we’re getting because of a pawnshop environment,” said council member Stan Karwoski. “Does someone drive by and not buy the retail place next door?”

Council member Paul Reinke shared a similar opinion, saying multiple pawnshops are detrimental to a community's image. 

“I don’t like the feel,” he said.

Oakdale’s current pawnshop is run so well Police Chief Bill Sullivan said his department wrote a letter of recommendation for the company to the City of Columbia Heights. Still, there are no guarantees about who would own or operate an incoming pawnshop, Sullivan said, and trying to shut down a problem shop would be costly and difficult.

“Your life is simpler if you keep it at one,” Sullivan said.

Mayor Carmen Sarrack said he thought that the owner of maX it PAWN, who had proposed renovating an old gas station in the northeast corner of Highway 36 and Century Avenue, had moved on to locations outside Oakdale after the city placed a moratorium on new pawnshops in February.

A call to maX it PAWN CEO Mark Smith wasn’t returned. City Administrator Craig Waldron and Community Development Director Bob Streetar said they hadn't heard from Smith recently.

Council member Kent Dotas and Sarrack both said they liked Smith’s proposal, however, they didn’t want to risk approving two pawnshops and then having a store with a different owner move in.

In addition to the one-pawnshop limit, council members said they’d like to see a 150-foot buffer between pawnshops and residential property, churches, schools or daycare facilities.