A Tosa resident since 1991, Christine walks the dog, raises kids, cooks but avoids housework, writes and reads, and works too much. A Quaker and
, she has been known to stand on both sides of the political and philosophic fence at the same time, which is very uncomfortable when you think about it. She writes about pretty much whatever stops in to visit her busy mind at the moment. One reader described her as "incredibly opinionated but not judgmental." That sounds like a good thing to strive for!
A concerned Tosa citizen called me on cranky writing and failure to do research. He was responding to the August 27 blog "Government and mall watching," in which I may have ever so vaguely hinted at favoritism in banning check cashing businesses in the Village--but not along Highway 100.
Only he said it much more gently.
I have watched the process on the new ordinance somewhat carefully,and I have spoken a number of times with Mayor Estness, City Attorney Kesner, and other members of the Common Council. I do not believe the new ordinance is a result of "what's good for eastern Tosa doesn't matter out here in the wild west", but rather the best compromise that can be reached today in the current legal climate to restrict as much as possible the proliferation of convenient cash businesses in Wauwatosa. It is my opinion that the Council, if it thought such an ordinance would stand up in court, would ban the businesses entirely.
He then suggested that I contact Mayor Estness and City Attorney Kesner to get a better understanding of the disparity. I did, but their e-mail replies got stuck in my filter.
Isn't it strange that e-mail from the government gets trapped but all those messages about various alterations to people's boyfriends' anatomy don't? But I digress.
At any rate, Mayor Estness graciously invited me to view the city maps with her and city planner Nancy Welch to see the big picture. And Mr. Kesner gave a thorough explanation, the whole shebang of which I'm including in italics below.
The bottom line: it's all about zoning and distance from residences.
Cities don't have the power to restrict exorbitant interest rates, which are the culprits in payday loan predation. Wisconsin needs to restore interest rate limits for consumer loans. That would include credit cards, and it's hard to imagine that 18%, the old limit, wouldn't be enough.
And while it wouldn't address the loan issue, banks certainly could offer check cashing services for modest fees. It would be a great community service, and they'd still make money.
Now, "the rest of the story," with thanks to Mr. Kesner.
The important thing to remember in putting these restrictions together is that we cannot prohibit such businesses entirely, although we can place certain restrictions on their locations, as we did. There have
been court cases in Wisconsin that say specifically that they cannot be prohibited entirely. These "distance from residential" and "distance from each other" restrictions were of the type specifically approved in court cases in Racine and Madison.
They are specifically restricted from being in "Trade Districts", and coincidentally, the only two "Trade Districts" are the Village and the East end of North Avenue. The proposed location in the North Avenue Trade District is what started this whole controversy in the first place.
These types of businesses can be located in AA Business and AA Commercial Districts, if they receive Conditional Use approval from the Common Council, but only so long as they are on a parcel that is more than 250 feet from any residentially zoned parcel. That distance from residential parcels applies the same on the East and West sides of the City. There are simply more AA Business and AA Commercial zoned parcels on the West side of the City anyways, which might allow for some potential locations, but this is true for any business or commercial venture, not just these types of businesses.
It may simply be a consequence of the geography of Wauwatosa that, if you have to allow a business to run, they are more likely to find locations on the West Side, since there are just more business and commercial areas in certain areas of the West side. But there is no difference in the fact that "convenient cash businesses" still have to be more than 250 feet from residential parcels, no matter which side of town they are on.
