At our November 17 board meeting, my colleagues and I unanimously approved new zoning regulations to restrict the locations of car title companies and payday lenders.

  

Sometimes called alternative financial institutions, these businesses offer quick loans at exorbitantly high interest rates--as high as 268 percent. Not only do they target poor and desperate individuals but they also signal decline in a community and deter other stores, restaurants, and small businesses from moving to these neighborhoods. There's been an explosion of them in Northern Virginia and Supervisors Hyland and Gross joined me in directing County zoning staff to research the County's regulatory and land use options for regulating these enterprises.

 

In 2011, the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill allowing car title lenders to extend credit to out-of-state drivers despite objections from the Board of Supervisors. The result: Virginia has become a magnet for people who need cash but live in the District, Maryland, or other nearby states where interest rates are capped and such businesses are discouraged or prohibited from opening.

 

Virginia is a Dillon Rule State where Counties cannot pass legislation without state enabling legislation authorizing them to do so. While we cannot legally ban these businesses, we can restrict where they locate. At the September 22 Board of Supervisors meeting, we took the first step in this process by authorizing public hearings on proposed new zoning regulations.

 

Until our November 17 Board vote, payday and car title lenders could operate by-right in the same locations as commercial banks and in most commercial and industrial districts. Under the new regulations, they are banned from the County's revitalization districts. They must be located within shopping centers rather than stand-alone locations. The new regulations also specify:  

•  Only one such lender per shopping center.
•  Lenders cannot locate in any shopping centers next to or across from any public use, house of worship, child care center, private school, or quasi-public athletic field and related facility.
•  Hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Cars may not be stored on the property.

At that same meeting we also unanimously approved new regulations for donation drop boxes. These are the boxes you often see in shopping centers and frequently they turn into dumping grounds for old furniture, mattresses, and other junk. Sometimes they block required parking spaces or block sidewalks.