Complaint Review:
Mack Dobbs Properties LLC
Mack Dobbs Properties, LLC, Mack Dobbs Point, Celestino Venturi, Tino Venturi Assures community no Pawn Shops will be allowed in mall, 8 yrs later rents to one - Kennesaw, Georgia
Celestino (Tino) Venturi doing business as Mack Dobbs Properties, LLC owned 2.9 acres of land in Kennesaw, Ga., at the intersection of Cobb Parkway and Mack Dobbs Road.
This property was zoned residential and was next to several subdivisions which were completed in the late 1990's through 2001.
In 2004 Mr. Venturi asked for a zoning variance for this property to take it from residential to business. This was not acceptable to area residents and meetings were held to discuss the matter. I became aware of one such meeting and decided to attend, I also contacted Mr. Venturi to inform him of the meeting and suggest he might also wish to attend. He did and during the meeting listened to area residents concerns that if the zoning change went through businesses that were not desireable might locate there next to their subdivisions.
Mr. Venturi made various promises to the area residents, both at this community meeting and also at an October 2004 Kennesaw City Council meeting. He and his Marietta zoning lawyer Garvis Sams presented a letter stating what types of businesses would not be allowed in return for the residents dropping their challenge to the zoning change. Pawn Shops were listed on this agreement at item 's'.
With the residents concerns now incorporated into the zoning change it was voted on and passed.
8 years pass.
Many area residents from 2004 remain, myself included. In 2012 it was noticed that the Cruchelow Jewelry and Loan has opened in units 1 and 2 of this strip mall at 2953 N. Cobb Parkway, Kennesaw, Ga 30152. This business is a Pawn Shop and in the business Application For Occupational Tax Certificate they state at "Describe in detail the nature of the business: "PAWN SHOP".
Per the 2004 agreement and text of the zoning variance given no Pawn Shops are allowed in this strip mall. Complaints were lodged with the City of Kennesaw and the topic was addressed at several meetings with City officials, both informational meetings and City Council meetings.
In order to sidestep the current ban on Pawn Shops, Mr. Venturi is now applying to the Zoning department to have the zoning changed to allow Pawn Shops. Mayor Mike Mathews has informed us that this will come before the Zoning board on May 3rd and before the Council for approval on May 7th.
Mr. Venturi and lawyer Sams are now attempting to go back on their word that no Pawn Shops would be allowed in that mall.
They entered into an agreement with the residents to get them to drop objections to various types of neighborhood unfriendly businesses and now have allowed one such business to open knowing it was not allowed, when caught in the act violating City regulations, Mr. Venturi now requests another Zoning change to allow Pawn Shops in his mall. This is not acceptable to area residents!
Clearly Mr. Venturi is not a man of his word.
Area residents will continue to oppose allowing this Pawn Shop or any other of those businesses that Mr. Venturi and zoning lawyer Sams agreed would not be allowed into this strip mall.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Annoyed consumer
panama city,Florida,
U.S.A.
Venturi Loses City Council Vote
#3Author of original report
Fri, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Council denies amendment for pawnshop
by Geoff Folsom
gfolsom@mdjonline.com
The Marietta Daily Journal
May 17, 2012 12:53 AM
KENNESAW The Kennesaw City Council voted down an amendment Wednesday evening that would have allowed a pawnshop in a Cobb Parkway strip mall to stay open.
The council voted 5-0 to agree with a recommendation from city planning and zoning staff, as well as the citys planning commission, denying the request from property owner Celestino Venturi to amend his strip malls zoning to allow for a pawnshop for the duration of its five-year lease. He had allowed the Cruchelow Jewelry & Loan pawnshop to open on Dec. 28, 2011, in his Mack Dobbs Point shopping center at Cobb Parkway and Mack Dobbs Road, despite having agreed not to let a pawnshop, or 31 other types of business, to open at the site when he got initial zoning approval in 2004.
But a city oversight last year, and subsequent city council approval, allowed the pawnshop to get a business license, as well as pawn and precious metal licenses.
Lawyer Garvis Sams, who represented Venturi, said after the meeting that he planned to appeal the decision to Cobb Superior Court.
Were disappointed. We were hoping that they would have a different opinion and decision, he said of the city council.
Sams, who has 30 days to file a challenge, said the property owners constitutional rights were violated.
Their decision to prohibit us from using the shopping center for the highest and best use is tantamount to a taking of Mr. Venturis property rights, he said.
The decision came at the end of a 45-minute special called meeting, attended by around 40 people, though some of them were there for a council work session later in the evening.
Some residents of the nearby Summer Stream and Summerbrooke subdivisions spoke against the pawnshop.
The impact of this particular business is directly on these two subdivisions, Gary Greenhut said. Its also on the church thats across the street, and the new school across the street.
One person, Thomas D. Smith, who claimed to be the only person who can easily see the shopping center from his house, spoke in favor of the pawnshop.
Ive had no problem with this business, he said. Ive seen no difficulty with anything they do. I visited the pawnshop and thanked them for being there.
After the meeting, Bill Harris, who has maintained a website critical of the pawnshop, said that not only is Venturi likely to sue the city, but he expects the pawnshop owners, John and Serena
Cruchelow, to sue Venturi for letting them move into two suites in his strip mall, despite knowing that was not allowed.
Im very much in favor of it, Harris said of the citys decision. Its a positive thing, and well see where it goes from here.
Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews, who did not vote on the matter, said he agrees with the rest of the council. He said he will wait and see whether a lawsuit is filed.
Well have to go through the process and see what happens, he said.
Councilman Bruce Jenkins said he was not concerned about the decision opening the city up to litigation; instead he was interested in maintaining the integrity of the zoning that was originally in place and the agreement with the neighborhood.
This was the second high-profile case Sams had lost in as many days, with the Cobb Board of Commissioners voting Tuesday against a permit that would have allowed another of his clients, the Bankhead C&D Transfer Station, to take in household garbage at its site in south Cobb. In both cases, Sams clients had gone ahead with their plans without zoning approval.
http://kennesawpawnproblems.blogspot.com/
Annoyed consumer
panama city,Florida,
U.S.A.
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#3Author of original report
Wed, April 04, 2012
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