WINDSOR HILLS : Homeowners Fight Pawnshop Proposal

Homeowners are battling plans to open a pawnshop on La Brea Avenue, saying the potential for crime and the negative image of pawnshops would hurt their upscale neighborhood.

Members of the United Homeowners Assn. presented their concerns last week to the county’s business licensing commission. The pawnshop is planned for the hilltop strip mall where La Brea Avenue, Stocker Street and Overhill Drive intersect.

“It’s right in the gateway to all these affluent African American communities--Windsor Hills, View Park, Baldwin Hills, Ladera Heights,” Tony Nicholas, president of the homeowners group that represents those neighborhoods, said after the hearing.

“People are concerned about the type of clientele pawnshops attract. They are absolutely outraged.”

Union Pawnbrokers co-owner David Zinberg said residents are overreacting to stereotypical images of pawnshops.

Zinberg and his sister, Marina, operate 14 Los Angeles-area shops, from Boyle Heights to Beverlywood. He said theft and other crimes are rarely connected to pawnshops.

“We have very good relationships with the police. . . . We are collateral lenders, doing the same things banks do,” he said.

“We actually lower crime rates. When people are in need, they can come here and get money for their things, rather than steal.”

Union Pawnbrokers’ plan to open the business at 5000 La Brea Ave. in May stalled after homeowners complained to Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Assemblyman Kevin Murray and other local officials.

The complaints prompted the county to hold the special hearing last week so homeowners could voice their concerns.

After residents presented their concerns to the licensing commission last week, the panel decided to investigate the matter and render a final decision July 12.

“The community is very important to us, and they clearly don’t want this,” Commissioner Bethel Smith said. “On the other hand, it’s very hard to deny a license that’s legal, unless we find something wrong with the business application.”

Zinberg pointed out that spaces in the strip mall, which houses a dry cleaner and a karate school, have gone unleased for several years.

Despite the need for more businesses in the area, Nicholas said, the Crenshaw district already has more than its share of pawnshops, including one at Crenshaw and Leimert boulevards that was formerly a Wells Fargo bank.

It is banks and established businesses that people want, Nicholas said.