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CU-99-4 Appeal - 2 - July 27, 1999 pay periods. Although the business appears to be loan office, the state law categorizes it as a check cashing business. Thus, the Zoning Code provides that a conditional use permit must be obtained to operate a check cashing business in the CC District (Zoning Code Section 2-630 I.). This item was heard before the Board of Zoning Adjustments on May 20, 1999. At this hearing, the Board was split between approving or denying the project. Since only six members of the Board were present, the vote ended in a 3:3 tie. The Board was advised by the City Attorney that this vote essentially constituted a denial of the application and voted to take no further action. Therefore, the application was appealed by the applicant to the City Council. This hearing was originally scheduled for July 19m in accordance with the 45-day provision for appeals in the Municipal Code. The applicant agreed, at staffs request, to defer the hearing to the August date to accommodate the City Council's schedule. The applicant has been paying some rent on the space since May of this year. DISCUSSION AND STAFF ANALYSIS Check cashing or cash advance businesses are conditionally permitted in order to allow a discretionary review of each proposal. The main purpose for any conditional use review is to ensure that the subject use will not have an adverse impact on a particular neighborhood or retail area. Such a review must determine whether the operation of the use is compatible with the surrounding area. Examples of factors to consider include parking availability, noise, proximity of schools and other operational characteristics which might require special consideration. In this case, another check cashing business (California Check Cashing) is located in the same shopping center, approximately 250 feet away from the Advance America site. The primary issue is whether having two check -cashing businesses in the same shopping center could be detrimental to the neighborhood or retail center. Check cashing is a retail service which requires less parking (one space per 300 square feet, Zoning Code Section 4-1704) than retail sales (one space per 200 square feet, Zoning Code Section 4-1704), thus added parking demand is not an issue. Staff was concerned about the presence of cash on the premise and whether this business would be a target for crime. Advance America and other check cashing/cash advancing businesses have indicated that security has not been a problem. According to the San Leandro Police Department, the existing cash advance business has not generated calls for police service. The discussion at the May 20th Board of Zoning Adjustments meeting focused on two opposing viewpoints based on over -concentration of these types of uses and the right of free enterprise. The first viewpoint was that the location of this business so close to another check cashing business creates an over -concentration of check cashing uses. The BZA members subscribing to this view felt that allowing this use would be detrimental to both the shopping center and the surrounding residential area. The shopping center would be hurt because it is a use that contributes little to a retail environment; it has no window appeal and basically creates a blank area which is