Several businesses offering pay day lending are located near the Tennessee/Georgia border on Rossville Boulevard.The Chattanooga City Council took a hard line against payday lending, title pawns and other alternative financing businesses in the city last week. And on Tuesday, they may vote to take that farther.
But those in the industry say it’s all politics. There’s no tide of new lenders to stem.
Last week, the council narrowly passed a moratorium on new building permits for alternative financing businesses. The ban will stay in place until a proposed zoning ordinance that would bar such businesses from opening near other, similar sites passes or fails. A first reading of that ordinance is set for Tuesday.
The proposed zoning change, drafted by council members Russell Gilbert and Carol Berz, would prevent such businesses from opening within 500 feet of residential areas or within a quarter-mile of similar lenders.
But Jabo Covert, senior vice president of government affairs for Check Into Cash, the largest alternative finance company in Tennessee, said the city is “creating a solution without a problem.”