By ISRAL DEBRUIN

A state Court of Appeals has upheld the city of Wauwatosa's 2006 decision to reject an EZMoney Payday Loans store at 6502 W. North Ave.

That decision is the latest in a three-year dispute between the city and Texas-based EZCorp Inc. Though the city's Board of Zoning Appeals and two state courts have sided with the city's initial decision, the dispute is not necessarily over, City Attorney Alan Kesner said.

EZCorp has 30 days to request the state Supreme Court review the decision. In the mean time, the long-vacant storefront at the corner of North Avenue and 65th Street will remain empty.

Kesner said he hopes the recently issued court decision will stand, but said EZCorp has not yet given indication of its plans.

"I think that the court decision is well-written and well- reasoned, and I would hope that the Supreme Court, if it did decide to look at it, would decide consistently with the other courts that have reviewed it so far," Kesner said.

EZCorp's legal counsel did not respond to a phone call from a reporter.

Three-year dispute

The quarrel began in 2006 when EZCorp obtained a permit to put an exterior sign on what it hoped would be a new location for its EZMoney Payday Loans chain.

Residents and city officials spoke out against the proposed store, claiming the business would draw crime to the neighborhood. Many also criticized the high fees and lending practices employed by the quick cash loan industry, calling them predatory.

The city said its North Avenue Trade District Zoning Ordinance, passed in 2005, included a ban on check cashing-type businesses. EZCorp said its services fall under another category -- convenient cash loan centers -- and applied for building and occupancy permits in summer 2006. The Common Council declined to issue building and occupancy permits, and rescinded the sign permit.

In September 2006, Common Council members passed a yearlong, citywide moratorium on the development of convenient cash loan businesses while it clarified its ordinance to explicitly apply to stores like EZMoney.

Three appeal efforts fail

EZCorp maintained the 2005 ordinance -- the ordinance in effect at the time of its permit applications -- did not apply to its business. The Board of Zoning Appeals disagreed, voting in January 2007 to uphold the Common Council's rejection of permits to the EZMoney payday loan store. Without the permits, the business could not open.

EZCorp sued the Board of Zoning Appeals in Milwaukee County Circuit Court for not overturning the Common Council's decision. In July 2008, the circuit court sided with the city, and EZCorp appealed to the Wisconsin State Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals found that the city acted properly when it upheld its trade district zoning ordinances. Even though EZMoney was not technically a check cashing establishment explicitly prohibited by city ordinance, the court found that the intent of the Common Council in adopting the 2005 ordinance was to exclude that type of business.

"The board reasonably concluded that EZMoney's business was not compatible with the surrounding neighborhood -- the stated purpose of the ordinance -- and thus was not a permitted use in the trade district," the decision stated.

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