Village, Landlord Sued Over Rejected Pawn Shop

The man who was stripped of his plans to open a controversial pawn shop in downtown La Grange after being granted a license to operate such a business in a vacant retail space at 71 S. La Grange Road earlier this year is suing the village, its elected officials and his landlord.

Andrew Grayson, who filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court's Law Division Oct. 30, had proposed operating All Star Jewelry and Loan in the space formerly occupied by Hollywood Video, now simply wants the money back which he invested.

"What he's looking for is some compensation for the amount of time he has expended in all of this," said Grayson's attorney, Daniel Rice, who added the suit is seeking the court division minimum "in excess of $50,000" even though that is "not really a meaningful amount" due to the fact his damages are, in a sense, continuing as long as he is denied the right to operate.

However, Grayson "is only seeking money at this point" and not the right to do business in La Grange, Rice said.

The suit, a copy of which was obtained by www.OnLaGrange.com, also seeks court costs and $15,470 from landlord John Brannen of Fifth Avenue Property Management, and its trustee, Oxford Bank, representing the unreturned security deposit and rent.

Rice said the suit clearly indicates it was his client's position the lease was contingent on operating a pawn shop, and when that didn't happen, he should have been reimbursed his deposit and rent.

Neither Brannen nor his firm could be reached for comment on the case.

Grayson, whose proposed pawn shop was eliminated by the Village Board as a new non-permitted use in the C-1 central business district on July 13 after controversy erupted over his being granted a business license by Community Development Director Patrick Benjamin, filed the suit only after unsuccessful talks to reach an out-of-court settlement. "But those (talks) fell through," said Rice.

The deal, which would have granted Grayson and Brannen an equal split of a proposed $250,000 settlement, was presented after it was clear Grayson would not be given permission to open the shop.

Grayson, a veteran U.S. Marine who had previously managed a pawn shop, contended he had already hired an architect to begin designs for the business and had invested a lot of time, money and reputation in the venture and needed to be compensated.

"The main problem," said Rice, "is they didn't address (Grayson's) time and effort" spent on setting up his business, adding Grayson "talked to (Benjamin) and he was assured there would be no problems."

The opposition to Grayson's proposal came not only from Zoning & Planning commissioners in recommending pawn shops be declared non-permitted uses, but from the La Grange Business Association and its former president, downtown restaurant owner Michael La Pidus -- who claimed the LGBA's stance was bolstered by hundreds of angry email writers.

At the same time the board banned pawn shops, it also declared other types of businesses, such as swimming pool and lumber sales, as non permitted uses in the same zoning district, actions Rice called "smoke and mirrors" to cover up its real intentions.

"I would regard those (other new non-permitted uses) as just a pretext, smoke and mirrors, just to make it appear they were making a sincere amendment to the ordinance.

"They indicated they had an ordinance on the books since '91 and since Grayson came along it needed a comprehensive overhaul," Rice further suggested. "I think that's just a pretext they came up with in order to knock out Grayson. They needed some cover."

After Grayson was ultimately rejected -- a day after he and his wife had a baby -- he expressed anger over the false public perceptions of his chosen industry and mostly the lack of "common courtesy" provided to him by a village whose officials initially embraced him.

"I had the courtesy of being told by other villages not to bother pursuing a license (in their communities)," he told www.OnLaGrange.com following the unanimous board vote in July. "That's why I'm so disappointed. I wasn't given the same courtesy here in La Grange."

While resident Melody Holt, who attended the meeting, decried the board vote as "business as usual," those who defended the ban said it was the right thing to do and "in keeping" with a community which has spent years trying to improve its image and attractiveness to upscale business interests.