Palatine tightens rules for piercing, cash-for-gold businesses

Palatine officials have spent their fair share discussing pawn shops, piercings and precious metals over the past year.

As a result, they've decided to step up regulation over them.

The village council this week strengthened a zoning ordinance that, in a nut shell, will require more of those businesses to be reviewed and get village approval.

Going forward, a business that offers piercings for anything other than a person's ears will have to come before the council.

So will a business that gets at least 20 percent of its sales receipts from the purchase of gold and silver, as officials hope to curb the numerous cash-for-gold stores that have popped up. Traditional jewelry stores aren't affected.

“We recognized the need for more regulation,” Palatine Village Manager Reid Ottesen said.

What won't change, at least for now, is the village's oversight of payday loan and similar businesses.

Officials said they're different from pawn shops because customers keep their items as collateral, meaning the village considers them financial institutions.