Doral, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Sec. 74-164 of Doral's Land Development Code treats pawnshops as a distinct retail category subject to five location and design standards, not a simple by-right retail use. First, the location test: a pawnshop cannot sit on, or within 500 feet of, Doral Boulevard, and it must stay at least 1,000 feet from any residential use. Second, the zoning test: pawnshops are permitted only inside existing shopping or office plazas within the Industrial Commercial (IC) zoning district; the use compatibility table at Sec. 53-128 marks retailing of secondhand items and pawnshops as a special-exception use in the IC district and excludes it from every other district.

Third, before opening, the operator must submit a declaration of use form to the department director describing the specific business activity at the address. Fourth, the code imposes an architectural rule found nowhere else in the retail chapter: exterior walls, excluding permitted signage, must be a single achromatic, earth-toned or pastel color, and awnings, canopies, shutters and trim can only use a different shade of that same wall color, capped at 20 percent of the building's total exterior surface. Fifth, the section incorporates Miami-Dade County Code § 21-29 by reference, layering the county's separate pawnbroker regulations onto the city standard.

On top of these siting rules, the city's business tax schedule at Sec. 00 annual local business tax for the "Pawnbroker" classification (code 213PAW), payable each October 1 alongside the certificate of use. Under Sec. 41-78, the city manager can suspend or revoke that tax receipt for up to 12 months for a violation of the article or if the premises are found to be a public nuisance.