OTTAWA — At their meeting Wednesday, the Ottawa Planning Commission instructed city officials to draft rules for licensing pay-day loan companies in Ottawa. The practices of pay-day and title-loan companies have created controversy in Kansas and some cities have begun regulating the businesses. Planning chair Ed York, who is a banker, says the city shouldn’t drive out pay-day loan companies but needs to keep out fast-buck artists. Pay-day loan companies are able to offer small loans to customers that most banks are unwilling or find unprofitable to make, he said. City planning and codes director Wynndee Lee said it would probably be easier to license such businesses rather than draft zoning rules for them.
