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Commission permits cigar lounges downtown, adds local indoor‑smoking exception and safety standards
Summary
The commission amended zoning to allow cigar lounges as a permitted use in the C‑3 Central Business District and adopted a local exception to the city’s indoor‑smoking ban with operational and safety conditions, including a 21‑and‑older rule and ventilation and ash disposal requirements.
The Garden City City Commission on Sept. 16 approved two ordinances to permit indoor cigar lounges in the downtown Central Business District and to add a local exception to the city’s indoor‑smoking code.
City staff presented two companion ordinances: one to amend Garden City’s zoning regulations to add “cigar lounge” as a permitted use in the C‑3 Central Business District and to add definitions for “cigar lounge” and “cigar/tobacco store”; the second to amend the city code to adopt a third local exception to the Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act to allow indoor cigar smoking subject to conditions. Alicia (staff attorney) explained staff had worked with the proposed developer and the fire marshal to draft operational and safety requirements.
The nut graf: the local exception permits indoor cigar lounges only where zoning allows, and the ordinances tie the exception to enforceable operational standards — ventilation and air quality controls, fire safety and ash disposal (metal ashtrays with covers), building and occupancy controls, and an age limit of 21 or older on the premises. Staff said drafting the regulations as city code conditions rather than purely zoning conditions allows for immediate enforcement remedies (municipal citations or abatement orders) rather than a corrective period typical for zoning violations.
Commission discussion focused on limiting the use to C‑3, concerns about smoke migration, the 50‑foot outdoor rule for entrances (applicable to outdoor smoking areas), and whether restaurants could convert portions of indoor space to smoking areas. City staff explained the expectation is that lounges will contain smoke within designated indoor areas, comply with mechanical and ventilation codes, and undergo building and fire marshal review before operation.
Commissioner comments and Planning Commission discussion were referenced; the Planning Commission had recommended approval at its Aug. 20 meeting. The ordinances passed by voice vote.
