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Cincinnati council adopts ordinance limiting hours for hookah and other smoking establishments
Summary
City Council passed an ordinance creating a new section in the municipal code to set operating hours for hookah and other smoking establishments after residents and business groups said late‑night activity on Ludlow Avenue has produced violent incidents and neighborhood disruption.
City Council on first reading approved an ordinance creating a new section of the municipal code to regulate operating hours for hookah and other smoking establishments, a measure sponsor Council member Mark Jeffries said is intended to reduce late‑night disorder in affected neighborhoods.
Residents and local business leaders told the council during the citizens’ forum that hookah cafés in Clifton have become the focal point of “street takeovers” and related public‑safety problems in the early morning hours. Ben Pantoha, president of Clifton Town Meeting, said the activity has included fights that blocked traffic, littering, assaults on officers, sales of alcohol from vehicles and, in one instance described to the council, a kidnapping and beating.
“Restricted hours, I believe, are by far the best option to address crime‑related issues related to hookah bars,” Pantoha said during public comment. Mike Anagnosto, president of the Clifton Business Association, urged passage, calling the change necessary to protect quality of life for a mixed business‑and‑residential neighborhood. Jan Brown Cecco, a Clifton resident and community leader, told council the proposed hours would “put some reasonable hours of operation” on businesses and described a proposed schedule of 10 p.m. closing on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends.
Jeffries told the council that cities including Cleveland have adopted similar hour restrictions and said enforcement follows when neighborhoods repeatedly report problems. “We’ve had actually nine or 10 nuisance claims against these establishments in the last two years, which is clearly a pattern,” Jeffries said during the discussion.
The ordinance modifies Title 8 of the municipal code by adding a new section 4.87 to set hours for hookah and related smoking establishments. Council took the ordinance up on suspension and passed it in the business portion of the meeting. Council members voting records were recorded on the roll call.
The ordinance does not close businesses; it imposes limits on hours of operation. Council and several public commenters said the aim is to balance residents’ safety and livability with the ability of businesses to operate. The council directed the administration to proceed with implementation under the new code section.
Council discussion and public comments on this item occurred during the citizens’ forum and the business portion of the meeting; the transcript records both sets of remarks.
