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Orangeburg council adopts zoning changes limiting vape and tobacco retail locations
Summary
The council approved a zoning text amendment restricting locations and density of tobacco/tobacco retail (including vaping) establishments, setting 2,000-foot spacing between like businesses and 1,000-foot minimums from churches, schools and certain alcohol-focused businesses.
The Orangeburg City Council adopted a zoning text amendment aimed at limiting the density and locations of tobacco retail establishments, commonly called vape shops. The council voted to amend the city zoning ordinance to restrict where new tobacco retail uses can locate and how close they may be to similar businesses or sensitive uses.
City legal staff said the ordinance sets a 2,000-foot linear separation between tobacco retail establishments of the same type, measured from the closest point of property lines, and a 1,000-foot buffer from places of worship, educational facilities and any establishment whose principal revenue is the distribution of alcoholic beverages. The amendment would make the use prohibited in several zoning classifications, including the city’s residential districts (A1, A2, A3), office-institutional (O1) and general business (B1); it would be permitted in central business (B2), neighborhood business (B3), industrial (D1) and design overlay districts subject to applicable reviews.
The city attorney told council that the change is a text amendment and therefore would not automatically require individual business notice the way a map/zoning change would; the planning commission recommended approval at its Feb. 27 meeting. The attorney also said existing businesses would remain permitted uses unless they were destroyed or more than 50% damaged, in which case they could become nonconforming and be ineligible for rebuilding under current standards.
Councilman Kidd moved for adoption; Councilman Grievous seconded. The motion carried and the transcript records the vote as “Ayes have it.” Councilors discussed measurement methods and whether outreach to existing shops had been done; the attorney said the city typically publishes text amendments and holds the requisite hearings rather than mailing notice to individual businesses.
Mayor Butler recognized members of a youth group called the Fire Squad who attended and had previously advocated on vape-shop concerns.
