Council adopts six-month moratorium on new smoke shops while license committee studies cap

Kankakee City Council voted Monday to enact a six-month moratorium on new smoke shops while the License and Franchise Committee and other city committees consider how to limit or regulate the businesses.

Council members said the moratorium gives committees time to study whether to set a cap and how to define a smoke shop. The ordinance applies to standalone businesses whose primary revenue comes from tobacco or vaping sales; it does not apply to ordinary retail outlets (such as gas stations or grocery stores) that hold tobacco licenses.

The council voted to suspend the rules and place the moratorium on final reading the same night. The motion to suspend passed with 12 ayes, 0 nays, 1 abstention. On final reading the ordinance passed 11 ayes, 1 nay and 1 abstention; the meeting record shows one alderman voting no and one abstention. Members discussed differing counts of existing standalone smoke shops — estimates during debate ranged from five to ten — and clarified the ordinance would not affect convenience stores that hold tobacco licenses but only businesses operating primarily as smoke shops.

Council directed the License and Franchise Committee to continue discussions and report back, with potential involvement from the Ordinance Committee. The moratorium is in place to allow the committees to develop a recommended limit or regulatory framework and return to council before the moratorium expires.