The Villa Rica Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of a zoning text amendment that would increase separation distances for vape shops, tobacco/smoke shops and medical cannabis dispensaries and replace a sales-based test with a 50% shelf-space/display threshold, commissioners said.

The change was proposed after staff identified a gap in the city zoning code for vape devices and similar products and following a review of state law. "The city attorney did advise staff to amend the word 'marijuana' and replace it with 'cannabis,'" Planning and Zoning Administrator Sean Daniels said at the public hearing.

Commissioners and staff said the amendment would add definitions for vape products and vape shops to section 8.22 of the zoning ordinance, expand required separations from certain sensitive uses and replace the current aggregate-sales metric used to classify a business as a smoke or vape shop.

Under the draft text amendment, staff proposed raising required separations property line to property line from 300 feet to 1,500 feet for vape shops near sensitive sites such as schools, religious institutions and parks. The proposal would also raise the existing 500-foot separation for smoke shops to 1,500 feet. Staff explained those figures are intended to reduce clustering of such businesses within the city.

A discussion among commissioners focused on how to define which businesses would be regulated. The existing draft included an aggregate-sales test that would classify a business as a smoke or vape shop if nicotine- or vape-related purchases exceeded 25% of sales; commissioners considered alternatives including a higher sales threshold, visible signage limits, and measuring shelf space or display area instead of sales. "Eighty-five to 90 percent of possible options, like parcels, would be eliminated with that increase to 1,500. So it does effectively accomplish a ban," one commissioner said while discussing the effect of expanded buffers.

After debate about enforceability — including whether sales records could be audited and whether window signage or interior shelf space would be easier for code officers to inspect — the commission settled on replacing the aggregate-sales test with a shelf-space/display-area test. Commissioners discussed and then dropped a requirement to also change exterior signage limits in the amendment after concerns that combining both metrics could allow a "shadow business" to avoid classification.

A motion was made to approve the text amendment with a recommendation to replace the aggregate retail-sales metric with a 50% shelf-space/display-area threshold; the commission voted unanimously to forward the recommendation to city council. Commissioners and staff noted existing shops that do not meet the new zoning distances would remain grandfathered for zoning location but that compliance timelines for use regulations might be addressed by a future amendment or by council direction.

City staff and a commissioner also flagged that state law treats low-THC/medical cannabis dispensing differently and that parts of the amendment must align with Georgia law and the HOPE Act's parameters for dispensaries, meaning some state-prescribed minimums remain applicable.

The commission's recommendation advances the amendment to Villa Rica City Council for final consideration; staff indicated the council packet will include recommended language about shelf space/display area and clarified definitions for vape products and medical cannabis dispensaries. The commission did not adopt a fixed compliance deadline for grandfathered businesses and suggested legal counsel draft follow-up language if the council wants an implementation timeline.

Details in this report are drawn from the public hearing and discussion recorded by the Planning and Zoning Commission.