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Akron council enacts 180-day moratorium on new smoke and vape shops
Summary
The Akron City Council passed an emergency ordinance imposing a 180-day pause on permits, licenses and conditional-use approvals for smoke and vape shops to allow time for a review of regulations and neighborhood impacts; council voted 13-0.
Akron City Council on a unanimous vote imposed a 180-day moratorium on new smoke shops and vape shops to give the city time to study zoning, licensing and public-safety concerns.
Councilman Michael Fusco, who presented the ordinance, said the pause would halt “the issuance of or processing of any license, building permit, certificate of occupancy, conditional use, or other authorization that would enable the establishment or opening for business of a smoke shop and or vape shop” for 180 days. He told colleagues the moratorium would allow the city to “take a deep dive” into how to protect neighborhoods and public safety.
The moratorium was adopted under emergency rules and passed 13-0 after the council suspended its normal rules to vote the item the same night. Fusco said three conditional-use applications for vape shops were pending at the time of the vote, and that the suspension would pause approvals for new shops while those matters are processed.
Council members and the administration signaled concern about a rapid increase in these businesses and a lack of the type of state-level regulation that governs medical cannabis dispensaries. Councilwoman Jennifer Amobian asked how many vape or smoke shops currently operate in the city; the administration replied it would provide that number to council later. The ordinance itself does not list a required inventory of existing shops or a final regulatory framework; it simply pauses new authorizations for 180 days.
Public commenters had raised related issues earlier in the meeting, including worries about the placement of wireless infrastructure and broader road-safety concerns tied to street redesigns; those comments were part of the public-comment period and not material to the ordinance language.
The council classified the action as an emergency ordinance and directed staff to use the 180-day window to study zoning, licensing and public-safety options before returning with proposed permanent rules or amendments.
