Lauderhill approves special exception for 4 AM Lounge to add indoor hookah under conditions

The Lauderhill City Commission on Jan. 27 approved a special exception allowing 4 AM Lounge to operate an accessory hookah lounge and live entertainment at 3974 NW 19th St., in the city’s commercial warehouse zoning and arts-and-entertainment district.

The commission voted 5-0 to grant Resolution 25R-01-16, which allows the existing restaurant/bar to add live entertainment, a hookah lounge and related uses in a roughly 4,200-square-foot commercial space. The roll-call vote was: Commissioner Campbell, yes; Commissioner Dunn, yes; Commissioner Hodgson, yes; Vice Mayor Martin, yes; Mayor Denise Grant, yes.

Staff said the application was for an existing lounge seeking to add hookah as an accessory use rather than open a new business. Planning staff identified a single written objection from a nearby property owner who said the area already experienced “an excess of noise day and night” and worried hookah would worsen conditions. Molly (city staff, planning) told the commission the applicant signed the recommended conditions and that the proposed hours are Sunday noon–2 a.m., closed Monday, and Tuesday–Saturday 2 p.m.–2 a.m., with mechanical ventilation requirements for indoor smoking.

Applicant Vernon Burrows told the commission he initially hoped for a 4 a.m. closing time but agreed to the 2 a.m. limit and the mechanical upgrades. He said the business model shifts through the day, with food service earlier and lounge/hookah service late evening.

Commissioners pressed staff on health and spacing concerns. Commissioner John T. Hodgson asked whether smoking indoors while food is sold could create “health issues” and whether the state’s clean-air laws applied. Molly and the city attorney said state law (the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act) allows smoking in standalone bars while prohibiting smoking in restaurants; because 4 AM Lounge functions as a standalone bar for the relevant hours, staff advised the use complies with state requirements provided the business meets building and mechanical-code permitting for indoor smoking. Staff said the mechanical upgrades — filtration and ventilation — will be required on permit before hookah operations may begin.

Vice Mayor Martin and other commissioners urged staff to track how the pilot in the arts-and-entertainment overlay performs and suggested the city consider spacing requirements if the program expands outside the entertainment corridor. Staff said the city has treated the arts-and-entertainment corridor like an entertainment strip where distance separations for similar uses have not been applied, but recommended adopting separation standards if hookah or similar uses are allowed beyond that overlay.

Molly told the commission the city currently has two legal hookah operations (Rotana Hookah on University Drive and Liquid Paradise, the latter still completing mechanical permits), and approval of 4 AM Lounge would make a third. Staff said Liquid Paradise has not finished permitting.

The commission attached the recommended conditions (hours, mechanical permitting, interior-only smoking, and return to the commission if conditions are violated). The city attorney noted that using a special exception gives staff "a little more teeth" to return the matter to the commission if violations occur.

The applicant and staff were told to proceed with required permits and mechanical upgrades before any indoor hookah service begins. The commission’s approval does not change state law or county public-health rules; it authorizes the local land-use exception with explicit local conditions.

The vote followed a public hearing; no additional public speakers asked to comment during the hearing. The city clerk recorded the motion and the 5-0 vote at the end of the hearing.

For context, the resolution identifies the subject property as a portion of Industrial 100 Unit 1 Tracts A and B, commonly known as 3974 NW 19th St., and states the special exception is granted with the conditions read into the record by planning staff.

The commission asked staff to return with a recommended timeframe for a pilot evaluation (staff suggested about 12 months) and to begin discussing spacing and distance separation standards if the program moves beyond the entertainment district.

The special exception is effective immediately for the uses and conditions approved by the commission.